Aframax tankers are being snapped up on storage deals in Europe given a shortage of land-based facilities.
Fourteen to 16 aframaxes are storing oil in the waters of northwest Europe, Tankers International chief Jonathan Lee told Bloomberg.
“The big question is whether it’s contango or whether it’s a lack of physical land-based storage,”Lee told the newswire.
“It seems to be the latter at the moment.”
Rates for modern eco-aframaxes sat at $28,367 per day on Friday, according to Howe Robinson.
This compares to an average of $21,753 per day on average so far this year, the brokerage said in a report on Friday.
“The list remains tight, however charterers have fixed out relatively far forward, so as in the Baltic we expect a quiet start to next week,” it said of the North Sea market.
