The "rout" in shipping equities due to the spread of the Omicron variant presents investors with a chance to cash in, analysts believe.
US stocks were badly hit on 1 December after the first case of the latest Covid-19 mutation was reported there.
European stocks followed suit with losses in early trading on Thursday, but in Asia, shipping companies gained ground.
The big three Japanese owners, NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines and K Line, logged rises of between 5% and 11%, and South Korean and Taiwanese boxship players saw their values rise up to 10%.
The US had actually seen a positive start to Wednesday, but then the Omicron news triggered a major reversal that ended in the worst two-day sell-off since October, according to Fearnley Securities.
When the smoke cleared, the Dow had lost about 462 points, or 1.3%, the S&P 500 about 1.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite about 1.8%.
Shipping losses
But those losses looked mild compared to most shipping stocks, which in many cases fell by percentages in the high single digits.
US-listed bulker names were down 5%, tanker owners off 7% and container lines 5%.
VLGC player BW LPG dropped 2.5% in Oslo on Thursday morning, tanker group Frontline was down nearly 2% and bulker owner Wilson lost more than 3%.
Oslo-listed Golden Ocean Group was trading down only 0.60%, but tanker owner Euronav dropped 2.3% in Brussels, and Nordic Shipholding, the Danish tanker operator that is winding down its operations, lost 15% of its value in Copenhagen.
Disruption good for some
"While Omicron, and releases of strategic oil reserves, have delayed the tanker market recovery, we have seen the impact stricter Covid regulations have on the likes of containerised goods," Fearnley Securities analysts Peder Nicolai Jarlsby, Erik Gabriel Hovi and Ulrik Mannhart said.
"Although a full round of new lockdowns seems highly unlikely, mobility as well as port restrictions are likely to be impacted," they added.
Fearnleys believes China's strict Covid-19 policy should see boxship owners in particular benefit through elevated waiting times due to crew-change and tug restrictions. Bulker companies too will be aided by congestion, the investment bank said.
The near-term weakness means investors should add to holdings in container ship names like Israeli owner Zim and ship lessors, the analysts advised.
Well-capitalised tanker owners like DHT in the US are also a "buy" as far as Fearnleys is concerned, together with LNG carrier company Flex LNG and car carrier group Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
On Wednesday, Scorpio Tankers, the world's largest product tanker owner, plummeted 9.3%. Nordic American Tankers shed 9% and Teekay Tankers fell 7%. Frontline's US shares dropped 6.4%.
