Litasco, the trading arm of Russian oil major Lukoil, has provided the lone spark in the period charter market over the past two weeks by fixing six product tankers.
Brokers reported Litasco chartered the ice-class, 37,300-dwt Dewey, Dinah, Donald and Louie (all built 2008) from Tufton Oceanic and the 39,300-dwt Lady Rina (built 2012) from Amoretti Armatori.
All five ships, which were previously trading in the Norient Product Pool, were fixed for six months at $13,750 per day.
Litasco is said to have separately chartered Zodiac Maritime’s 115,000-dwt Soho Square (built 2012) for two months, comprising the first month at $20,000 per day and the second at $23,500 per day.
TradeWinds has approached Lukoil, the pool manager and shipowners for comment.
The period market has been largely quiet since mid-September, with most owners and charterers staying on the sidelines due to market uncertainty, brokers said.
Faced with weaker oil demand prospects during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, most trading houses have limited charter requirements and instead been reletting their vessels on the spot market.
On the other hand, shipowners do not have much appetite to lower their period rates to secure front cover, betting on a possible rate improvement in the traditional peak winter demand season.
“Everybody is being really, really careful. In the past people only look at one-year deals; now there are mostly short-term, opportunistic deals,” a broker said.
Among the few medium-term charters reported this month, Stena Bulk took the scrubber-fitted, 50,400-dwt Nord Elegance (built 2020) for 12 months at $15,500 per day.
The rate is believed to be roughly in line with market levels.
The vessel is due to be delivered on the eastern coast of Canada within this month. TradeWinds has sought comments from Stena Bulk.
Braemar ACM Shipbroking said the pandemic and weak forward freight agreement values have both contributed to soft market sentiment.
“The return of Covid-19 lockdowns has arguably affected charterers confidence whilst CAL21 paper markets currently look uninspiring,” the brokerage said in a weekly note.
