Clarksons Research says its index of major shipping rates has broken the record for consecutive monthly increases.
The research arm of UK shipbroker Clarksons revealed that the ClarkSea Index of tanker, bulker, boxship and gas carrier earnings showed an improvement to an average of $37,379 per day in August.
This made it 11 consecutive months of rises from October 2020.
Surging market conditions in some sectors have driven repeated fresh milestones since late last year, Clarksons Research said.
Since the company reported in early June that the index had reached the highest level since September 2008, the index has "amazingly" surged by another 58%, research manager Sarah Holden said.
Over the past 12 months, the figure has increased by more than $24,000 per day, or 181%.
This is the sharpest ever rise over a comparable period, surpassing even the surge at the height of the boom in the 2000s.
Holden said that at the end of August, the index stood in the top 2% of all values recorded over the last 30 years.
Dramatic recovery
Out of the 1,652 weekly ClarkSea Index assessments logged since the start of 1990, only 32 beat the $39,453 per day from the end of last month.
Back in June 2020, when the effects of Covid-19 on demand were at their most severe, the ClarkSea Index averaged $11,187 per day, among the bottom 33% totals ever.
The lowest point came in 2016, when the figure was $7,364 per day.
"As has been the case for much of this year, strength has been driven largely by the containership and bulker sectors, amid firm demand and major impacts from logistical disruption including port congestion," Holden said.
Boxship charter rates are now more than double the previous 2005 peak, and bulker earnings hit a 13-year high in the week ending 3 September.
Tankers remain under pressure, however.
Holden calculates a recovery in oil carrier earnings to levels closer to their 10-year average could add another $3,000 per day to the index, although the timing of this is still uncertain.
"However earnings progress from here, 2021 will leave its mark as a year with some remarkable shipping market milestones," she said.
