LR2 owners continued riding high this week, as rates for the product tankers in the Middle East continued their meteoric rise.
A scrubber-fitted, eco-designed LR2 on the Middle East Gulf to Japan route could earn $87,700 per day, according to Clarksons estimates from Wednesday, representing a 71.4% rise week over week.
The same ship lacking a scrubber could earn $84,100 per day and a non-eco ship with a scrubber $85,000 per day.
The fleet weighted average for all LR2s gained just over 52% to $76,600 per day.
BRS Group said owners in the region were able to push their chartering counterparts.
“We saw a standoff. Charterers slowed enquiries and owners pushed,” the broker said.
“Now, we are starting to see signs of charterers looking for alternatives, as downsizing stems makes more sense, given MRs still have to catch up on freight.”
Rates for those vessels have slipped, according to Clarksons’ assessments.
It said the fleet weighted average for MRs fell 7.2% week over week to $42,500 per day.
The biggest drops were on the US Gulf to Continental Europe route, where rates for a scrubber-fitted, eco-designed ship came in at $39,600 per day, a drop of nearly one-fifth from last week but a slight improvement from Tuesday.
The Atlantic triangulated routes fell, with scrubber-fitted, eco-designed ships earning $48,300 per day and eco-designed ships $47,600 per day.
In the middle, the LR1 fleet weighted average came in at $55,700 per day, with top-of-the-line vessels on the Middle East Gulf to Japan route fetching an estimated $62,900 per day — the most on a single route.
