There are a few ways to describe the tanker sale-and-purchase market.
Clarksons says there is “limited news” on the secondhand deals front, while Cleaves Shipbroking calls it “somewhat muted”.
But how about dead?
“No tanker sales to report this week, further reinforcing our previous comments on lower liquidity being the new norm in the sector,” Fearnleys said in its weekly report.
“Despite this lower liquidity environment, there are sure to be smiles across the faces of all stakeholders throughout get-togethers at Posidonia.”
Last week, brokers reported sales for secondhand tankers had slowed to a crawl, thanks to high asset values and a strong freight market.
They said owners were content to rake in the cash rather than spend big to grow their fleets.
Clarksons assesses secondhand values across the tanker sector — from VLCCs down to handysizes — as firmer in May than their averages in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
A five-year-old VLCC was estimated to be worth $115m, the shipbroker said, up from $105m last year, and 10-year-old suezmax values hit $68m this month, up from $60m over the same period. A decade-old 47,000-dwt MR is said to be worth $27m against $25m in 2023.
Meanwhile, Clarksons’ fleet weighted average for suezmaxes hit $51,000 per day on Monday, up more than 20% from last week and ahead of the year-to-date average of $47,600 per day.
Aframaxes jumped to $48,600 per day, a rise of more than 18% from the start of May.
LR2 rates fell on Monday to $54,300 per day, a drop of 11% from Friday and 19% from last week but still 5% ahead of where they were last month. LR1s followed a similar pattern, slipping to $41,600 per day on a fleet weighted average basis.
MR rates have skyrocketed 57% month over month, reaching $48,600 per day, far ahead of the $37,600 per day year-to-date figure.
VLCCs are the only asset class fully bucking the trend.
They are earning an estimated $43,600 per day on a fleet weighted average basis, down just under 1% from Friday, 20% from last week and 13.6% from last month.
Clarksons said VLCCs are earning $52,600 per day on average this year.
