Like climbers entering the death zone above 8,000 metres en route to the summit of Everest, VLCCs have entered their own peak: the moment where prices for secondhand tonnage surpass newbuild prices, and sell signs flash hard. These moments tend to be fleeting and have historically been associated with the hottest stages of shipping cycles. … Continue reading Tankers enter the death zone →
The Premier Alliance is preparing to send one of its Asia-Europe strings back through the Suez Canal this month, adding fresh momentum to the container sector’s retreat from lengthy Cape of Good Hope diversions and sharpening concerns over how much vessel capacity a fuller Red Sea return could release back into the market. MSI has … Continue reading Premier Alliance joins accelerating return to Suez →
Dry bulk vessel demand growth, underpinned by market disruptions has continued to outpace supply in 2026, creating exceptionally firm market balances that should carry forward into 2027. In its Q3 report ‘Excess All Areas’, MSI notes that dry bulk earnings and asset values have risen to multi-year highs through 2026, supported by exceptionally firm market … Continue reading MSI forecasts firm dry bulk market into 2027, driving further newbuilding orders →
Maritime Strategies International noted in a recent report that dry bulk trade itself is expected to grow only 2.2% in 2026, yet calculates required deadweight demand rising 4.9% as higher ballast ratios, port delays and diversions around Suez and Panama consume effective fleet capacity. Read more at Splash247.com
Shipping has spent the 2020s lurching from one earnings boom to another, with successive crises repeatedly rescuing markets that conventional supply-demand analysis suggested should be weakening. Two new charts capture how today’s supercycle came to be, and which sectors face a likely downturn. Braemar’s decade-long earnings chart reads increasingly like a geopolitical timeline. Covid propelled … Continue reading The charts that explain shipping’s extraordinary decade →
Global cargo for shipping is contracting for only the fourth time in four decades but inefficiencies in the market have led to sky high earnings. A contraction in cargo growth would normally be bad news for shipping markets, but that is not the case with the geopolitical disruption that has hit the industry this year. … Continue reading Shipping market paradox – negative cargo growth, soaring rates →
Shipping has long been treated as an early warning system for the world economy. In an era of wars, rerouting, services and AI, the relationship is becoming far harder to read. Splash investigates whether this old adage rings true still, or even if it ever did. “In previous decades, it was certainly true that the … Continue reading Shipping’s crystal ball cracks in the 2020s →
As the boom in the very large crude carrier (VLCC) market has continued this year on the back of the Middle East war, some are raising concerns about a supply glut in the tanker market. According to Maritime Strategies International (MSI) on the 28th August, 177 VLCCs were contracted for new construction worldwide in the … Continue reading Middle East tanker spree stokes VLCC glut fears as 2028–2029 deliveries loom →
Shipping has faced multiple geopolitical shocks in the first half of 2026 so where are markets headed in the remainder of the year? In this episode of the Seatrade Maritime News Podcast, we take a comprehensive look at the shipping markets as we head into the second half of 2026. Join Marcus Hand and the … Continue reading Shipping markets outlook for H2 2026 →
The VLCC sector has enjoyed extremely high rates this and Maritime Strategies International (MSI) earnings averaging $142,000 per day in Q3 in its recent monthly Horizon report. In the first half of 2026 owners ordered 177 VLCC newbuildings which will be the highest annual number in history even if no further contracts are signed in … Continue reading CMB.TECH books massive profit from VLCC sale →
The first half of 2026 has seen VLCC contracting surge, exceeding previous annual records by a huge margin. MSI reports 177 VLCCs totalling 54.5m dwt ordered during the first half of 2026, with the VLCC orderbook-to-fleet ratio at around 35% as of June, up from just 2% in 2023. Even if no further orders had … Continue reading ‘Astonishing year’ sees VLCC contracting smash through historical records →
Southeast Asia’s fleet of platform supply vessels (PSVs) and anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessels is ageing. At the same time, demand is increasing, driven by higher oil prices and concerns about energy security. As MSI associate director Todd Jensen told OSJ, anchor-handling tugs account for around 70% of active vessels in the region. Mr Jensen and his … Continue reading Newbuilds likely to be needed as Southeast Asia’s OSV fleet ages →