Who can forget September 2008? Lehman’s demise, the bailout of AIG, the end-of-the-world buzz that suffused financial centers like Manhattan. That was 11 long years ago – and to a large extent, ocean shipping is still dealing with the lingering hangover-throb of that epic collapse.
September 2008 was also important to shipping for another reason: It was the last time rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs, vessels with capacity to carry 2 million barrels of crude oil) were as lofty as they are today. The ascent of VLCC rates over recent days has been so steep that the sector has actually clawed its way back to pre-Lehman levels.
The Baltic Exchange index covering crude tankers, the Baltic Dirty Tanker Index, jumped another 119 points to 1,561 points on Oct. 10. Estimates for the Middle East Gulf-to-Asia trade lanes were $158,000-$162,000 per day, with some individual bookings at much higher levels.