FreightWaves Ocean

Tank barges plying U.S. rivers are seeing higher rates as more petroleum is shipped.

The quarterly results of Costamare reveal continued rise in container-ship charter rates.

This week, VLCC rates are going sideways, Capesize rates have reversed, and container shipping has yet to gain traction.

Low pricing will speed up Europe’s transition from coal to gas, according to Morgan Stanley.

The already dicey relationship between the U.S. and China could get even dicier after a new sanctions decision.

Rates for mid-sized bulkers including Kamsarmaxes and Ultramaxes are following Capesizes’ lead.

Geopolitical risks are escalating, increasing the risk for petroleum shipments transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

If U.S. crude output were to lose momentum, it would be felt by tanker owners much more so than before.

It’s hard to blame the skeptics, given what has happened in the past, but dry bulk freight rates are getting pretty impressive.

Sudden surge in marine fuel costs could spur shippers to consider switch to California over Panama Canal route.

An exclusive interview with John Kartsonas, the developer of the BDRY exchange-traded fund that tracks bulker rates.

Peak oil demand “lurks like a monster in the shadows,” warns Stifel analyst Ben Nolan.

The Caribbean is container shipping’s all-important crossroads of the Americas.

Capesize owners were afraid to ballast to Brazil when a key Vale mine was closed. Now there are too few Capesizes in the Atlantic Basin, pushing up rates.

Dry bulk transport is about to get more expensive thanks to new marine fuel regulations.

Hope springs eternal for shipping stocks. Some analysts claim now is finally the time to jump back in.

It has now been a half-decade since the emergence of large-scale container liner alliances. What’s their track record?

Some believe the pace of regulatory and technological change is causing owners to pull back from newbuilding contracts.

Dry bulk shipping could be a winner following the ceasefire in the trade war between the U.S. and China.

Could the record seizure of cocaine aboard the MSC Gayane be a sign of things to come?

Top transportation economist Paul Bingham goes in-depth on trade war freight consequences, both pro and con.

An in-depth, exclusive interview with Scott Borgerson, co-founder and CEO of CargoMetrics Technologies.

Research by Clarksons confirms acceleration of scrubber installations, reducing available ship capacity.

East Coast refinery outage spurs more trans-Atlantic gasoline cargoes from Europe.

An exclusive interview with Citi’s head of shipping Michael Parker on Poseidon Principles consequences.

Sentiment toward shipping tech has reached a new high point among startups, tech investors and vessel interests.

One of the highest-profile owners in ocean shipping expounds LNG’s appeal.

Despite all the negative news, container shipping may be on a steadier course than in previous decades.

Geopolitical and trade tensions are having an increasing effect on shipping rates.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has just welcomed another ship owner aboard. On June 17, the stock of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier owner Flex LNG (NYSE: FLNG) began […]

New incentives for container shipping could bring more boxes through the canal to the U.S. East Coast.

Suppliers, traders and ship operators will need to increase credit lines and be more diligent about counterparty risk.

An independent valuation of DryShips’ fleet by VesselsValue puts the bid to take it private in context.

Middle East tanker attacks could spur oil importers to bring forward purchases, increasing shipping demand.

Suezmax tankers can carry half as much crude as VLCCs, but now command twice the VLCC rate.

Performance Shipping’s expansion into the tanker sector underscores the continued appeal of diversification to listed ship owners.

Developers are poised to bring new software to the ocean shipping sector. What will work and what will not?

U.S. coal export volumes are down 12.7 percent in the first four months of this year and the outlook looks even worse for 2020.

Is a recovery near for VLCC crude tanker spot rates? Not yet, warns an an analyst at VesselsValue.

Bringing spot vessels together into a pooling arrangement made sense, but ultimately, business interests diverged.

Switch to long-term coverage that began in 2016 continues to pay off in 2019.

Investor concerns are intensifying over the fate of George Prokopiou’s publicly listed LNG partnership.

Rates are rising for bulkers and gas carriers, while container pricing on the trans-Pacific is showing signs of life.

It has been the slowest start of the year on record for shipping on Wall Street.

With each passing day, it seems the U.S. LNG export sector is gaining further momentum.

There may be so little demand post-2020 for high-sulfur fuel oil that it may end up stored aboard tankers.

As U.S.-China trade tensions escalate, data appears to be pointing to a volume slowdown.

Shipping rates are clawing their way back from lows set earlier this year.

Every corner of the ocean shipping world is completely distinct from the others. What fuels the tanker business is almost entirely different than what steers dry bulkers or container ships. […]

If a trade war pares GDP growth, OPEC cuts may be extended, weighing tanker rates.

Private equity-backed ship owners continue to sell fleets to already listed companies in return for shares.

The Teekay companies continue to concentrate their focus on oil and LNG shipping.

As a major owner of Capesize bulkers, Golden Ocean is heavily exposed to events in Brazil.

There are some positive signs for shipping rates, but overall, disappointment prevails.

Golar LNG Ltd is spinning off a new public entity. Flex LNG is coming too. Shipping’s US-listed field is getting even more crowded.

A more flexible shipping loan concept is good for borrowers and their clients, but may have limited scope.

Despite the controversies through the years, DryShips has proven to be a survivor – and has posted another quarterly profit.

Large ships may provide liner operators with economies of scale, but they are proving more expensive in the chartering market.

NYSE-listed Diamond S Shipping brings an experienced management team back into the public arena.

Danaos CEO does not believe trade dispute will cut box-ship ton-mile demand.

China’s new list more than doubles the tariff on LNG, but it’s the dry bulk stocks that are feeling the pain.

In its first full quarter since repurchasing its spin-off, Navios Acquisition moved to lower its fleet age.

Shipping’s ‘trade war’ equation is not measured in tons at sea, it’s measured in tons times miles at sea.

There are reasons to be optimistic about rates in both the crude and product tanker sectors – and INSW’s fleet spans both categories.

Crude tanker owner DHT Holdings believes the stage is now set for a pronounced upswing in rates.

It’s rough out there in the dry bulk ocean shipping business. New York-headquartered Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK) posted a net loss of $7.8 million in the first quarter […]

IMO 2020 is will increase demand for distillates and put upward pressure on diesel. How should truckers prepare?

NASDAQ-listed Eagle Bulk believes its ‘owner-operator’ model allows it earn more than ‘pure owner’ competitors.

NYSE-listed Global Ship Lease is reporting improved conditions in the container ship chartering market.

Stocks of publicly listed ship owners, particularly in the dry bulk sector, are feeling the fallout of trade tensions.

Public ship owners like Navios Partners saw rates fall due to cuts in Brazilian iron-ore exports.

Executives at GasLog Ltd. believe the LNG shipping spot market is set to rebound. Others are not so sure.

According to Seaspan Corporation, the largest U.S.-listed container-ship lessor, liner companies are pulling vessels from service to install scrubbers, which is increasing demand for new charters.

Momentum is building to limit the speed of ocean-going vessels to curtail harmful emissions. The debate will focus on how this could impact charter rates, and whether it could have the unintended consequence of creating even more emissions-generating ship capacity.

NYSE-listed Scorpio Tankers has returned to profitability and its scrubber-installation program should position it to take advantage of the looming IMO 2020 rule.

So far this year, there has been heightened refinery downtime for maintenance and upgrades, but the tide is expected to turn in the second half, to the benefit of product-tanker rates.

Tanker companies like Euronav expect to see financial benefits from impending environmental regulations, which will change the type of fuel burned at sea and could eventually limit how fast ships can go.

At the same time Wall Street investors are shunning ship owners, European banks are pulling back on providing debt to ocean shipping. What are the short- and long-term implications for freight markets?

Dry bulk shipping faced multiple headwinds in the first quarter, but NYSE-listed Scorpio Bulkers benefited from its smaller ships and its diversification into the product-tanker sector.

The final part of the FreightWaves series on the Panama Canal focuses on dry bulk transits. The two trends: US agribulk cargo to Asia is down, Colombian coal to the west coast of South America and Asia is up.

As GasLog Partners reported its quarterly earnings, its CEO commented on prospects for both spot and long-term charter markets. He optimistically believes current spot weakness will be short-lived, and that rates will be driven higher by the wave of new liquefaction projects coming onstream.

In the second-part of its series on the Panama Canal, FreightWaves interviews a canal authority executive on trends for container-ship transits and expectations for ship size growth in the years ahead.

After languishing for years, tanker stocks are rising in 2019. Investors are seeking to get in early on the belief that the turnaround in rates is nigh. They’ve been wrong before — will their bets pay off this time?

A top executive of the Panama Canal Authority outlines the prospects for LNG, LPG and crude/product tanker transits through the larger locks of the waterway.

Nick Brown, head of marine at classification society Lloyd’s Register, is at the front lines of ocean shipping’s technological evolution. He explains how he sees this transformation playing out.