Arctic: Shipping Daily - Tankers, LNG, HUNT, LPG, Values, Seapeak, TNK

Research evidence excerpt

Arctic: Shipping Daily - Tankers, LNG, HUNT, LPG, Values, Seapeak, TNK

This implies that refiners reverted to stockdraws, following the well known builds from last year.

Moreover, this is further supported by a plunge in product exports - diesel fell -55% and gasoline

by 97% (!) - suggesting that fuels were needed at home. It continues to be busy in the term market.

Frontline has according to brokers fixed out two VLCC newbuilds for 12 months. Front Surna is

fixed to Vitol for USD 115k/d, while Front Spey is fixed to Mercuria for USD 110k/d. Meanwhile,

equities are sliding - believing that eventually the tonnage surplus and lost volumes will hit the

market balance. However, once a reopening agreement is reached, we believe we are in for a

solid period with inventory building which has historically been a leading indicator of where freight

rates are heading (i.e. up).

LNG: Slowing chartering activity

According to shipbroker reports, chartering activity slowed last week, with a total of seven vessels

placed on subjects, of which six were in the Atlantic basin and one East of Suez. In the West,

freight levels remained broadly flat w-o-w, although increasing two-stroke vessel availability for

June could place downward pressure on rates in the coming weeks unless fresh demand emerges.

In the East, rates softened amid a limited number of firm requirements, prompting owners to bid

more aggressively to secure employment and thereby pushing rates lower. Benchmark headline

rates are currently assessed at USD 17.5k/d for steam vessels (flat w-o-w), USD 55.0k/d for TFDE

vessels (-12.0% w-o-w), and USD 81.0k/d for two-stroke vessels (-1.8% w-o-w).

HUNT: Mercuria still disputing the charter hire

For April, Hunter achieved net time charter earnings of USD ~24.8m (USD ~826.8k/d). The