Ship Broker

Iran Rents More Tankers

According to reports, the Norwegian ship brokers confirmed that the National Iranian Tanker Co. has chartered two more very large crude carriers to store unprocessed crude oil. The latest bookings raise NITC's floating storage capacity to 18.4m barrels, sources said Iran already has seven very large crude carriers under contract for use as storage. Source: Big News Network

Rates Rise Amid Increased Activity, Lack Of Vessels

Mideast-Asia VLCC and Mediterranean Suezmax crude tanker rates have risen due to increased activity and a lack of vessels, shipping brokers said Sept. 29. VLCC rates to Japan from the Middle East lifted to W52.5 and were heading for W55, from around W47.5 last week, brokers said as cargoes finally came on the market. Other destinations were also lifted with brokers saying W50-52.5 might be reached for Singapore and China and W52.5 for Korea for modern vessels.

VLCCs Wait For Iraqi Oil, Suezmaxes Poised For Flurry

The expected return of Iraqi oil dominated the 250,000 ton tanker market in the Middle East toward the end of the week, shipping brokers said on Dec. 10. But rates were unlikely to move drastically as there were plenty of VLCCs waiting in the Middle East to find cargoes, they said. However, Mediterranean million barrel Suezmax tankers were likely to be in strong demand once it was known when Iraqi exports could restart from the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

North Sea Rates Surge On Holiday Vessel Shortage

North Sea oil tanker rates surged spectacularly again on Dec. 13 on a shortage of vessels available before Christmas, shipping brokers said. Aframax 80,000 ton vessel rates shot up a further 25 Worldscale points to W150 ($5.50 per ton) from a highest seen of W125 ($4.25) on Friday, they said. "The North Sea has gone bananas. It is very tight on tonnage for modern ships up until loading dates of around December 27," a broker said.

Houlder Sells Holdings In Tanker Broker Panel

Houlder Sells Holdings In Tanker Broker Panel Shipbroker Howard Houlder (Chartering) Ltd. has sold its shareholdings in the London Tanker Broker Panel back to the other five members of the rate-setting group, panel managing director Robert Porter said. "Howard Houlder is no longer a panel member," Porter said. "Houlder said it wished to leave and the other panelists exercised their pre-emption rights to buy the shares back."

Internet Ship Broker Goes Live

Internet ship-brokerage Levelseas went live this week, saying it would add functionality to allow cargo-owners and shipowners to trade with each other directly before October. "This initial release of LSX is LevelSeas' first step towards building a global, web enabled freight exchange and voyage management system," said CEO Richard Hext. Hext said that cargo owners and ship owners already did "a hell of a lot" of business directly without the use of a broker

Atlantic Panamax Earnings Plummet To New Lows

Average Atlantic panamax earnings sank to new lows on Monday, quashing hopes that the market had bottomed out, brokers said. "We've given up predicting when the market will stop falling," one Norwegian broker said. "It's not so much of a summer slowdown, (it is) more of a summer shutdown," he added. Brokers said that charterers' offered levels for transatlantic panamax round voyages had now fallen through the $7,000-a-day barrier.

Suezmax Rates Set To Soar

Surging Suezmax tanker rates are set to soar if Iraqi exports come back on stream next week, shipping brokers said on Wednesday. Rates for the one million barrel tankers have lifted to around 100 Worldscale points on fixtures from West Africa and the North Sea to the U.S., and on cross Mediterranean and North Sea routes, brokers said. "Suezmax rates are going to sky rocket if Iraqi exports come back next week," one broker said.

MC Shipping Announces Year End Results

MC Shipping Inc. said net income for the year ended December 31, 2003 was a record $3,091,155 or $0.37 per share, compared to a net income of $2,241,906 or $0.27 per share in 2002. The Company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were approximately $20.1 million and the ratio of EBITDA to interest expense was approximately 4.1 for the year ended December 31, 2003. In 2002, EBITDA was approximately $20

Trade Tech Full-Service 10+2 Solution

Trade Tech, a major supplier of web-based supply chain and transportation applications and service solutions, has created a full-service Importer Security Filing (ISF) solution designed specifically for customs house brokers to solve all challenges associated with the new time-sensitive data reporting regulations enacted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 10+2 Rule. “The key issue for ISF this year will be on-boarding the more than 300