Carib Freight Rates Soar

Freight rates for Caribbean clean cargoes leapt to nearly W400 on Wednesday from W335 at the start of the week, brokers said. "There's a shortage of Boston-suitable tonnage, and a lot of cargoes - it's as simple as that," said one U.S. broker. But other sources point to the thriving gasoline arbitrage between Northern Europe and the U.S. Northeast as sucking in all available ships, thereby tightening supply in the Caribbean. The rise in freight cannot be pinned down to any one fixture. "Owners quoted a little bit more than last done, then a little bit more, until we got where we are today," said the broker. "I expect it'll stay up for the next two weeks," he said, adding "Christmas is coming and charterers will want to fix until beyond then." The Baltic Exchange in London last night quoted the route at W370, a rise of nearly 38 points from the day before.