September, usually a buoyant month for the container ship time-charter market where new requirements and extensions keep activity at health levels, failed to follow the script this year. Rather, the month started with a marginal downward trend in all size segments and the overcapacity plaguing the sector, combined with activity that never found any substantial momentum, left rates once more in the red. Reflecting this, the VHSS New ConTex Index dropped a further 6 points to 312 points – a level last seen in 2010.

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Chinese New Year festivities brought further pressure on dry bulk owners as January drew to a close, with the fresh supply of cargoes entering into the marketplace slowing gradually to leave freight levels across all segments in a downward trend.  This prompted a 10% drop in the Baltic Dry Index to 827 points, while sentiment is pointing towards further softening entering into February…

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Crude carriers remained under pressure throughout weeks 32/33 as production problems left the Suezmax segment short on cargoes in West Africa, while the abundance of spot Aframax vessels in the North Sea and Mediterranean rebuffed any attempts by Owners to reverse the markets current downturn. VLCCs proved the exception, as better than expected volumes in the Middle East Gulf gave rates a boost, providing a degree of support to the crude market, which saw the Baltic Dirty Tanker Index drop 5 points to 504 points…

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Handysize reefers hit a speed-bump during weeks 11 & 12 which threw the segment off course from it’s upward trajectory, as subsiding demand from the key Mauritania/Morocco region left many vessels without employment. Despite this however, the supply-side continued to recalibrate elsewhere as Operators positioned vessels into S.W. Atlantic squid, and healthier frozen volumes from Angola/Namibia leaving the ISB Seafield Reefer Index up 19pts at 1,006 points…

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