Baltic Dry Index

[nipper]

and more chaos ..... and pressure on pricings

Egyptian tug boats backed by an international team of salvage experts are racing against the tides to reopen the Suez Canal after one of the world's largest container ships was blown off course and blocked the waterway.

 

The owner and insurers of the 224,000 tonne Ever Given face claims totalling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources said. The value of goods held up by the blockage will build up by $US9.5 billion ($12.5 billion) a day, according to Lloyd's List.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-24/ship...given/100025314

 

Vessel Tracker shows some interesting traffic jams.

[nipper]

Capesize ships are the largest dry cargo ships. They are too large to transit the Suez Canal (Suezmax limits) or Panama Canal (Neopanamax limits), and so have to pass either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn to traverse between oceans.

 

When the Suez Canal was deepened in 2009, it became possible for some capesize ships to transit the canal and so changed categoriies

 

Ships in this class are bulk carriers, usually transporting coal, ore and other commodity raw materials. The term capesize is not applied to tankers. The average size of a capesize bulker is around 156,000 DWT, although larger ships (normally dedicated to ore transportation) have been built, up to 400,000 DWT. The large dimensions and deep drafts of such vessels mean that only the largest deep-water terminals can accommodate them.

 

Subcategories of capesize vessels include very large ore carriers (VLOC) and very large bulk carriers (VLBC) of above 200,000 DWT. These vessels are mainly designed to carry iron ore.

 

......

 

so, the one blocking Suez, Ever Given is 400 metres long and 59 metres wide, and at 224,000 DWT must be right on the limit. ...Though container vessels would have a different weight distribution than bulk carriers

[nipper]

trouble in Container world

Freight rates from China to Australia have soared as well, but are cheaper than levels being paid by importers in North America and Europe. And that is a big problem.

 

As container rates run hot on the world’s most popular trade lanes, increasingly ships which previously ran the routes from Shanghai to places like Australia, Africa, New Zealand and South America are being placed on more favourable routes.

https://stockhead.com.au/news/special-repor...be-hardest-hit/