The June MEG programme is coming towards the end with close to 130 deals done, and July stem-confirmations will probably not emerge until early next week, Fearnleys said.
Tonnage for MEG and West Africa appears ample for the present activity, and rates have come off slightly.
Much of the the same is expected going forward and a flurry of early month business is required for rates to remain stable.
Suezmaxes have seen increased activity over the past week, as players returned from their travels.
West Africa was busy clearing out third decade June dates with rates maintaining a steady pace at WS65 for TD20. The majority of the discharges have been UK/Cont/Med focused with no east demand seen.
The Black Sea was relatively inactive, although interestingly, those cargoes worked in the end month window have been asking for Far East and UK/Cont/Med options, TD6 softened slightly down to WS85 and earnings hovered just over $10,000 per day.
High priced bunkers continued to hold the market from sliding harshly, Fearnleys said.
In the North Sea and Baltic, Aframaxes got off to a good start this week, as rates began to move by lunchtime on Monday.
We are still seeing quite a few examples of short term storage in the North Sea, which was part of the reason for a hardening of rates. Until these ships start discharging, rates could be kept at a moderate high level going forward.
The Med and Black Sea saw a re-bounce rate-wise following Posidonia. The market went back up to WS120, and owners were once again looking towards very high numbers.
Unfortunately, charterers managed to hold back their cargoes and with a lot of ships coming in from the North and the Atlantic, WS120 was the peak at this time.
Going forward we expect to see be a lot of ships around, and even with slow turnarounds this market will come off quite quickly, Fearnleys concluded.
Elsewhere, an Iraq-flagged VLCC sailed for the US on 8th June, the first voyage of this type for almost three decades, the Iraqi oil ministry has claimed.
Iraq is OPEC's second-biggest producer with 153 bill barrels of proven crude reserves.
"The ‘Baghdad’ left Basra on Friday night headed for the US. It is the first time since 1991 that Iraq is running its own oil tankers," oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said to local newswires.
Nordic American Tankers (NAT) has confirmed that one of the three Samsung Suezmax newbuildings, scheduled for delivery in August, 2018, has been period chartered to Equinor for three years.
The contract is expected to commence in the autumn of this year and has a base rate of $21,000 per day, producing positive cash flow and earnings.
Also included are two optional periods that could extend the period into 2023.
TOP Ships has also chartered out two of its newbuilding Suezmaxes to an undisclosed oil major.
The units, Hull Nos S874 and S875, are currently under construction at Hyundai Samho.
They will be fixed for 36 months, plus two optional 12 month periods, at the charterer’s option, starting upon the vessels’ deliveries due in April, 2019 and May, 2019.
The revenue backlog that could be generated by the fixtures, assuming all options are exercised, is about $96 mill, the company said.
Due to being fitted with scrubbers, these vessels will earn daily rates above the current market.
The charters will also facilitate the financing of the vessels, through the charter duration, the rate and the quality of the counterparty, the company said.
Euronav has confirmed that it has sold the 1998-built Suezmax ‘Cap Jean’ for $10.6 mill.
The vessel was delivered to her new owners on 8th June. Euronav said that it will record a capital gain of around $10.6 mill in the current quarter.
The vessel’s sale is part of a fleet replacement programme. Together with the sale, Euronav is taking delivery of four new Suezmaxes, of which two have already been delivered, with the remaining two due due from Hyundai during the summer 2018.
The four vessels will enter into seven-year time-charter contracts with a leading global refiner.
Following the sale of two Suezmaxes for recycling reported in last week’s news, Nordic American Tankers (NAT) has confirmed that another three have been sold at the same price level as the first two.
These ships are also 20 years of age or more.
All terms have been agreed and the signature on the documents is expected to take place soon, NAT said. The total cash raised for NAT from the five vessels is close to $50 mill.
Brokers reported that IMS was reported to have purchased the 2004-built MR ‘Endeavour’ for $9.9 mill.
In the newbuilding segment, a letter of intent to build two VLCCs at Imabari for 2020 deliveries was reported. They will both be designed to be scrubber ready.
Five MRs were reported ordered by Mitsui Busan for 2020 deliveries from Samsung. They are to be period chartered to Chevron.
Finally, NORDEN was said to extended the fixture of the 2007-built MR ‘Papillon’ for a further 12 months at $13,100 per day.