Nordic American Tankers

Why crude-tanker collapse could be long and painful

crude tanker

Chinese water torture is defined as “a painful process in which cold water is slowly dripped onto the scalp, forehead or face for a prolonged period of time, allegedly making the restrained victim insane.”

Crude-tanker owners and investors may face their own version of this ancient torment. Today’s agonizingly low rates could be just the beginning.

The massive floating storage volumes that built up earlier this year are unloading. But very, very slowly. In aggregate, they’re dripping out....

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/why-crude-tanker-collapse-could-be-long-and-painful

COVID fears pummel already battered shipping stocks

stock exchange

The good news is that shipping stocks seem to be more leveraged to a post-COVID global recovery than most other equities. The bad news is that shipping stocks seem to be more leveraged to mid-COVID global fallout than most other equities.

Shipping stocks fell across the board on Monday on fears of just that. Yet again, shipping equities fell harder than the major indices. After an already painful year to date, shipping equities have yet to find a bottom.

“Capital for shipping is transient. Either...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/covid-fears-pummel-already-battered-shipping-stocks

Tanker market is awash (again) in floating storage chatter

crude tanker

Remember floating storage? It’s back. Or at least, back in the spotlight. Market chatter has refocused on the view that falling oil demand equals higher tanker storage equals fewer ships available for spot deals equals higher spot rates.

Spot rates are definitely rising, albeit off an extremely low base. On Monday, Clarksons Platou Securities put spot rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs; tankers that carry 2 million barrels of crude oil) at $27,900 per day, up 124% week-on-week.

VLCC rates...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tanker-markets-are-awash-again-in-floating-storage-chatter

Supertanker spot rates are crashing down to ‘opex’ levels

crude tanker

If your business earns so little you can still afford to pay staff but not your lenders, that’s bad. If you can’t even pay your staff without losing money, that’s really bad. Rates for larger tankers on some major trade routes just went from bad to really bad.

There are two flavors of “breakeven”: operating-expense (opex) breakeven, which includes the cost of crew, stores, spares, management fees and insurance, and all-in cash breakeven, which also includes debt payments and interest costs.

The...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/supertanker-spot-rates-crash-to-opex-levels

Supertanker double-whammy: Less volume, shorter hauls

crude drilling

“The unwinding period is going to be painful. It’s happening,” warned Michael Fogerty, senior vice president of commercial operations of Diamond S Shipping (NYSE: DSSI), during the quarterly call on Thursday. He was referring to the drawdown of crude stocks in Asia that have built up on land and at sea over the past few months.

The Asian drawdown hits very large crude carriers (VLCCs, tankers that carry 2 million barrels of oil) on two fronts. Not only is less crude flowing to Asia, but less is...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/supertanker-double-whammy-less-volume-shorter-hauls

Robinhood’s topsy-turvy Top 10 shipping stocks

NASDAQ

Retail stock traders have taken center stage this year, embracing speculative bets that institutional investors have shunned. How does this trend affect ocean shipping equities? One indicator is stocks owned by customers of the highly popular Robinhood platform.

Robinhood discloses how many of its users own each stock at any given time. This data is downloaded daily and measured over time by Robintrack.net. FreightWaves sifted through the Robintrack database and the Robinhood disclosures and...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/robinhoods-topsy-turvy-top-10-shipping-stocks

Shipping stock pickers turn down the volume — way down

trading screen

Tanker stocks have a “tree falls in empty woods and no one hears it” problem. They have a compelling longer-term pitch — almost no newbuilds contracts, a giant plus for rates — but buyers are looking elsewhere.

A new FreightWaves analysis reveals the extent of the slide in trading value and volumes for tanker and dry bulk shares.

Tanker stock daily trading values

The number of shares traded per day is one indicator of investor interest. To account for widely divergent share prices, the data can be...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/shipping-stock-pickers-turn-down-the-volume-way-down

Tanker stocks are sinking toward the bottom

underwater

With the first half in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take stock of shipping shares. How did they fare, particularly the tanker equities that stole the spotlight? 

FreightWaves ran the numbers on the larger U.S.-listed ship owners — and not to rub salt in the wound, but the numbers are ugly.

Among the larger companies, the best-performing stock by far is Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT), an owner of Suezmax tankers (tankers that carry 1 million barrels of crude).

The worst performer by far...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tanker-stocks-are-sinking-toward-the-bottom

Supertanker rates bounce back — stocks don’t

crude tanker

The tanker sector refuses to follow its script. Rates were supposed to keep on sinking into the summer. They didn’t. Rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs; tankers that carry 2 million barrels of crude oil) have jumped well off recent lows, to nearly double last year’s rate.

VLCC spot rates have not been this high at this time of year since 2015. And yet, crude-tanker stocks continue to languish.

Rates on the rise

According to Clarksons Platou Securities, VLCC spot rates averaged $35,500 per...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/supertanker-rates-bounce-back-stocks-dont

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