freight rates

The Strait of Hormuz is thousands of kilometers from Ukraine, but its crisis is already being felt by Black Sea freight. USM gathered the opinions of Ukrainian experts in the field of shipping and logistics to find out how events in the Middle East affect Ukraine.

Freight rates in the Handysize sector are returning to pre-Middle East crisis levels.

Freight rates have decreased against the backdrop of weak trade activity and increasing tonnage availability in the Black Sea-Mediterranean region.

Freight rates in the Black Sea are held at current levels, but limited cargo volumes and differences in expectations between parties are holding back deals.

The market remains expensive, and the shortage of suitable tonnage for voyages from Ukrainian ports continues to affect commercial negotiations.

Shipowners are raising prices, relying on rising bunker costs, while charterers are increasingly agreeing to compromise levels.

The hostilities in the Middle East have led to a sharp increase in bunker fuel prices, prompting shipowners across all segments to raise freight rates.

Shipowners are more likely to offer the same freight rates for voyages from both POC and Danube ports.

Against the backdrop of increasing attacks on port infrastructure and new shelling of vessels, more and more shipowners are suspending operations in Ukrainian deep-sea ports, waiting for the situation to de-escalate.

The cost of insurance for tankers transporting Russian oil from the Black Sea has increased by 200%. Freight rates have also increased.