Platts: VLCC Owners Eye Time Charter Deals in Weak Spot Market

“With the spot market for VLCCs struggling at the moment, the stagnant conditions are encouraging shipowners to commit their vessels for term charters, ship brokers Poten & Partners said in a report released over the weekend. ‘Although assessments for one-year term charters softened during August, the momentum behind longer term charter rates strengthened over the summer,’ the report said. According to Poten, there has been a reversal of the traditional relationship between short- and long-term charter deals with the term charter market displaying a mix of short-term concern about future conditions and long-term optimism among shipowners.”