Tanker Market Rates Weaken Across The Board Amid Seasonal Lull And Soft Sentiment

This week saw a widespread softening of tanker freight rates across most segments—from VLCCs to Handies—driven by calming geopolitical tensions, onset of the summer lull, and subdued demand. Notably, both clean and dirty tankers across major global trade routes recorded declining rates, with only a few isolated gains.

Clean Tankers: LR2, LR1, MR, Handymax Under Pressure

LR2

• In the Middle East Gulf (MEG), LR2 rates dropped significantly.

  • TC1 (75kt MEG/Japan) fell 23.61 points to WS120

  • TC20 (90kt MEG/UKC) declined from $4.03M to $3.59M

• West of Suez, Mediterranean to East LR2s plateaued with TC15 staying in the $2.8M–$2.9M range.

LR1

• MEG LR1 weakened further:

  • TC5 (55kt MEG/Japan) dropped to WS139.98

  • TC8 (65kt MEG/UKC) declined by $221,455 to $2.76M

• UK-Continent LR1 remained relatively stable, with TC16 (60kt ARA/WAF) down marginally to WS112.5

MR

• In the MEG, TC17 (35kt to East Africa) dropped 32.14 points to WS190

• TC2 (37kt ARA to US Atlantic) fell sharply from WS103.75 to WS90, cutting round-trip TCE to $3,117/day

• US Gulf MRs were volatile:

  • TC14 (USG to UKC) peaked at WS232.14, then settled at WS211.43

  • TC21 (USG to Caribbean) fell to $1.06M after peaking at $1.32M

  • MR Atlantic TCE Basket dropped from $36,079 to $32,553

Handymax

• Mediterranean Handymax (TC6) slipped 35.55 points to WS130.56

• UKC Handymax (TC23) declined from WS135 to WS113.33

Dirty Tankers: VLCCs and Suezmax Hit Hardest

VLCC

• Middle East to China (TD3C) dropped 6 points to WS47.4, TCE: $26,512/day

• West Africa to China (TD15) fell to WS49.56, TCE: $29,598/day

• USG to China (TD22) slipped $500K to near $7M, TCE: $33,546/day

Suezmax

• Nigeria to UKC (TD20) fell to WS82.22, TCE: $30,600

• Guyana to UKC (TD27) declined to WS81.94, TCE: $30,000

• CPC to Augusta (TD6) dropped 10 points to WS93.05, TCE: $29,300

• MEG to Med (TD23) bucked the trend, rising 5 points to WS97.5

Aframax: Limited Gains, Broad Decline

• North Sea (TD7) slipped 2 points to WS120, TCE: $31,700

• Mediterranean (TD19) down 6+ points to WS129, TCE: $26,500

• Caribbean-USG routes (TD26 & TD9):

  • Fell 4–5 points to WS142 and WS138 respectively

  • TCEs: $27,000 and $25,800

• USG to UKC (TD25) marginally down to WS145.28, TCE: $33,000

• New Routes on Trial: Baltic Exchange launched TD28 (Vancouver-Ningbo) and TD29 (Vancouver-PAL)

The tanker market entered Q3 with bearish momentum, particularly in the VLCC and Suezmax segments, as rates fell across almost all major global routes. Weak demand, especially in the MEG and Atlantic, paired with seasonal slowdowns, has weighed heavily on sentiment. Clean tanker earnings were similarly affected, with only occasional volatility in MRs and a small uplift in MEG Suezmax trades standing out.

Next week, eyes will remain on geopolitical developments, cargo volumes, and owner resistance, which could influence whether this downtrend persists or stabilises.