- UKMTO warns of rising tensions in area.
- No major policy shifts in shipping, insurance industries.
- AG-Europe tanker freight broadly stable.
Shipping markets showed little reaction to a June 11 government-backed warning about elevated risks to commercial navigation around the Persian Gulf, reports Platts.
Storm Brewing in the Gulf, But Shipping Sails On
The UK Maritime Trade Organization, a Royal Navy-sponsored organization that acts as a primary point of contact for merchant vessels and liaises with military forces in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, announced June 11 that it had been made aware of increased tensions in the region.
These could “lead to an escalation of military activity having a direct impact on mariners. Vessels are advised to transit the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Straits of Hormuz with caution,” it said on social media.
Shipping freight rates have barely moved. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the rate to carry a 140,000-mt cargo of crude from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean at $15.76/mt June 11, up 9 cents/mt day over day.
The Platts rate to carry a 90,000-mt cargo of clean products from the Persian Gulf to the UK/Continent dipped 22 cents/mt day over day to $37.78/mt.
The outlook for maritime insurance is broadly unaltered: “It adds a nuance to the risk matrix that insurers consider, but they will continue to assess each voyage on its merits,” Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation at Lloyd’s Market Association, told Platts.
Spokespeople from container lines A. P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd said that they had not transited the Red Sea, a route near the area of tension, for some time and that this remains the case.
Regional tensions have been flaring as talks that a nuclear deal between the US and Iran might fall apart, but there has so far been no direct evidence that commercial shipping is being targeted.
However, given the proximity of regional flashpoints to major maritime routes, the potential for rapid escalation involving a maritime nexus should not be discounted, the UKMTO said in a June 11 advisory note.
The US State Department ordered all nonessential personnel at the US Embassy in Iraq to depart the country June 11, citing security concerns and mounting Middle East tensions.
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Source: Platts
