Rates held steady overnight on the LR2s as Owners continue picking up the remnants of 1st Decade March cargoes. Things are also looking bright for the LR1s with a substantial umber of enquiries to keep rates firm.  Among these enquiries are Aramco, M’beni, Socar, Total, Itochu on the naphtha Ag/Jpn routes. Not forgetting a couple of Ag/West enquiries, which would sum up the total number of enquiries for 1st Decade March to around 10. With these bouts of activivity going on in the Ag / WCI market, it does seem to be a positive week ahead for Owners.

Ports in the North seem to be hampered by bad weather and icy conditions, which may cause delays in loading and ships missing their laycans forward. As the market continues to remain bearish for the MR Owners, we’ve yet to see any replacement jobs due to weather delays. Cargo enquiries continue to remain weak.