When tanker genius like John Fredriksen says, "Tanker rates, I don’t have much belief in.” , there is nothing much to read in but gross pessimism that has set in the market. The roaring ocean winds, burning and sinking rigs etc, which used to be a big trigger for the market to take off, have failed to lift the sentiments this time. Growing unemployment of these assets at sea, combined with passive crude oil prices are having their toll on the sentiment in the tanker market.
On the other hand, the dry index took off after a scary bungy jump last month. The lift is being attributed to renewed Chinese appetite for iron ore after India's partial ban on the export of the ore. Also, the prospects of excessive wheat exports out of USA this year as result of the poor Russian crop, have cheered up the dry bulk market. But the main reason for the current optimism in dry market is probably the bounce back of finance markets in spite of a threatening horizon. These are times, when many of the US economists are predicting a double dip. The shipping markets would not be able to sustain another trough in finance markets. There is a faint hope of survival, on which the markets are locked on and homing in. Wish they could reach shore's safely on the fragile hope.
