Happy New Year 2012

New year 2012 is knockin at the door to deliver a bag of bad news to the shipping industry.

Chinese authorities making much ado in allowing the giant bulkers to enter Chinese ports have finally given in favour of the new mammoth speices. Though an eventuality, it will spell doom for the inflated tonnage balloon by taking off several tonne-miles per trip.

China yet again gets to the epicenter of the quake in the tankers market as China bags the rights to dig into Afghanistan and develop Afghan petroleum resources. Oil beneath Afghan high land may be a wild goose, but this may give them the direct access to Iranian oil to fulfill their pipe-dream.

On the eve of the new year 2012, Iran is threatening to close Hormuz, the strategic oil passage controlling 1/6th of the world's daily flow of oil, over US sanctions, which instil a paralysing fear into the oil and shipping markets.

All in all a three bags full for ba-ba black ships to start the happy new year 2012 with.