Maritime Shipping Rates Tick Up From Near Record Low

Maritime shipping rates continued to rise Wednesday from near record low levels while shares of several dry bulk carriers gained. The Greek-based DryShips Inc.

rose about 6 percent to $0.83 cents a share; Diana Containerships Inc.

picked up about 3 percent to $2.41 and Danaos Corp.

jumped 1 percent to $6.42. Meanwhile, the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping rates, was up nearly 2 percent Wednesday, mostly on higher rates charged by so-called cape-sized vessels which account for about a quarter of the world's dry bulk traffic and are too large to pass through the Suez and Panama canals. The index, which includes four rate components based on vessel size rather than individual companies, is up about 2.5 percent so far this week but it's still off about 40 percent since a year ago. A recent survey of maritime executives suggests that rates have further to fall. http://splash247.com/survey-suggests-baltic-dry-index-has-still-not-bottomed-out/ Fifty-six percent of respondents to a Maritime CEO survey said the Baltic Dry Index has still not bottomed out, according to a May 4 report. Goldman Sachs recently forecast that freight shipping rates will remain low for the next five years or more because of oversupply and low fuel prices. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/07/freight-commodities-goldman-idUSL4N0XY18D20150507