Freight & charter rates
The daily dry-bulk freight index and per-class time-charter earnings, with the reported charter fixtures behind the tanker, gas and container segments.
Freight indices
as of 2026-10-23Daily dry-bulk freight index and per-class time-charter earnings.
Tanker
Charter benchmarks
Median reported time-charter rates for the tanker, gas and container segments the dry-bulk index above doesn't price daily.
These are The Maritime's own benchmarks: the median time-charter rate ($/day) across the charter fixtures we collect for each segment, using only those reported in the last 90 days so the figure reflects the current market. They cover the tanker, gas and container classes the dry-bulk index above doesn't price daily, the actual charter deals behind the market, data we collect ourselves, so we publish it in full. Figures are indicative: a small sample (flagged “limited”) is a guide, not a settled rate, and sharpens as more fixtures arrive.
$42,500
$/day · 17 fixtures
$25,000
$/day · 13 fixtures
$79,750
$/day · 4 fixtures · limited
$100,000
$/day · 3 fixtures · limited
A segment appears here only while its most recent fixture is under eight weeks old. Charter rates move too fast for a two-month-old deal to stand as today's market, so segments without a recent fixture are withheld rather than shown at a stale rate.
Ultramax time-charter benchmark
Median of 23 reported fixtures · as of 23 Oct 2026
$21,500
$/day median
Why fixtures too?
The freight indices above give the market level; these benchmarks show the actual charter deals behind it: the real fixtures our pipeline collects every day. The method is simple and auditable: the median reported time-charter $/day per segment, shown alongside the fixtures it's built from.
Freight seasonality
Month-of-Year Pattern
Average month-over-month return landing in each calendar month: the level-independent leg that captures a recurring seasonal lift or fade. It is drawn once every calendar month has recorded a month-over-month move.
Not drawn yet for Capesize: 4 of the twelve calendar months carry a month-over-month return, from 5 months of daily history (2026-06-01 to 2026-10-01). The rest would plot as empty columns and read as flat months, so the pattern waits until every calendar month has recorded a month-over-month move (which takes just over a year of continuous history) and firms up over the years after that.
Freight co-movement
Cross-Correlation Matrix
How the freight markets we publish move together: contemporaneous co-movement of daily returns. Green = move together, red = move opposite; deeper = stronger. The bunker (fuel) leg shows how each freight market tracks the cost that erodes the owner's net.
Bunker VLSFO (global median) | Capesize | Clean Tanker Index | Dirty Tanker Index | Dry Bulk Freight Index | Handysize | Panamax | Supramax | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunker VLSFO (global median) | · | 0.08 | 0.11 | −0.02 | 0.07 | −0.14 | −0.03 | −0.07 |
| Capesize | 0.08 | · | −0.21 | −0.08 | 0.98 | −0.07 | 0.25 | −0.11 |
| Clean Tanker Index | 0.11 | −0.21 | · | 0.20 | −0.23 | 0.14 | −0.33 | 0.09 |
| Dirty Tanker Index | −0.02 | −0.08 | 0.20 | · | −0.10 | −0.04 | −0.21 | 0.27 |
| Dry Bulk Freight Index | 0.07 | 0.98 | −0.23 | −0.10 | · | −0.08 | 0.36 | −0.05 |
| Handysize | −0.14 | −0.07 | 0.14 | −0.04 | −0.08 | · | −0.23 | 0.32 |
| Panamax | −0.03 | 0.25 | −0.33 | −0.21 | 0.36 | −0.23 | · | −0.07 |
| Supramax | −0.07 | −0.11 | 0.09 | 0.27 | −0.05 | 0.32 | −0.07 | · |
Correlation is association, not causation, and is fragile over a short window. Each cell shows r; hover for the overlapping-day count (n) and p-value. Faded cells are low-evidence (a thin sample of fewer than ten overlapping days, or an insignificant r at p > 0.10) and should be read as indicative only. Empty cells share too few days to publish honestly; the matrix densifies as the daily feeds deepen. Freight legs are shown under our own generic names; the bunker leg is a global VLSFO median across our port panel.
Where deep-sea freight costs sit, and where they could go
The ocean-freight cost cycle as a decision canvas: the last five years and the forward probability cone, with the market shocks that moved it marked on the line. The central path stays flat unless a forecast has beaten a no-change baseline on past data, honest about how far ahead freight is really foreseeable. For the full history back to the start of each series, open the Freight History Explorer.
The central line is the current price carried forward; at a 3 to 12 month horizon a monthly price is close to a random walk, so it stays flat unless a model has beaten that naive baseline out-of-sample (then it is marked a modelled path). Shaded bands are the range the price has historically occupied over the same horizon, and realised prices can land outside it. 12-month position is the share of the last twelve monthly prints at or below the current one, the same read the command board gives. Shocks are limited to the window drawn above, so an event that predates the chart is not listed. Seasonal, trend and shock figures are descriptive reads of past history, not a forecast, and none of this is investment advice.