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.
Dry Bulk Freight Index
2,490
index points · as of 2026-06-29
Freight indices
as of 2026-06-29Daily 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 TheMaritime'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 6 months 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.
Aframax time-charter benchmark
Median of 4 reported fixtures · as of 1 Jul 2026 · limited sample
$31,000
$/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, across every year of history — the level-independent leg that captures a recurring seasonal lift or fade. Up bars gain, down bars fade.
Capesize · 2026-06-01–2026-06-01. Descriptive roll-up over realised history — no model, no look-ahead, not advice.
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) | — | 0.11 | -0.04 | -0.40 | 0.06 | -0.44 | 0.17 | -0.16 |
| Capesize | 0.11 | — | 0.73 | -0.09 | 0.97 | 0.33 | -0.71 | -0.01 |
| Clean Tanker Index | -0.04 | 0.73 | — | -0.02 | 0.53 | 0.33 | -0.82 | 0.08 |
| Dirty Tanker Index | -0.40 | -0.09 | -0.02 | — | -0.19 | 0.45 | -0.56 | 0.85 |
| Dry Bulk Freight Index | 0.06 | 0.97 | 0.53 | -0.19 | — | 0.41 | -0.60 | 0.04 |
| Handysize | -0.44 | 0.33 | 0.33 | 0.45 | 0.41 | — | -0.84 | 0.47 |
| Panamax | 0.17 | -0.71 | -0.82 | -0.56 | -0.60 | -0.84 | — | -0.47 |
| Supramax | -0.16 | -0.01 | 0.08 | 0.85 | 0.04 | 0.47 | -0.47 | — |
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. 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.
Freight cost index · 1988–2026
Ocean Freight Cost Cycle
Producer price index for deep-sea freight transportation — the longest ocean-freight cost series, monthly since 1988.
466
+16.7% y/y
PPI index level
A monthly freight-cost PPI proxy — not a spot-rate index — but the deepest ocean-freight series. It tracks the cost cycle: the 2008 collapse, the 2021–22 container boom and the 2026 spike are all visible. Driven by the vessel supply-demand balance, it runs as an independent cycle from crude and bunker.