After the European shortsea fleet earnings broke the downwards trajectory in the past month, the latest monthly report by Toepfer Transport shows another uptick. 

According to the Hamburg-based shipbroker, time charter equivalents for 3,200-3,800 dwt vessels stood at €5,569, while 4,800-5,600 dwt vessels time charter equivalents reached a figure of €6,617, during the month of October 2022.

October 2022 TCEs for the 3,200-3,800 dwt vessels actually ticked up 4.3 percent percent from the previous month’s levels. TCE equivalent for 4,800-5,600 dwt vessels rose 2.8 percent from the previous month. Compared to October 2021, TCEs for 3,200-3,800 dwt vessels were still up 7 percent while TCEs for 4,800-5,600 dwt vessels operating in the European short sea market are down 7.61 percent.

“We seem to have reached the floor of the dropping rates for now. The time charter equivalents are slowly crawling upwards with the TSI-35 gaining 4,3 percent m-o-m and the TSI-52 staying almost level with a slight plus of 2,8 percent. This development was expected, as autumn and the beginning of winter is the busy season for the European shortsea market and operations are relatively smooth,” Toepfer Transport analysts say.