Splash247: Tanker rates poised to close 2025 with best year in a decade

Year-to-date average VLCC earnings of $44,279 are the best since 2015, when China was filling its newly built strategic petroleum reserve, when the full year average was $49,635, and oil prices averaged $52 for Brent compared to $71 this year. If the usual Q4 peak in earnings arrives this year, then VLCC earnings should outperform 2015, Splash Extra analysis highlights, also detailing how all tanker sectors, whether crude or product, have enjoyed a highly profitable 2025 so far. 

Splash Extra, published on the final Wednesday of every month, serves as a concise insight into where the shipping markets are headed, featuring also analysis of the container and dry bulk trades, the sale and purchase scene, as well as an overview of the month’s best shipping research commentary from banks, brokers and consultants.

This month’s lead story looks at what was said in the opening Big Issues session at yesterday’s Maritime CEO Forum held at the Monaco Yacht Club, including exclusive data from broker Arrow on the extraordinarily uncertain trading conditions shipping has had to navigate in the 2020s and how this has contributed to higher earnings across sectors this decade. 

Splash Extra‘s in-depth feature for this month looks at how artificial intelligence is revolutionising maritime operations — and unsettling the workforce that keeps ships moving. From the bridge to the boardroom, the challenge now is not adoption, but adaptation.

This month’s interview is a sit-down with Danny Lange, the president of Complexio — the AI joint venture between Hafnia and Simbolo, in partnership with Marfin Management, C Transport Maritime, Trans Sea Transport, and BW Epic Kosan. The former Uber and Amazon AI veteran tells Splash Extra that shipping is entering its “data awakening” phase. “The real game-changer will be the move away from siloed applications and towards a holistic, integrated approach to AI,” he said.