Norwegian oil tankers rise as Suez Canal turmoil might boost rates

Hoegh Autoliners ASA

18/12/2023 09:39

** Shares of Norwegian crude oil shipping companies rise
3-5% as re-routing of vessels due to increased attacks by Houthi
militants in the Red Sea could lead to higher freight rates
    ** Unrest on a route that allows East-West trade to use the
Suez Canal to save the time and expense of circumnavigating
Africa, is raising concerns over oil supply, but longer shipping
routes will also fuel freight rates
    ** "The sailing distance is considerably longer than via the
canal, which means that you tie up far more ships and it will
increase the utilization rate of the fleet and hence the rates,"
says Arctic Securities analyst Kristoffer Barth Skeie 
    ** Shares of Frontline  FRO.OL  are up around 5%, among top
performers on pan-European STOXX 600 index  .STOXX 
    ** "Investors have begun to realize the implications of the
turmoil around Suez. In our view, tankers are very sensitive to
any diversion of ships and Frontline is well positioned," DNB
analyst Jorgen Lian says
    ** Hoegh Autoliners  HAUTO.OL , Wallenius Wilhelmsen
 WAWI.OL , Golden Ocean  GOGL.O  and Hafnia  HAFNI.OL  rise
between 2.7% and 4.5%, all among top gainers on the Oslo
benchmark index  .OSEBX 

 (Reporting by Jesus Calero)
 ((Jesus.calero@thomsonrueters.com))