Pursuits
Billionaires Buy Gasoline Ships as Fuel Cargoes Expand: Freight
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The richest investors in shipping are buying gasoline tankers, anticipating that fuel demand will expand faster than the fleet for the first time in nine years.
Global shipments will jump 4.3 percent in 2012 as vessel capacity gains 3.7 percent, according to London-based Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker. Daily rates for Medium-Range tankers, each hauling enough fuel to fill about 780,000 cars, will rise 19 percent to an average of $14,844 this year, the median of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows. That’s more than the $10,999 anticipated in forward freight agreements, traded by brokers and used to bet on future rates.