Decks and Deals Weekly #50
During 19–25 September 2026, shipping markets weighed Trump–Xi trade pledges against tanker bottlenecks and rising war-risk costs. Diplomatic relief mattered; dependable passage still carried a formidable price
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STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Soaring freight turns older VLCCs into hot assets
The SeaNation team presents data from Xclusiv Shipbrokers, Inc., revealing how extraordinary VLCC earnings are rapidly repricing secondhand tonnage and pushing older vessels sharply higher
Decks and Deals Weekly #49
In the week ending 18 September, maritime trade revealed its real constraint: access on workable terms. Freight rates, sanctions and investment structures showed who can charge for it
Geopolitics is raising the floor under container freight rates, and lowering the ceiling
A regional crisis is making ships costlier to run. The same crisis has handed carriers back the Suez shortcut. Container freight rates now sit between a rising cost floor and returning capacity
From micromanager to collective rule: Ali Alfoneh on Iran after Khamenei
Ali Alfoneh, senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute and leading expert on Iranian politics, explains how Khamenei’s assassination reshaped Iran’s leadership, producing more effective policymaking while making Tehran more assertive and risk-tolerant
Q2 2026 container shipping, Part I: the rates came back, the pricing power did not
Eight carriers have reported. Spot freight rates nearly doubled in six months, and most carriers returned to quarterly profit. Then the market sold the shares of the biggest winners
Between the shoals and the swell: Handysize and Ultramax navigate a market searching for its floor
Handysize and Ultramax markets remain fragmented across key basins, with charterers retaining leverage and owners testing freight floors, according to market data from the week that ended on 7 August 2026
When power prevails over economics
Economic interdependence was supposed to restrain geopolitical rivalry. Instead, power is reshaping globalization, turning trade, technology, infrastructure, and supply chains into instruments of strategic competition
Handysize & Ultramax markets at a crossroads: navigating freight pressure and geopolitical uncertainty into August
The week ending 31 July 2026 confirmed that Handysize and Ultramax markets are entering August under freight pressure, with geopolitical risks, seasonal cargo patterns and vessel positioning shaping commercial decisions across every major trading basin
Iranian scholar Roxana Nicknami on why international law and deterrence will shape the next Iran crisis
Roxana Nicknami, Professor of European Studies at the University of Tehran, examines the unraveling Iran–U.S. ceasefire, the legal foundations of deterrence, verification failures, and why sustainable regional stability ultimately depends on credible institutions rather than coercion