SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts discontinues Baltic-UK Continent ice premium assessment

S&P Global Platts on January 1, 2017, discontinued the Baltic to UK Continent ice premium assessment that had been published in Dirty Tankerwire and reflected the extra Worldscale points negotiated for ice class Aframaxes loading 100,000 mt cargoes in the Baltic region during the ice season.

Platts carried out this discontinuation due to changes in the underlying market.

Non-ice class vessels are now rarely used in the Baltic during the ice season, while ice-class vessels are primarily used even for ice-free ports, and no longer command an observable premium in the market.

The assessment is no longer published in the Dirty Tankerwire or on PGA fixed page MH1960.

The corresponding symbols for cargo size (TDAENSZ), Worldscale (TDAEN00) and $/mt (TDAEO00) values have also been discontinued.

Platts Baltic to UK Continent assessment reflects standard vessel fixtures on this route, which are now typically ice class.

That assessment is published in Dirty Tankerwire and on PGA fixed page MH1960 under the codes TDADP00 for Worldscale and TDADK00 for $/mt values.

This means that during the ice season, this assessment reflects the freight rate for ice class Aframax vessels loading in ice-restricted ports.

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