The UK Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO) reported that a total of 5 incidents occurred in and around the Strait of Hormuz on Monday (October 5): 4 oil tankers were attacked by unknown missiles (including LPG ships and crude oil tankers), and another oil tanker entering the port was threatened by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to turn around. The U.S. Central Command said on the same day that it had forced the 130th merchant ship to reroute since the restoration of the maritime blockade against Iran on July 14. And in the past 12 weeks, 17 ships were destroyed and 3 illegal ships were blinded.
According to Hellenic Shipping News' "2026Q4 Shipping Market Outlook": After the US-Iran MoU expired in mid-August, the Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb Straits were under pressure at the same time, and the Saudi East-West oil pipeline was damaged for a time; VLCC's spot income in the third quarter exceeded US$200,000/day, and MR product tankers were about US$40,000/day; 198 VLCCs have been signed so far in 2026 (only 89 in 2025), The proportion of tanker fleet order capacity rose to 37%, and the value of 5-year-old VLCC assets rose 70% during the year to US$196.3 million. Analysts believe that Middle East oil flow may improve in Q4, but full recovery is expected no earlier than mid-2027.
Drewry's assessment on October 1: The World Container Freight Index (WCI) fell 1% to US$4,434/40ft. Shanghai-Genoa fell 3% to US$3,702, Shanghai-Rotterdam fell 2% to US$3,399, and the Asia-Europe line has fallen for 12 consecutive weeks; Shanghai-New York rose 1% to US$10,428, and Shanghai-Los Angeles remained unchanged at US$7,835. In the 39th week of the Suez Canal, the traffic volume increased by 68% year-on-year (effective capacity increased). Coupled with the China National Day Golden Week factory holiday, Drewry expects freight prices to continue to fall next week.
On Monday, the BDI fell about 2.5% to 3,070 points, the lowest since August 26; the capesize index fell 4.2% to 4,833 points, and the Panamax index fell slightly by 0.3% to 2,364 points. The main reason was the correction in iron ore and coal freight rates.
Investigators discovered that the propulsion system of a supertanker bound for Texas, USA, was accessed by hackers before entering the port. The incident once again highlighted the potential security risks of the ship's OT/IT network and has entered the federal investigation process.
According to reports from the International Shipping Network, China Merchants Energy Shipping spent approximately 18.8 billion yuan to order six new very large ore ships (VLOC) and locked in the long-term transportation supply of iron ore in Simandou, Guinea. After Simandou is put into operation, it will systematically lengthen the sea transportation distance of iron ore, which mutually confirms the judgment of overseas institutions on China's demand and transportation distance dividends.
The 175,000 cubic meter LNG carrier "YANGZE LNG 01" independently built by Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, successfully completed the first commercial cargo shipment on the Oman-Shenzhen route (PSC without defects), and then connected to the second voyage of the Australia route and put into regular operation. Yangzijiang has thus become the fourth domestic company and the first private enterprise to enter the large-scale LNG ship construction market. The ship and sister ships have been leased to Mercuria Energy Group (Mercuria), the lease term is 4-5 years, and the rent is priced at 88% of the Baltic Exchange BLNG2 route index.