Rates for Panamax vessels that typically haul cargoes of grains and coal are expected to stay at “profitable levels” for another two months, because of delays at South American ports, according to Morgan Stanley. (MS)

Returns for Panamaxes, the largest vessels to navigate the Panama Canal, have nearly doubled since February, rising to $10,000 a day because of “strong” South American grain production, Fotis Giannakoulis, a New York-based analyst at the investment bank, said in an e-mailed report today.

Rates are expected to stay profitable while as many as 200 Panamax and Handymax vessels continue to be affected by congestion and wait to collect grain cargoes, Giannakoulis said, citing figures from New York-based researcher Commodore Research & Consultancy. Earnings will then decline as the harvest season ends and deliveries of new ships swell the global fleet, he said.

Source: Bloomberg