ClarkSea Index Sets Fifth Straight Record as 181 Newbuilding Orders Land and Recycling Sinks to 50-Year Low
Clarksons' cross-sector ClarkSea Index jumped 12% in a week to an unprecedented $84,951 a day, 181 newbuilding orders totalling 6.05 million dwt were booked in week 41, and demolition sales fell to their lowest sustained pace since the early 1970s.
The ClarkSea Index, Clarksons Research's weighted earnings barometer across tankers, bulk carriers, containerships and gas carriers covering roughly 80% of global capacity, surged 12% in a week to $84,951 a day, a fifth consecutive all-time high. The reading is far above the 2007 supercycle peak of $50,714 a day; this year's average is running 70% above 2025 and 87% ahead of the ten-year trend. Crude tankers drove the move: average VLCC earnings rose another 21% to $804,601 a day, suezmaxes climbed 17% to $724,398 and aframaxes jumped 46% to $393,951. Dry bulk softened, with capesize earnings down 16% to $31,130 and average bulker earnings down 3% to $22,319, while the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index held at 3,664 points, 215% higher year on year, and VLGCs earned a record $209,000 a day on the US Gulf-Japan route.
Ordering has followed earnings rather than lagging it. New-Ships recorded 181 newbuilding orders across nine segments in week 41 of 2026, the five to 11 October window, totalling 6,052,760 dwt. Containers led with 50 units and bulk carriers accounted for 25 orders and 3,074,000 dwt spread across eight yards and six owners, including 211,000 dwt newcastlemax-class units at Jiangsu Dajin Heavy Industry for Evalend Shipping and at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry for U-Ming Marine Transport. Tankers contributed 21 orders and 2,482,760 dwt from seven yards and seven owners, with Hengli Heavy Industries and Scorpio Tankers accounting for two of the 306,000 dwt VLCC slots. Gas carriers added a further 19 orders.
Owners are paying up for the remaining berths. Chinese and Korean contracting reported in the same week included HMM ordering eight 210,000 dwt ore carriers at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding at about $105m each against a 25-year Vale contract with delivery from March 2030, MSC taking six 21,700 teu LNG dual-fuel container ships at Zhoushan Changhong International at roughly $225m each for 2029 delivery, and Aegean Shipping fixing a 306,000 dwt VLCC at Hengli Heavy Industry for about $120m for September 2029. Advantage Tankers added two 50,000 dwt MR2 product tankers at Guangzhou Shipyard International at about $45m each for June 2029, Yangzijiang Maritime took six 64,500 dwt bulkers at Jingjiang Nanyang at roughly $35m each for March 2029, and Fujian Shipping Group ordered two 82,000 dwt bulkers at Jiangsu Haitong for about $41.2m each for May 2028.
The fleet renewal signal is being suppressed by the same freight market. Clarksons calculates that just 273 ships of 5.5m gt, about 8m dwt, were sold for demolition in the first nine months of 2026, 13% below last year's pace and 60% beneath the 2000s and 2010s average, with less than 0.5% of fleet tonnage scrapped annually for five straight years. More than 340m gt of shipping is now at least 20 years old, up 90% in five years and close to 20% of the world fleet against 12% in 2021, while a record 68m gt has passed 30 years. Tankers are the most aged segment at 22% of capacity over 20 years versus 8% five years ago. Indian subcontinent scrap steel prices have risen 20-25% this year, but with the ClarkSea Index at a record, continued trading and secondhand sales remain far more attractive than the beach.