Those whose maritime careers are dependent on confidence and reliability in the shipping sector are facing an uncertain future. Chartering professionals have had to deal with freight rate volatility and laycans (represents a specific window in time where a vessel must arrive at a port and be ready to load or discharge its cargo). Specifically, they may have to wait in port if they arrive too early, or the charterer has the right to cancel the contract if the cargo arrives too late. Both the shipowner and the charterer depend on this deadline being met.
On top of this, additional challenges have been brought by shifting tariffs, sanctions and trade policies. A fixture, or legally binding, completed agreement to charter a ship is now met by other uncertainties such as ‘is the vessel compliant?’, ‘who really owns it?’ and ‘will it face restrictions at discharge?’.
Ther US tariff unpredictability situation has significantly altered the global chartering market, affecting all commodities (dry bulk, tanker and LNG). Trade flows, freight costs and layers of operational risk were all factors which charterers had to carefully navigate.
The Dry Bulk Market
US exports have been slowed due to retaliatory tariffs in the dry bulk market. Figures show that this part of the sector has not reached this stunted a level since April 2021. This is as a result of the decrease in such US exports as US high sulphur petroleum coke, which Turkey, in particular chose to purchase from Colombia and South Africa. Another is India’s decision to buy thermal coal from those two same countries turning down a deal with the US, which prior to the extra tariff burden, they had opted to do so. Grain exports to China from the US showed a significant decrease in the first quarter of 2025.
The Tanker Market
Vessels built, or with links to China have recently faced punitive measures and thus have forced operators to reconsider deployment strategies, i.e. find other countries to man and run their cargo ships. This caused US crude and product exports, specifically to Asia and China, to become more expensive and operationally uncertain. Charterers found that delayed and rerouted cargo, which came about through compliance reviews or owner hesitations, created additional pressure on freight rates and caused unexpected schedule changes. China’s import of US coal has completely stopped since April 2025!
The Liquified Natural Gas Market
China had a substantial appetite for LNG originating in the US, but shifting policy and tariff dynamics has reduced this. Figures show that in 2024 LNG from the US accounted for 5.5% of Chinese imports, while the last cargo to be discharged there since the tariff impositions, was on February 6th, 2025, and none since. It can be sought elsewhere, specifically from Australia and Qatar.
US LNG cargo has been redirected to European countries where regasification is tight. Charterers had to navigate longer sailing distances, port congestion and infrastructure bottlenecks. This had the effect of putting pressure on vessel availability and the altered routes meant that financial constraints were faced each and every voyage.
