Aframax freight rates in the Americas spiked more than 22\% from Tuesday due to a gap in the already-slim tonnage.

The Aframax position list shows just 11 ships opening in the Caribbean or on the US Gulf Coast through November 17. Tonnage is also lopsided, with seven tankers located on the US Gulf Coast.

"The lists didn't look that tight, but I think a lot of things got tucked away secretly," a shipbroker said. "Next thing you know there are not many ships around."

The rise of the Aframaxes came in two quick steps.

First, an SCF tanker to be nominated was put on subjects by ATMI for an East Coast Mexico-USGC journey beginning with the loading of a 70,000 mt cargo on November 3.

That level was eclipsed soon afterward when Citgo reserved the Gener8 Pericles at Worldscale 110 for a Venezuela-USGC journey, also with a November 3 lifting.

Another shipbroker said Citgo waited too long to fix its cargo and was left out in the cold, as only two tankers were available to take on the load.

"[Citgo] shouldn't have sat on November 2-3 dates that long," he said. "Every other Caribs stem was covered until November 5 and there weren't many ships."

The Caribbean-USGC route for an Aframax was assessed Wednesday at W 110, or $9.28/mt.

Houston (Platts)