The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose to an over three-month high on Thursday, buoyed by a surge in capesize vessel activity.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, climbed 25 points, or 2.18 percent, to its highest since Dec. 6 of 1,172 points.
The capesize index rose 129 points, or 6 percent, to 2,265 points, its best since the end of November.
The index, which has risen for the eleventh straight session, was up nearly 130 percent since its previous fall on March 1.
The rally in the capesize market is mainly due to strength in Brazil and South Africa, ship brokerage firm Fearnleys said in a weekly report on Wednesday.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $993 at $16,757, the most since Nov. 23, according to the Baltic Exchange's website.
The panamax index was down 21 points, or 1.83 percent, at 1,129 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $167 to $9,081.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index was flat at 877 points, while the handysize index rose 3 points to 508 points.
(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)