The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships transporting dry bulk commodities, gained on Friday supported by a jump in capesize vessel rates.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 36 points, or 2.6 percent, to 1,401 points.
The capesize index rose 203 points, or 9.3 percent, to 2,383 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000 tonne-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $727 to $17,704.
The panamax index climbed 19 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,478 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, rose by $156 to $11,828.
The supramax index was up 6 points at 974 points.
Reporting by Harshith Aranya