Caribbean freight rates for dirty Panamax tankers have fallen to their lowest in over three months due to an increase in available tonnage, according to shipping sources Wednesday.

Freight rates for the Caribbean-US Gulf Coast route, basis 50,000 mt, were assessed at Worldscale 117.5 Tuesday, after sources pegged rates in the w112-117.5 range. The w117.5 assessment equates to $11.29/mt, the lowest since December 3 2013's $10.59/mt, according to Platts data.

Rates on the route had previously surged to their highest since December 2007 in January due to bad weather in the US Gulf but the weather situation in the region has moderated somewhat since then, eliminating that support for freight rates.

"There's no demand for ships and ships have been building up, it's the usual story," said a US-based shipbroker. A South American-based broker added, "the market is slow, there are not many cargoes for the ships."

The Senatore was heard to be on subjects to PMI to load a 50,000 mt cargo on March 15 from the East Coast of Mexico to the US Gulf Coast at w117.5. The shipowner Scorpio Tankers was not immediately available for comment.