Suez blockage sets shipping rates racing, oil and gas tankers diverted away

The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free a stuck mega vessel, after an earlier attempt failed to end a blockage that has lifted shipping rates for fuel tankers and scrambled global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes. Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled this week and several vessels were diverted away from the Suez Canal as a giant container ship remained wedged between both banks on Friday.  All its 25 crew members, who have remained on board, were safe, in good health and spirits, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the Ever…