Aframax
Aframax is a tanker size class of roughly 80,000 to 120,000 deadweight tonnes. The name comes from the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) tanker-rating system, not a canal or geographic limit. Aframaxes carry crude oil and, as larger product tankers, refined products.
Their moderate size makes them versatile and well-suited to shorter-haul and regional trades — the North Sea, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and intra-Asian routes — and to ports that cannot accommodate the giant VLCCs and Suezmaxes. This flexibility keeps Aframaxes in steady demand across many markets. They sit below Suezmax in the crude-tanker size ladder (Aframax < Suezmax < VLCC), and the closely related LR2 class denotes large product tankers of similar size. Aframax rates, like all tanker rates, are volatile and quoted on Worldscale. The class is a mainstay of regional and medium-haul oil transport.
Aframaxes are the flexible mid-size of the tanker world — big enough to be economic, small enough to serve regional trades and ports the giants can't reach. That versatility keeps them in demand across many markets, making the class a mainstay of medium-haul crude and product shipping.
Where does the name Aframax come from?
From the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) tanker-rating system, not a canal or geographic constraint.
What size is an Aframax?
Roughly 80,000–120,000 deadweight tonnes, between the smaller product tankers and the larger Suezmax.