Rising Oil Demand Lifts All Ships; Resurgent U.S., insatiable China and frigid winter fuel a boom in freight.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)(TRANSPORTATION/SHIPPING)

Byline: MARILYN ALVA

Since the tide turned last year for shipping companies, business on the high seas hasn't been this good in years -- perhaps ever.

With demand for crude oil and other bulk commodities still on the rise, signals point to full steam ahead this year. Freight rates are at record highs, and as a result shipping firms are raking in piles of cash.

A number of factors are behind the full-throttle pace, including the turnaround in the U.S. economy, insatiable demand from China, longer voyages and a tight tanker market.

In addition, a cold winter has contributed to the lowest crude oil inventories in the U.S. in 27 years, analysts say.

"If you add all that up, it has created a boom that makes the 1970s tanker boom that created the Onassises of the world a walk in the park," said energy analyst Ole Slorer of Morgan Stanley.

In late January, day rates on Suez tankers alone rose to $70,000 from $40,000 just three months earlier. "When you have break-even costs of $13,000 to $18,000 a day, this is a year we have not seen before," said Gary Goldstein, senior analyst at Gilford Securities. "Is this the end? We don't think so."