Next month’s $500 million (£374 million) stock market flotation of the supertanker owner, Volare Shipping, follows war in the Middle East forcing freight rates to hit record highs. This will be the first public listing of a business owned by Trafigura, the world’s second-largest oil trader, and shows how it’s an ill wind that blows no good. Fortunately, there are several ways closer to home for investors to gain exposure to shipping, and I own shares in three of them – including one that has nearly doubled in the last year.