VLCC ordering in the first half of this year was on a scale not seen since the halcyon days pre-global financial crisis of 2008, according to statistics released today by shipowning body, Bimco.
The Danish-headquartered association noted that dry bulk and tanker newbuild contracts in the first half were 20% higher than 2016. Signed newbuild contracts so far this year stand at 19.6m dwt.
Bimco’s chief shipping analyst Peter Sand commented that all the new orders were not what the industry needed given the still poor earnings across most sectors in shipping.
“A continuous high level of newbuild activity will halt the current slow progressing improvement in the shipping markets,” Sand argued.