Describing 2018 as a “year of extremes” for the tanker trades, brokers Gibson note that this year has marked the highest number of tanker demolitions over the past 15 years. All in all, more than 150 tankers above 25,000 dwt have been sent to the recycling yards, with weak industry returns and attractive scrap prices offering a strong impetus to scrap.
At the same time, Gibson noted in its most recent weekly report the market has seen lower than expected number of new additions: over 25% of the tanker orderbook scheduled for delivery in 2018 has slipped into next year.
“The combination of robust demolition activity and a slower pace of tanker deliveries has meant that the growth in tanker supply has been fairly marginal,” Gibson observed.
The broker is also predicting that by the end of 2020 one in five VLCCs will be fitted with a scrubber.
