More than 90 vessels in excess of 34,000 dwt are forecast for scrapping in 2021, compared with only 25 last year, shipbroker says

The tanker FFA market’s growth is ‘a story of medium-term development, not just a busy 2020. We’ve seen consistent growth since 2017’, said Tom Stockton, head of the FFA wet brokers’ association

Forecasts to weigh on spot tanker earnings, which are already below operating costs for most of the 2,000-plus larger tankers that lift the majority of crude exports and lead direction of rates for smaller sizes

Diversions imply cargo surplus, adding further gloomy signal to depressed transatlantic tanker earnings which remain below operating expenses

Resurgence of coronavirus infections arrests nascent recovery in oil demand growth that is said to have ‘profound negative impact’ on tanker earnings

The old shipping adage that cargo is king applies more than ever for 2021. A rising east-west divide, post-Trump geopolitical policies, and post-pandemic consumer behaviour are recasting tanker market dynamics over the next 12 months