Heading into 2021, the story for tankers was simple and straightforward. As vaccination against Covid-19 became widespread and the pandemic that forced the world into lockdown subsided, travel was due to pick up and boost oil demand, lifting a market that cratered in the summer of 2020.
The reality was a bit different. Rates improved as 2021 wore on but not enough to see tankers come roaring back and the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, among other issues, complicated matters further.
