No matter how flat the hire rates are for big tankers, shipowners are determined to fill out their fleets in expectation of an upturn.
Operators of VLCCs are as busy as those in more buoyant sectors in purchasing new tonnage.
Symbolic of the newfound optimism was an $82.5m move by Denmark’s Torm to buy eight secondhand MR vessels.
It is taking advantage of a fall in asset prices combined with a desire on the part of the vendor, Team Tankers, to bail out.
