Nearly 19m dwt-worth of VLCCs are under US sanctions, with more likely on the way.
ABG Sundal Collier analyst Petter Haugen said on Thursday that 5% of the global tanker fleet is on the formal US blacklist, with VLCCs leading the way at 7% of a fleet that Clarksons pegs at just over 269m dwt.
But he pointed out that the US pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has 12% of the total VLCC fleet on its list of dark fleet ships.
