VLCC scrapping is set to decline sharply in 2019, a year after hitting the highest level this century, according to figures from two leading shipbrokers.
However, the influence of two landmark pieces of legislation will see demolition in the big tanker market defy conventional shipping wisdom in 2020 and rise despite a strong freight market, experts say.
Demolition activity across the tanker space reached the highest level since the 1980s in 2018, a year that saw the worst freight market this century.
