Global VLCC tracker: Rates slump, tonnage glut looms

摘要

VLCC freight rates have continued to slump, with daily earnings now at half the level they were at the end of 2015, weighed down by an emerging oversupply of ships. Earnings for VLCC shipowners have now slipped to below $50,000 per day, with 61 new VLCCs expected to delivered in 2016, according to Affinity Research. Last year, the combination of low fleet growth, oversupply in global oil markets and falling bunker prices saw time-charter equivalent returns on most trade routes rise to the highest levels since 2008, prompting a flood of new orders for VLCCs.