While oil prices have largely recovered from the shocks of 2008, the tanker market remains in the doldrums. Rates sank in the wake of the 2008 oil price collapse and have remained weak ever since, waiting in vain for the shipping industry to grasp the nettle and begin the program of mass scrappings needed to address current fleet overcapacity (PIW Dec.26' 11). As of July this year, the global tanker fleet stood at 4,296 vessels, or 459.1 million deadweight metric tons (dwt), according to shipbrokerage Simpson, Spence & Young (SSY). That represents a 29% increase since the start of 2008, during which time global oil demand has risen by just 2%. Nor is there much prospect of short-term recovery, with SSY figures showing 144 ships, or 19 million dwt, still due for delivery this year and only 17, or 1.4 million dwt, scheduled for scrapping.
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