Those of us of a certain age, who were active in merchant shipping, remember the tanker industry in the 1980s.  And none too fondly.   After a period of rising charter rates and robust new construction, the market effectively collapsed in the 80s, resulting in a large fleet of laid up tankers. Some new ships steamed straight from the shipyard to lay-up. It is too soon to tell if conditions will turn as dark as they were thirty years ago, but the signs are not encouraging.

Charter rates are now the lowest they have been in 14 years and the number of large tankers in lay up are approaching levels from the 80’s.  To reinforce the comparison, a new Aframax tanker, managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, recently sailed directly from being delivered by a shipyard to layup in Malaysia,  the first recorded tanker to go directly from delivery to lay up since the 1980s.

Most Supertankers Idled Since ‘80s Still Won’t Buoy Charter Rates: Freight