very large crude carriers

The number of very large crude carriers sold for demolition will pick up towards the end of the year, ICAP Shipping forecast.

Compared to the 15 VLCCs delivered during the first quarter, just three were removed from service, increasing the fleet growth to 12 vessels, or up 2.1%, between January and March, ICAP said in its Global Shipping Analytics report.

ICAP says the entire tanker fleet for all vessels, from crude carriers to product tankers, grew almost 1% in the first quarter of the year, with growth kept in check by scrapping.

「First-quarter removals have been strong in the suezmax, aframax and medium range sectors and slower for the VLCCs, panamaxes and handy sectors compared to removals recorded last year,」 ICAP said.

「In the VLCC sector, the strength of the first-quarter earnings may have dissuaded scrapping of younger tonnage, however we anticipate that scrapping activity will pick up pace significantly in the remainder of the year.」

The VLCC fleet grew faster than any other tanker sector in terms of vessels added. Medium range tankers followed, adding 10 vessels to the fleet. Other arrivals included seven aframaxes and five suezmaxes.


Published : May 2, 2012
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