Euronav's bold move to expand fleet

NEW Year cheer among tanker owners was muted at the TradeWinds Charterers Forum in Geneva in the middle of last month.A TradeWinds press statement said that discussion focused on where the tanker market was headed this year;

delegates debated whether the recent rate rises were just a happy blip to see off the end of another depressing year for the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) sector or actually the marker of a true start to a sustainable recovery.

It was noted that market sentiment was not as negative as it would have been just two months previously, when rates were hovering at around US$12,000 per day. However, the general opinion was that the current trading levels of more than US$50,000 per day would be short-lived. Projections settled on a return to a spot rate of between US$15,000 and US$20,000 per day by next month, with the market remaining sluggish up to 2015 and 2016.