Nefte Compass: NWE Diesel Up on Ukraine, Turnarounds

“New research from London-based shipbroker Poten & Partners shows how the size of the very large crude carrier (VLCC) fleet, increasingly used to transport Russian fuel oil to Singapore, is being swelled both by new deliveries and by longer working lives for ‘modem’ double-hulled tankers. “Around half the current 629-strong VLCC fleet is less than five years old, according to Poten, with a working life of more than 20 years still ahead of them. Poten found ships as old as 22 years working in the main Mideast Gulf market last year — far higher than the 15-year maximum usually factored into fleet analysis.”