Crude Awakening for Aframaxes

13 Mar 2015: Dirty Aframax tankers continue to have potential. For many years, the Aframax crude oil tanker was the workhorse of the crude oil tanker industry. This vessel size was very versatile, could enter almost any crude oil load and discharge port worldwide and was an ideal match for the rapidly growing short-haul crude trades in regional basins such as the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caribbean Basin and the Mediterranean and Black Sea, as well as the regional trades in South East Asia. From 1990 to 2010, the Aframax fleet more than doubled from 407 to 837 vessels, a compound annual growth rate of 3.7%, making it the fastest growing crude tanker segment over that time period. In recent years, however, the popularity of the Aframax tanker seems to have diminished somewhat, while the growth of the Suezmax and VLCC fleet has continued. Has the age of the Aframax come to an end or does this segment have further upside? Download here