Bunkerworld: Tanker Operators Urged to Get Creative

“Tanker companies can consider vessel layups, scrapping and company mergers as means to lower operational costs on the back of a weak market, says a spokesman from global broker and commercial advisor firm Poten & Partners Inc. (P&P). ‘The simple statement is that there are too many ships,’ said Jeffrey Goetz, managing director and head of tanker department of P&P, at Seatrade Tanker Industry Conference. According to Goetz, the world’s tanker fleet, which is nearly all double-hulled and less than 20 years old, currently stands at 570 VLCCs with another 135 on order. Time charter equivalent (TCE) rates for the tanker industry in 2011 were the lowest in the past 15 years, he said. Rates were ‘barely enough’ to pay operating expenses and “certainly not enough” to pay for financing costs or provide returns, he added.”