Tanker Earnings and the Value of a Third Special Survey

Miserable dirty tanker earnings and strong marine fuel prices are placing unrelenting pressure on tanker owners. With the dirty tanker market clearly out of supply/demand equilibrium — from both weak demand fundamentals and continued supply — the market requires more drastic supply measures. Owners have begun to scrap 20-year old and younger vessels, as they become less marketable in a weak market, but they may have to consider the economics of paying for a third special survey, at 15 years of age, and then trading the vessel — versus the scrap value of the vessel. Download here