The Down and Dirty: 2009’s Top Charterers

With refinery utilizations low and volumes on long-haul trade routes sapped by a 2 million barrel per day drop in worldwide demand, it comes as no surprise that 2009 saw a marked slowdown of activity in the tanker market. The recently completed year was one in which the tanker market was beset by forces both specific to the industry and completely out of its control. An examination of the changes between total fixtures reported in 2008 and 2009 reveals some of the results of the forces that shaped the tanker market over the past year. Download here