The year 2020 was supposed to be all about scrubbers following the introduction of the IMO sulfur cap regulations that came in to force on January 1, but no one could have predicted the current COVID-19 pandemic, a black swan event that has thrown oil prices into turmoil with an unprecedented impact on tanker markets. Over the past few months, we have seen an explosion in freight rates with VLCCS making headlines as the uncertainty over oil production and the impact of the pandemic has sent traders rushing out to book large tankers to store millions of barrels of crude acquired at rock bottom prices. Immediately after oil prices crashed in March, VLCCS were being hired at rates close to $280,000 a day to carry oil from the Middle East to America.
展开▼
