2015 Orderbook for Newbuild Tankers Set to Beat 2013 Record Year

Gibson says that for most size groups the tanker orderbook has now reached the highest level since 2011-12.

Construction of new tankers this year, driven by a surge on newly ordered tonnage, is set to break the record set in 2013, EA Gibson Shipbrokers (Gibson) predicts in its weekly tanker report.

Gibson says that for most size groups the tanker orderbook has now reached the highest level since 2011-12, with VLCCs at 18 percent to their current size and Suezmaxes at 17 percent to their current size.

During the first six months of 2015, 34 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) were reportedly ordered, which is just below the total number ordered for all of 2014 and just shy of the record numbers seen in 2013.

Similarly, 30 Suezmaxes orders have already been placed this year, reportedly the highest number since 2010 and more than half of all 2014 orders.

Meanwhile Aframaxes order numbers, which were said to have been "considerably more muted" in 2013-14, are reportedly the highest they have been since 2007, with 40 orders placed this year so far.

Larger product carriers have also seen an order jump with 37 having been ordered in the LR2 segment and 35 in the LR1 segment.

Gibson also reports that owners' preference for coated tankers has kept Panamax activity "highly restricted," while demand for new Handy/MRs has also been limited since last year.

"It will be interesting to see whether new tanker ordering activity will remain at similar robust levels in the second half of this year," said Gibson.

"If industry returns continue beating expectations, it most likely will be the case."

"Taking into account limited prospects for tanker demolition, which is another consequence of high earnings; all of the above means that the growth in tanker supply is going to start accelerating soon," added Gibson.

Earlier this month Shipbroker Banchero Costa & Co. (Bancosta) warned that new product tanker orders could "kill" the opportunity for the sector's recovery before it begins.