There have been 146 tanker orders placed through July, compared to just 56 during the same time period last year. The bulk of these orders have stemmed from the VLCC and MR2 classes as 39 and 47 firm orders have been placed, respectively (Figure 1). Maran Tankers placed a firm order for seven VLCCs at Daewoo this year, while BW/DHT has collectively placed six at Samsung and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
For DPP tankers, trailing the VLCC sector, 12 Suezmaxes and 25 uncoated Aframaxes have been ordered through the end of July, a dramatic increase from the 11 Aframaxes ordered last year, but broadly in-line on the Suezmax side. The resilience of newbuilding contracts has pushed us to adjust our vessel delivery schedule for the outer years of our forecast and, in turn, lowered our freight rate expectations.
In the clean tanker segment, newbuilding ordering has reached 70 vessels this year, four and 48 more than the same period in 2016. We have counted 47 MR2 tanker orders in 2017, not including any chemical (IMO 2 designated) MR2s. In the LR tanker categories, AP Moller has been active, ordering six vessels at Dalian, while Ship Finance International preferred Daehan for its two newbuilds. In total, we count 12 LR2s and 0 LR1s ordered year-to-date.
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Source: Mcquilling Partners
