Tanker owners had a blast in the spring: nations around the world went into lockdown, oil demand slumped, and hundreds of millions of barrels of excessive supply had to be stashed somewhere—offshore. Now, tanker rates are plummeting, and while industry insiders believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it is a long tunnel. The tanker market is in “cash burn mode”, said the chief executive of Diamond S Shipping, as quoted by Lloyd’s List. The amount of oil in floating storage has fallen significantly since this summer, thanks to OPEC+ cuts and a recovery in demand in China and, to a lesser extent, India. As a result, there is now a surplus of free tankers, which has brought daily freight rates—and consequently revenues and profits—down from the record high the industry enjoyed this spring. The immediate future looks even bleaker. Winter is normally a strong […]