The world’s fleet of giant supertankers is the oldest it has been since 2002, the latest sign of an illicit trade that owners say is damaging business. Publicly traded shipowners have said for months that the transport of sanctioned cargoes from Iran and Venezuela has weakened the tanker market and helped drive earnings to the lowest in years. For much of 2021, benchmark rates have been loss-making, with owners effectively subsidizing cargo movements across the globe. Usually, when ships are 20 years old they become harder to trade as they are less likely to meet all the safety and environmental requirements placed on the industry. But owners say the fact the fleet is now the oldest in almost two decades […]