A Year to Forget
Although freight levels in some shipping sectors reached breath-taking highs this year, 2021 is a year to forget for tankers, particularly in the crude segment. The majority of crude tonnage (non-eco, non scrubber) was forced to operate at sub-zero levels for large parts of the year. The VLCC market has been particularly hard hit, with TCE returns on the benchmark TD3C trade averaging less than $500/day (non-eco, non scrubber), their lowest level seen over the past two decades. Eco tonnage and those equipped with the exhaust gas cleaning technology have been able to achieve higher results and recoup, at least partially their fixed operating expenses. Owners of scrubber equipped tankers benefitted from the VLSFO/HSFO spread averaging around $105–120/tonne in key bunkering ports this year, with the differential climbing as high as $200/tonne recently in Singapore, levels not seen since early 2020.
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