ECSA - The Tramp Shipping Market Mar 2015

A2.2 Crude Oil Tanker Market Profile
World
EU-28
No. m. Dwt m. GT No. Owners No. m. Dwt m. GT No. Owners
Fleet (Feb-2015) 1,838 344.1 181.8 258 676 118.2 62.3 99
Orderbook (Feb-2015) 208 44.5 22.8 41 62 11.2 5.8 13
O'book as % of fleet 11.3% 12.9% 12.6% 15.9% 9.2% 9.5% 9.4% 13.1%
Top 20 Owners' Fleet (Feb-2015) 711 154.3 81.1 20 381 74.9 39.4 20
% of fleet 38.7% 44.8% 44.6% 7.8% 56.4% 63.4% 63.3% 20.2%
Ownership Type (Feb-2015)
Independent Private 974 169.2 89.4 175 580 99.1 52.3 88
Public Listed 475 95.8 50.5 41 58 12.7 6.6 5
State Interests 172 31.3 16.6 12
Oil Company 170 36.1 19.1 17 23 3.1 1.7 3
Cargo Interests 17 4.4 2.3 5
Financial 17 4.0 2.1 4 15 3.3 1.8 3
Other 13 3.4 1.8 4
NB Contracts (2014) 84 18.1 9.3
% of fleet 4.6% 5.3% 5.1%
S/H Sales (2014) 170 35.7 18.7
% of fleet 9.2% 10.4% 10.3%
Entry Conditions. Relatively easy. Asset costs depend on size of vessel (current VLCC newbuild price = $96.5m).
Type of Cargo, Charters. Homogeneous cargo encourages competition between vessels of different sizes. Long-term contracts, period
charters and spot chartering all widely used. Main charterers are oil majors/traders.
Cargo Volumes 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Global Imports, m.tonnes 1,912 1,902 1,815 1,868 1,851 1,901 1,833 1,809
growth -1% -5% 3% -1% 3% -4% -1%
EU Imports, m.tonnes 527 527 478 476 457 490 459 437
growth 0% -9% 0% -4% 7% -6% -5%
Chinese Imports, m.tonnes 149 164 184 221 230 246 255 281
growth 10% 12% 20% 4% 7% 4% 10%
Source: Clarkson Research, February 2015. Uncoated tankers, 60,000 dwt or above.
Crude Oil Tanker Sector Overview
The crude oil tanker fleet incorporates 1,838 vessels ranging from 60,000-450,000 dwt. It covers
four major sectors: Panamax (uncoated, 60-80,000 dwt), Aframax (uncoated, 80-120,000 dwt), Suezmax
(uncoated, 120-200,000 dwt) and VL/ULCC (200,000 dwt+). The size of vessels used on a
particular route is usually determined by cargo size, but since these vessels carry predominantly
crude oil (a number of uncoated Panamax tankers are also deployed on deep-sea fuel oil trades),
there can be significant competition between the size ranges, with, for example, Suezmaxes switched
into Aframax trades as long as port facilities can handle bigger vessels.
Demand for crude oil tankers is centred on the major oil companies. Historically, oil companies
played a significant role in the ownership of the fleet, although this has diminished and they now
only account ownership of only 9% of the crude tankers in the fleet. The majority of the fleet is currently
owned by independent owners. The top 20 owners account for around 45% of the fleet by dwt,
though ownership in the larger sectors is more concentrated. Owning and operating the largest tankers
requires considerable capital investment.
Over the past few years ownership has been characterised by growing consolidation, particularly in
the VL/ULCC sector, with the Chinese owned fleet in particular, expanding rapidly. The picture in
Europe has been mixed, with some owners aggressively expanding their fleets, while at the same
time, players such as Maersk have made widely publicised exits from the market.
Clarkson Research Services 50 March 2015