About 14% of the total deliveries were VLCCs, as 10 newbuildings were delivered to the trading fleet during the period.
In this report, McQuilling Services examined tanker supply by analysing this year’s orderbook, as well as the current delivery/exit profiles for each of the eight vessel classes covered.
There were eight additions to the Suezmax fleet, which was in-line with January’s expectations, compared to just four Suezmaxes delivered through July 2014.
As for Aframaxes, the number of newbuildings delivered has outpaced last year’s number by six as 12 deliveries were recorded. Over the past two years, negative fleet growth in the Aframax sector was seen, but this year this situation is clearly moving in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, no Panamax deliveries were recorded, as this class did not see any orders during 2012-2013, McQuilling said.
LR2 deliveries outgrew the January forecast by one as 10 vessels were delivered through July, but only one LR1 was delivered.
The MR2 market continued to lead the way in terms of newbuilding deliveries as 26 MR2 vessels (IMO III) joined the fleet through July. The MR1s saw much less activity as just six were recorded.
As for fleet deletions, the pace of scrapping slowed considerably year-on-year, as just 18 exits were recorded through July, compared to 50 the previous year.
This decline in scrapping can be attributed to a stronger spot market and weaker scrap prices, which reduced owners incentive to send their vessels to the breakers, the consultancy said.
Four vessels exited the VLCC trading fleet through July, two of which were sold for conversion - the ‘Patris’ and ‘Universal Prime’. Conversely, no Suezmaxes exited the trading fleet thus far this year.
The pace of Aframax scrapping also slowed significantly year-on-year as just two deletions were recorded through July, compared to 17 the previous year. Panamax deletions totalled two vessels, bringing this class net fleet growth to a negative two.
Similar to the Suezmaxes, there were no LR2s sent to the breakers through July, while two LR1s, the ‘Art’ and ‘Varg Star’, left the trading fleet in April and June, respectively.
Only two MR2s (IMO III) left the trading fleet through July, while MR1s saw the most exits out of all of the vessel classes, totalling six in the period.
Turning to tanker contracting, McQuilling said that the number of newbuilding orders placed through July reached 136 vessels, compared to 127 during the same time frame of 2014.
The bulk of these orders came from the dirty Aframax class as 42 firm orders were placed. Following behind were VLCCs with 33 orders. Almost 70% of the total orders were placed from May-July as TCEs on some of the major Baltic trade routes reached the highest levels of the year.
Suezmax contracting was also robust, as 29 orders were placed through July, compared to 22 firm orders in the period last year. Panamaxes saw just one order from China Shipping Group in April.
In the clean tanker segment, newbuilding contracting was led by LR1s as 20 orders were placed through July. Dalian, d’Amico and Sinokor have each placed significant LR1 orders thus far this year for this class of vessel. Conversely, there have only been four LR2 orders recorded, two of which were placed by Sinokor.
MR orders have been subdued this year, which was in stark contrast from the past two years. Only two MR2s were ordered year-to-date, compared to 17 the previous year. A little more interest was seen for MR1s, as five orders were placed, but this figure is down about 79% from 2014 levels.
Newbuilding orders for dirty tankers have clearly dominated this year’s orderbook, which was a notable change from what was seen in recent years, McQuilling concluded.