Forecasts indicate product tanker deliveries will hit 12 million dwt in 2025, a 256% increase from 3.4 million dwt in 2024.
New deliveries of product tankers are forecast to reach 12 million dwt in 2025, a 256 per cent increase from 3.4 million dwt in 2024, according to BIMCO, reported Shanghai's iMarine.
BIMCO chief shipping analyst Niels Rasmussen stated that deliveries in 2025 will mark a 16-year high and the second highest on record. Greek shipbroker Intermodal noted that 2024 deliveries will total just 49, the lowest since 2001, but are expected to rebound to 179 vessels of more than 10,000 dwt in 2025.
The surge stems from a sharp rise in orders in 2023 and 2024, when 551 ships totaling 38.7 million dwt were contracted, well above the 10-year annual average of 122 ships and 7.3 million dwt. The orderbook expanded from 10.6 million dwt at the start of 2023 to 41.2 million dwt at the beginning of 2025, lifting the orderbook-to-fleet ratio from 6 per cent to 22 per cent.
MR product tankers accounted for the largest number of orders, with 278 vessels, while LR2 tankers represented the highest deadweight at 19.2 million dwt. Deliveries in 2025 are expected to include 98 MR tankers and 52 LR2 units. Compared with the fleet size at the start of 2025, deliveries will expand Handysize capacity by 2 per cent, MR by 6 per cent, LR1 by 3 per cent, and LR2 by 12 per cent.
Nearly three-quarters of ships scheduled for delivery in 2025 were contracted in the past two years. However, only 7 per cent are capable of using alternative fuels, with another 12 per cent suitable for retrofitting. Recycling has been slow, raising the average age of the product tanker fleet by more than 2.5 years since 2020 and delaying renewal and decarbonisation.
