16 October 2026
Prices for secondhand tankers are soaring
In the United States there is a long running popular television game show called “The Price Is Right”. Contestants compete in a variety of games to determine the prices of products which they may win. The contestant whose bid is closest to the actual retail price of the product without going over wins. As far as I know, secondhand oil tankers have never featured in this game show, but if they did, contestants would have a very difficult time determining the correct price. Especially at the moment.
Unlike newbuilding prices, which are primarily cost-driven, second-hand prices are intensely market-driven. And in the current freight market, which has reached extreme levels due to the various geopolitical conflicts around the world, secondhand prices have gone through the roof. We’ll discuss some of these developments and their underlying drivers in more detail in this week’s Tanker Opinion. We are focusing on VLCCs because this is the highest-profile tanker segment with the most extreme price movements. However, similar developments are taking place in the other tanker sectors.
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