Only 24 units of this class changed hands in 2002, some 13 less than in 2001. Among these ships, 7 VLCCs were built in the 70's and their buyers were solely motivated by storage or conversion projects. As an example, we can cite the en bloc sale of 'Stena King' and 'Stena Queen' for a reported price in the region of $20 million each.

The age category, which finally caught the attention of most buyers, was that of vessels built between 1986 and 1995, but all single-hulls. No less than 12 vessels were concerned, namely half the global total. This tendency can be explained by the fact that buyers were mainly Japanese owners, anxious to renew their fleet with double-hulls, whilst buyers were primarily Greek taking advantage of a low-priced market, in the expectation of a resale in a rising market. These vessels, even single-hulled, are sufficiently modern to enjoy several turns of the cycle. To illustrate this contention, we can quote the sale in June of the 'Nisseki Maru', 258,094 dwt built in 1988, for a price of $20 million and that of the 'Tango' 264,340 dwt, 1995 sold at the same time for $29 million, even if their 'phasing out' date is within one year of each other (2014 for the 1988, and 2015 for the 1995).

The modern double-hull vessels were the losers in 2002, as only 5 units changed hands. The downward pressure exerted by the low prices being proposed by shipyards, largely contributed to the inability of buyers and sellers to find common ground. Thus Irving Oil finally had to give up and become resigned to releasing the 'Irving Primrose' and the 'Irving Galloway', 305,955 dwt, both built in 1995, for a price of $57 million apiece, against a 4 to 5 years time charter back.

Only scrapping saw a more sustained activity in this size, since 36 VLCCs were disposed in this way, whereas we accounted 32 such units in 2001. Scrap prices conversely were on a rise during the course of the year. The number of 36 ships scrapped compensates the number of new deliveries for the year 2002 which ended at 40.

Very few transactions were recorded in this category in 2002, as only 18 Suezmax changed hands and all the more that this total includes tankers between 115,000 to 199,999 dwt. We have registered respectively 24, 23 and again 23 sales for the years 2001, 2000, and 1999.

As with the VLCCs, the poor daily returns severely limited buyers' budgets. In 2002, three tankers built in 1975 and 1976 changed hands including the 'Sky', 154,934 dwt, sold for $8.3 million for conversion, nearly twice its nominal value.

The very rare Suezmaxes built in the 1980's were exchanged in good numbers this year, since 7 were sold, including 4 units from BP, the 'British Strength', 'British Skill', 'British Spirit', and 'British Success', 127,800 dwt, built in 1983, for the first three and 1984 for the last, at a price between $6 to $7.25 million each, to two different buyers.

Eight modern double-hulled tankers, less than 10 years old, were sold this year. We can illustrate this by the sale of the 'Chevron Atlantic', 149,748 dwt, built in 1992, sold for about $28.5 million in June, and of a vessel under construction named 'Antares' with delivery in 2002, for a reported price of $51 million.

Scrappings of this type of ship were at the same level as in 2000 (16 units), as in 2002 we counted 17 units, compared to no less than 28 in the intervening year. In contrast to VLCCs, which were scrapped mostly at the beginning of the year, Suezmax sales were spread out over the year. At the same time, 25 new ships in this category left the shipyards.

If we include ships over 60,000 dwt, but with beams of over 32.20 metres, we recorded 31 deals for Aframaxes up to 119,000 dwt in 2002. It is therefore this category that has been least affected by the depression, mainly as the daily returns were less disastrous than in larger sizes.

The annual volume remains fairly steady as we have registered 34 and 36 sales in 2001 and 2002. Prices of modern tankers have seemed too expensive in the eyes of buyers in comparison to the alternative of newbuildings, which is why activity has been concentrated in the oldest ships. The lion's share went to vessels in the 1977-1988 age bracket with 20 sales out of 31, as asking prices were sufficiently realistic to allow buyers to adapt to spot rates which held up well. We can give as representative sales, the 'Marifru Maru', 101,838 dwt, built in 1979, sold for $3.6 million, the 'Afrapearl', 86,417 dwt, built 1981, sold for about $4.75 million, and the 'Maersk Visual', 110,296 dwt, built 1988, for $18 million.

Eleven modern ships (built after 1990) were sold this year of which 5 single-hull. Among them we can cite the 'CSK Valiant', 97,151 dwt, 1990, for a price of $17.8 million, and that of 'Ventikos', 69,998 dwt, built 1993 with a beam of 36 meters, for $18.3 million.

Six more modern and double-hulled units changed hands. We can quote the 'Diana', 96,125 dwt, built in 1992, sold for $23.5 million in July, whereas a more modern vessel built 1999 with a centreline bulkhead the 'Pine Venture', 105;000 dwt, obtained about $33.25 in February.

We have seen this past year 20 ships going to scrap, slightly more than in 2001, two more than in 2000, and the same number as in 1999. In compensation, some 43 units joined the fleet in 2002. More ships should have been demolished this past year if one looks at the age structure of the fleet, however spot rates were not bad enough to cause a rush towards the scrapyards of Pakistan, India, China or Bangladesh.
Panamax tankers (less than 32.30 meters beam) also saw a reduced activity, as only 11 changed hands in 2002 as compared to 22 the previous year. Seven of them were built between 1978 and 1986. Otherwise 2 modern single-hull ships of 1991 and 1992 as well as 2 double-hulled resales were realised.

We can indicate the following sales: the 'Kestrel', 56,963 dwt of 1979, for $2.5 million in October, that of the 'Seamusic III', 70,914 dwt, built 1992, for about $21 million in February, and finally one of the rare en-bloc sales of the year, that of 'LMZ Mandi' and 'LMZ Zacvi', 70,000 dwt, built 2002, sold in April for $36.5 million apiece.

We have thus seen again that in this segment of the market, the price spread between buyers and sellers was insurmountable for the newest ships, as well as for the largest.

No less than 13 ships were scrapped compared to 7 in 2001 and 8 in 2000. This is a good figure if we remember that 9 units joined the fleet in 2002, but this should be seen in the light of 46 new orders placed in 2002 and an orderbook which has already more than 70 ships.

Improved levels that owners enjoyed at the end of the year was a welcomed compensation for the poor rates which prevailed over most of 2002, but it is likely that once the Venezuelan and Iraqi crisis come to an end, the gloom will return. Only the Chinese economy is looking healthy, but even if they increase their crude oil transportation requirements, they will be unable to sustain the market on their own. The U.S., Europe, and Japan seem to continue to be stumbling along at least for the first half of 2003. Thus we will probably have to go through a further reduction in activity until the above crisis and conditions have been fully played out.

On the other hand, the balance between supply and demand is more delicate than we might have expected, as witnessed by the sudden surge in rates at the end of 2002. If the price of new buildings were to stop their infernal fall and the pace of scrappings were to let off, or even accelerate following the 'Prestige' incident, we should be able to see a bigger volume of business in 2003.