According to London consultants Drewry, shipbuilders have received more than three times as many orders for oil tankers in the first quarter of 2006 as they did one year ago, as owners invested their record profits in new vessels.
Drewry’s figures show that contracts were issued for 377 vessels, with a capacity of 38.4 million DWT and by comparison, 101 carriers of 7.5 million DWT were contracted for in the first quarter last year. Furthermore, Drewry’s research reveals nine more ships totalling 2.8 million DWT were ordered in the first quarter than in the second due to a surge of orders before the introduction of regulations in April that increased building costs.