Sanctioned tanker scrapping could offset large order book: operators in International Shipping News 08/06/2026 Whether a large newbuild order book would weigh on tanker rates could depend on the pace of shadow-fleet scrapping and evolving demand situations during the Hormuz shipping crisis, some ship operators said. Industry association BIMCO estimates the crude tanker order book size at nearly 25% of the existing fleet, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, while the product tanker order book sits at nearly 20%. But Antonis Kanellakis, executive director of Pantheon Tankers, said the order book is “manageable at the moment,” especially when the sanctioned fleet is taken into account. “At some point, it will have to phase out,” Kanellakis said during a Capital Link forum’s panel discussion on the opening day of the Posidonia shipping conference. “The sanctioned ships are very old ships, probably not very well maintained.” “If you think of that, the order book on crude and products is not excessive.” The number of oil and LPG tankers sanctioned by Western authorities for Russian, Iranian or Venezuelan trades reached 1,189 as of the end of April, making up 13% of the global fleet, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea(opens in a new tab). Offering a different view, Centrofin Management CEO Yiannis Procopiou said the order book is the highest in over 17 years and there are “many, many ships” due to be delivered later this decade. “I really feel that there will be softening in the rates,” Procopiou said, adding that when sanctioned ships began to be sent to scrapyards the process would be slow. “It won’t happen from one day to the next. So I think that this interval will create a depreciated market.” Having jumped from $170,409/day Feb. 27 to $401,138/d March 4, Platts Global Dirty Tanker Index for scrubber-fitted, eco-ships eased to $221,657/d May 29. Platts is part of S&P Global Energy. Procopiou’s comments came as Brussels signaled it would