Source

Semafor (Jeronimo Gonzalez, 2026-09-18): shipowners have ordered more than twice 2025's tanker count this year, a roughly 20 billion dollar buying spree Semafor calls the largest in at least 25 years; with Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline shut, buyers are pulling crude from the Americas on longer voyages and daily tanker lease rates are up roughly tenfold year over year to more than one million dollars. Freight leg of the energy-to-hardship chain: the ton-mile shock is being priced by owners as durable enough to build ships against, which is the classic late-cycle tell for tanker equities (FRO/DHT/STNG/INSW ran into overbought RSI this week).

Takeaway

Semafor (Jeronimo Gonzalez, 2026-09-18): shipowners have ordered more than twice 2025's tanker count this year, a roughly 20 billion dollar buying spree Semafor calls the largest in at least 25 years; with Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline shut, buyers are pulling crude from the Americas on longer voyages and daily tanker lease rates are up roughly tenfold year over year to more than one million dollars. Freight leg of the energy-to-hardship chain: the ton-mile shock is being priced by owners as durable enough to build ships against, which is the classic late-cycle tell for tanker equities (FRO/DHT/STNG/INSW ran into overbought RSI this week).