Dirty tanker market earnings hold while clean markets cool

Crude oil tanker markets remained at elevated levels in the week ending 13 February 2026, while product tanker markets gave back some of the previous week’s gains, including a week-on-week fall in average clean MR earnings to US$26,770 per day.

Data and commentary from The Signal Group’s weekly tanker monitor pointed to easing momentum without a wholesale reversal in dirty earnings.

It said, “The freight market pulse has eased further since the start of the first week of February.”

Even so, it added that “strong performances are still recorded in the VLCC Middle East Gulf-to-China TCE and the Suezmax Black Sea-to-Mediterranean, with TCE in excess of US$110,000 per day, while it put the Aframax North Sea-to-Continent trade at US$93,000 per day.

Against that freight backdrop, Gibson Shipbrokers’ Crude Clampdown note highlighted a potential sanctions pivot, with direct relevance for mainstream tanker employment and related service chains.

Gibson noted that the upcoming 20th sanctions package proposes a full ban on maritime services for Russian crude oil.

It added, “This would cover shipping, insurance, brokerage and finance and would fully replace the current price cap mechanism.”

It said the proposal would bar European shipping companies from carrying Russian crude regardless of the price at which it is sold.

The proposal is directed at Russian crude oil only, and does not currently include refined products, such as fuel oil or clean petroleum products.

End-of-life indicators remained muted, with Clarksons noting, “Recycling markets remain quiet, with arrivals into the Indian sub-continent remaining generally limited.”

The weaker pricing tone was linked to the provenance of the tankers on offer: vessels circulating in India were “composed primarily of shadow fleet ships”, which typically sell at lower prices and were “negatively impacting pricing sentiment for the rest of the market”.

Cash-buyer GMS reported a lack of sales, with indicative prices of: Pakistan at US$440 per ldt for tankers, Bangladesh at US$430 per ldt for tankers, and India at US$420 per ltd.