Back in September, we discussed the Ghost Fleet of the Recession ^[1].

Here’s the latest (via Bloomberg) on the tanker glut:

“A 26-mile-long line of idled oil tankers, enough to blockade the English Channel, may signal a 25 percent slump in freight rates next year.

Traders booked a record number of ships for storage this year, seeking to profit from longer-dated energy futures trading at a premium to contracts for immediate delivery, according to SSY Consultancy & Research Ltd., a unit of the world’s second- largest shipbroker. Ships taken out of that trade would return to compete for cargoes just as deliveries from shipyards’ largest-ever order book swell the global fleet.”

If you view the recovery as mediocre, stimulus-driven, hampered by a credit-constrained consumer, than tgius is what you would expect.

The trade in oil that would surprise most people isn’t a rise to $100 from $75, its a drop to $50 . . .

Source:
Tanker Glut Signals 25% Drop as 26-Mile Queue Overwhelms Demand ^[2]
Alaric Nightingale and Alex Kwiatkowski
Bloomberg, December 28, 2009

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2009-12-28/tanker-glut-signals-25-drop-as-26-mile-queue-overwhelms-demand.html