Tanker Fleet Overview – January 2026

The global tanker fleet stood at 669.7 Mn DWT in early January 2026, up 2.3% on 2025, with the average vessel age 14.3 years and 1,475 ships older than 20 years. The orderbook now comprises 917 vessels (17.9% of the existing fleet in DWT terms); the share of alternatively-fuelled vessels has climbed to 9%. Newbuilding activity in 2025 was concentrated in VLCCs (78 orders) and Suezmaxes (72 orders), while deliveries fell to 195 vessels and demolitions rose to 35.