A wave of new tanker construction and the prospect of tighter oil supplies are putting pressure on the booming business of shipping oil, a rare bright spot for the global maritime industry, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Low oil prices and surging production has been a boon for the 2,000-vessel-strong oil-tanker business. Many ports are so congested with crude vessels that tankers are plying their routes at a slower pace. The average tanker in recent months has cut its speed by 10 percent, on average, to minimize downtime. However, analysts and ship brokers are forecasting choppier waters ahead for the hundreds of companies that ferry oil around the world. Built mainly in Asia’s vast shipyards, that fleet is set to expand by more than 200 new tankers through 2017, the fastest pace of new shipbuilding in four years. More than 40 percent of those new vessels will be among the largest class of tankers, massive ships that can each ferry more than two million barrels of oil.
