The BW Group chief’s comments came as he delivered a keynote speech at the opening of Nor-Shipping in Oslo Tuesday.

Sohmen-Pao told delegates: “Some of the newly touted eco ships may not be the answer to our challenges.

“Scrapping young ships is a huge environmental waste and we should be expending at least as much energy on optimising existing ships

“With new emission regulations, uncertainty over the price of fuel and a possible switch to gas propulsion in future, we need to make sure today’s eco ship does not look like tomorrow’s oil thirsty dinosaurs.”

Sohmen-Pao’s