Tanker fleet growth is set to hit the highest level since before the Jahre Viking was launched, leading DNB Markets to lower its rate forecasts for crude carriers.

Analysts led by Nicolay Dyvik say that crude tanker fleet growth will peak at 7.9% year-on-year in April, the highest since October 1977.

“We believe the combination of 40-year-high fleet growth next month and the ongoing OPEC cut will challenge the tanker market over the coming quarters,” Dyvik and colleagues Petter Haugen and Jorgen Lian said.