A potential inflection point has been identified in the big tanker market, with prices showing indications of an upward movement, and sale-and-purchase (S&P) activity picking up.

It comes as Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime secured its first purchase of a secondhand VLCC in a decade and AET’s addition of two modern Gener8 tankers pointed to rising secondhand values in the sector for the first time in four months.