Tanker owners should brace themselves for a tough market up to 2020, according to a group of leading brokers, owners and traders.

However, opinions remain divided over how high rates may bounce back, with one brokerage forecasting volume weighted average VLCC rates reaching at least $60,000 per day in two years' time.

But for at least 2018, the mood among the group sitting around a table last weekend onboard Mercy Ships’ 16,572-gt Africa Mercy (built 1980) in Cameroon, remained downbeat.