UK shipbroker Gibson believes much-needed tanker scrapping will pick up if US sanctions are eased against Iran.

Recycling has continued to underperform this year, the company said.

Gibson is convinced that a key driver behind this is the presence of buyers willing to pay a premium for vintage tonnage to operate in sanctioned trades.

The company suspects that up to 10% of the VLCC fleet and 6% of the suezmax fleet is involved in such activity, which also includes Venezuela.