International Seaways finds itself in an unaccustomed place, with a sharp fall in the rankings of Webber Research & Advisory’s ESG Scorecard.

The New York-listed tanker owner dropped from third in last year’s Webber scorecard on environmental, social and governance issues to 10th in the table released on Thursday, one of the biggest falls among the 52 companies.

The culprit was a decision by Seaways’ board to introduce a “poison pill” into its bylaws on 9 May to ward off a further accumulation of shares by private companies controlled by John Fredriksen, the Norwegian shipping magnate.