Russian shipowner Sovcomflot remains bearish on the tanker market after writedowns and charges on a long-running legal drama sent it into the red in 2017.

Nikolay Kolesnikov, chief financial officer of Sovcomflot, told TradeWinds the company expects the tanker market recovery will be "very gradual".

“We are fairly cautious with regards 2018,” he said. “We are now past the seasonal peak and moving into spring and summer.