Bimco has warned that tanker owners face two different realities in the age of the coronavirus, with short-term gains potentially giving way to longer-term pain.

The shipowners' organisation said the speed of the virus' spread makes it difficult to assess the full consequences, but it is updating its forecasts to "make some of this massive uncertainty tangible".

Tankers have obviously benefited from the breakdown of the Opec+ talks and Saudi Arabia's decision to flood the oil market, which will also drive fuel costs down, it said.