Owners are expected to continue the rapid scrapping of tankers, with the volume accelerating in 2019 and a “deluge” of tonnage being torched in 2020, according to a report from Alphatanker.

Some 74 crude tankers above 34,000 dwt were removed from the fleet in 2017 and the momentum is expected to continue this year, it said in a report.

Scrap prices should remain high, driven by a dearth of other ship types sent for recycling and government-imposed controls on Chinese steel production.