Euronav continues to invest in its own shares at a time executives have suggested tanker equities may represent a strong counter-cyclical bet against a recession.

New York and Brussels-listed Euronav added an €2.99m ($3.04m) bundle of stock to a $4m pile picked up in the final days of 2018.

Following the latest purchase, the world’s third largest tanker owner holds 2,112,044 of its own shares.