Analysts have pointed to encouraging fundamentals for product tankers in the current tanker boom, particularly if owners opt to convert some ships for crude trades.

Clarksons Platou said rates for clean vessels had taken a "big step up" this week, with LR2s assessed at $56,000 per day, a rise of 43%.

"The market is tightening across the board, and we expect rates to continue to improve throughout the week," analysts Frode Morkedal, Erik Hovi and Henriette Vevstad said.