Greece's Okeanis Eco Tankers believes the spread of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant has put paid to a Christmas bonus for tanker owners.

The Oslo-listed VLCC and suezmax company was asked about market prospects by analysts on a conference call.

Chief executive Ioannis Alafouzos said: "Of course, we have the Omicron situation that's developing, but otherwise we would have expected the market to turn probably the second quarter [of 2022].