Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp. CEO Pankaj Khanna has warned that product tanker freight rates are failing to keep pace with buoyant refining margins, according to a report published by reports on 18 September 2026. Khanna made the remarks in an interview with Platts, highlighting structural strains in the market.
The core of Mr Khanna's observation is a widening disconnect between the economics of refining and the earnings available to product tanker owners. He said that the near-total collapse in refined product flows from the Persian Gulf has overwhelmed any ton-mile advantage gained from diversifying supply routes.
Supply shock from the Persian Gulf
A severe reduction in Persian Gulf refined product flows has, in Mr Khanna's view, removed a significant pillar of demand for cross-regional tanker cargoes. That contraction, he told Platts, has negated the longer-haul benefits that would normally arise when refineries shift exports to more distant consuming regions.
The upshot is that, even where refining margins remain strong and might support higher freight under normal circumstances, the practical routing and volume changes have not generated enough additional tonne-miles to lift freight across the board. Khanna framed this as a logistics and demand mismatch rather than a short-term hiccup in refining economics.
Fleet growth and scrapping dynamics
Heidmar's chief executive warned that the product tanker fleet could expand by as much as 30 percent, and that available scrapping levels are expected to be limited. That combination, he said, risks producing a fundamental oversupply in capacity relative to the cargoes seeking lift.
A rapidly growing fleet alongside low demolition activity would, in Khanna's assessment, place downward pressure on freight rates even if refining margins remain elevated. The imbalance between ship supply and the altered pattern of refined product flows is central to his concern for owners' earnings.
The commentary points to a market in which headline fuel economics and maritime earnings diverge because shipping is responding to altered trade flows rather than to refinery profitability alone. Mr Khanna’s lines of analysis stress the operational realities that tie freight earnings to where, and how far, cargoes must move.
Market participants will watch both flow patterns out of the Persian Gulf and the pace of fleet renewal or demolition for signs of corrective rebalancing. If the supply of tonnage continues to grow while trade volumes and long-haul requirements remain depressed, the pressure on freight will be sustained until one or both elements shift.
Sources carried the report on 18 September 2026 and cited Mr Khanna’s interview with Platts as its source. His remarks add to an evolving debate about how regional production and shipping capacity interact to determine earnings in the product tanker sector.
Any material change in either the direction of refined product exports from key Gulf suppliers or in owners’ decisions on newbuilding and scrapping will be decisive for freight outcomes. For now, Khanna’s assessment is a clear warning that strong refining margins alone may not be sufficient to support elevated tanker freight in the face of disrupted flows and rising fleet supply.