Shipowners have responded to the upheaval in the Middle East with a sharp increase in orders for very large crude carriers, according to a MarineLink report published on 17 September 2026.
Data cited in the report show owners have placed more than twice as many supertanker orders so far this year as they did in all of 2025, representing a buying spree worth in excess of $20 billion. The scale of the ordering is described as the largest seen for at least 25 years, the article notes, and the figures are drawn from Signal Group.
MarineLink links the rush for new tonnage directly to the US–Iran war, saying the conflict has redrawn trade routes and boosted demand for long‑haul crude shipments. Shipowners are therefore seeking capacity to serve altered voyage patterns and longer voyages for crude oil.
Orders surge and scale
The report does not give a precise ship count in its summary but stresses the orders exceed last year’s total by more than twofold. The cumulative value of the contracts is put at over $20 billion, signalling a substantial wave of investment in newbuild crude carriers.
Signal Group figures, as presented by MarineLink, underline that the current ordering activity is unprecedented in a quarter‑century. The concentration of capital behind a single vessel class marks a notable shift in owners’ appetite for long‑range crude carriage.
Market and strategic implications
MarineLink frames the orders as a direct commercial response to altered shipping patterns caused by hostilities between the United States and Iran. Longer, rerouted voyages for crude have increased the demand for ships capable of sustained long‑haul employment, the report suggests.
The size and value of the buying spree imply owners are positioning for a sustained change in trade flows rather than a short‑term spike. The report indicates the industry is adapting its fleet plans to match the new operational environment identified by Signal Group’s data.
The MarineLink account focuses on the scale and timing of orders and on the causal relationship between geopolitical conflict and cargo movements. It does not speculate on future shipyard delivery schedules or on how secondhand markets and charter rates will evolve beyond the immediate response described.
The piece attributes the underlying dataset to Signal Group and presents the figures as a market reality recorded on 17 September 2026. It leaves questions of long‑term fleet balance and the durability of demand to market participants and analysts.
In sum, MarineLink’s report portrays the current ordering activity in the crude tanker sector as the most significant for at least 25 years, driven by the upheaval in trade routes and the resulting need for longer‑range crude transport, with Signal Group figures forming the factual basis for this assessment.