Freight rates are surging so rapidly that the timeline for vessel delivery is now the dominant factor in shipping valuations. Buyers are paying more for older supertankers than for new builds to ensure they can deploy ships immediately and capitalize on the current market boom.

This inversion in vessel pricing reflects a period of high demand that market observers have described as 'bananas.' The shift demonstrates that immediate availability is currently more valuable to operators than the condition or age of a newly constructed vessel, as noted by the Financial Times.