Tanker carriers hit the bottom in the third quarter of this year, which also saw the lowest fleet utilization since 2013.

According to analyst firm Clarksons Platou, the downturn was intensified due to a seasonal slowdown and a reduction in Saudi Arabia's oil exports in August. The latter sent daily earnings for VLCCs under USD 10,000, writes the firm in its latest tanker report, according to World Maritime News.

"However, we expect that Q3 2017 will represent the bottom or near bottom of the current market cycle. The anticipated reduction in fleet growth in 2018 means that we still anticipate that this downturn will be relatively short in duration and we do not believe that 2017 marks the start of a sustained downcycle," Clarksons Platou said.