To supply all of the worlds crude-oil needs today, there are only about 3,500 tankers steaming out on the open seas or anchored at ports. Demand for their services far exceeds this supply, and, as a result, tanker rates have soared in the past year much faster than the price of crude oil itself. According to a report by McQuilling Services, an ocean-transport consultant, the world will be 26% short of big oil tankers, known as very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, through the end of this year. (A VLCC is a crude-oil tanker of at least 200,000 tons deadweight. It is big, larger than an aircraft carrier.) When you consider not just the number of tankers afloat but also the extent to which they are actually available due to port congestion, the supertanker industry appears even more tonnage deficient, according to a Bloomberg report on the McQuilling finding.
If the above is the case why has VLCC Eliza 9387578 been at anchor in the nab anchorage since 20/11/11 after discharging at fawley.