Covid-19 is destroying the market for tankers that deliver about a fifth of the world’s crude oil. The result is likely to be booming trade on the beaches of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, where obsolete ships go to get blow-torched and sold for scrap.
Last week, the 1,200-foot vessels plying the industry’s busiest trade route — from the Middle East to Asia — effectively had to subsidize the delivery of cargoes because of how