Consultancy & Research

Consultancy and research are central to our services. We provide our brokers and their clients with independent, forward thinking market research and analysis to enable informed decision making.

Our team of analysts make sense of the huge volumes of data circulating in the market providing insight into complex issues, reacting to changes in supply, demand and geopolitics.

Consultancy & Research in numbers

50k

Ocean going cargo vessels in operation

10k+

Number of shipowners

74m

Barrels per day 2024 seaborne oil flows

Key Consultancy & Research services

Supply & Demand Forecasts

Our in house forecasting models take account of macroeconomic and trade developments to give an unbiased long term view of market fundamentals. We produce bespoke forecasts which account for specific client needs.

Future Fuel, Decarbonisation & Regulation

We help clients understand the regulatory landscape and advise on solutions to comply with regulation and meet their decarbonisation strategy.

Data Services

Our diverse maritime data sets range from vessel supply and specifications data, to market related fixture and freight rate information. We provide data in a range of formats including as an API.

Consulting & Advisory

Our team provide bespoke consulting services which leverage the in house expertise of Gibson’s brokers and analysts. We provide feasibility studies, strategy advice and long term forecasts and work with a network of industry experts to deliver any project which our clients require.

Consultancy & Research team

Brendan Bos

Market Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Gordon Collen

Market Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7667 1230

Kenechukwu Nwangwu

Data Manager

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Lakshmy Soman

Data Researcher

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Matt Coates

Research Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

PeiQi (Chloe) Chen

Research Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: Singapore

Richard Matthews

Director

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Tel: +44 (0) 20 667 1233

Senthuran Raviraj

Lead Gas Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Shashank Sagar

Research Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: Mumbai

Svetlana Kourmpeti

Senior Market Analyst

Department: Consultancy & Research

Location: London

Propelling maritime trade through excellence in shipping services.

With over 130 years of experience and a global network of industry connections, we are your trusted partner in shipbroking and advisory services.

From crude oil to refined products we facilitate the chartering and brokerage of tankers.

LPG, Ammonia & Petrochemical Gases

Leveraging expertise, we ensure seamless transportation of liquefied gases.

Sale & Purchase

Facilitating the acquisition, divestiture and value optimisation of shipping vessels.

Specialised & Chemical Tankers

Offering specialised solutions, we manage the chartering and brokerage of chemical tankers.

Projects & Time Charter

Catering for the specific needs of clients in project and time charter requirements.

Consultancy & Research

Providing valuable insights and strategic advice to empower our clients with market intelligence and analysis.

Facilitating chartering solutions to ensure the efficient and secure transportation of LNG.

Managing and actioning the chartering and brokerage of dry bulk commodities.

Gibson Capital provides specialised maritime finance and advisory services.

Discover more weekly reports

Tanker Market Report 06.03.26

Middle East Mayhem

The first week of the US-Israel military campaign against Iran has drawn to a close, but what happens in the weeks to come remains extremely uncertain. The war has triggered a global energy shipping crisis of epic proportions, with cascading effects across oil markets, tanker freight, and petrochemical supply chains.

Tanker Market Report 27.02.26

VLCCs on fire

The VLCC market has reawakened with force. Benchmark TD3C earnings have surged to above $200,000/day, a level not seen since May 2020. The scale and speed of the move has upended market expectations. The move is not simply a function of rising cargo volumes; it reflects tightening tonnage availability, expanding tonne-mile demand, concentrated ownership, and an increasingly fragile geopolitical backdrop.

Tanker Market Report 20.02.26

Port Fee Saga

It is likely that many people in the shipping industry were hoping we had seen the last of additional port tariffs in October, after the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) Section 301 tariffs targeting Chinese owned, operated or built ships were put on hold for a year, with China also lifting its own retaliatory measures. However, after causing havoc in 2025, the port fee saga has its latest instalment. On Friday the 13th of February, the Trump administration published their most recent plan to restore America’s maritime dominance.

Tanker Market Report 13.02.26

Crude Clampdown

The EU is considering a major change to its sanctions framework on Russian oil. As reported on the 6th of February, the upcoming 20th sanctions package proposes a full ban on maritime services for Russian crude oil. This would cover shipping, insurance, brokerage, and finance and would fully replace the current price cap mechanism. Under this approach, European shipping companies would be barred from carrying Russian crude regardless of the price at which it is sold. The proposal is limited to crude oil only and does not currently include refined products such as fuel oil or clean petroleum products. UK sanctions are expected to follow the EU’s approach, which would effectively shut Russian crude out of the mainstream tanker market.

Tanker Market Report 06.02.26

Reassessing Russian Supply

Earlier this week, President Trump announced that the United States and India had agreed a trade deal. Whilst the deal is not expected to be signed until March, Trump claimed that India had committed to stopping imports of Russian oil. For the tanker markets, such a move would be significant and lead to further adjustments in oil trade flows. However, India faces a number of challenges in weaning itself off Russian oil, whilst Russia itself will struggle to redirect Indian volumes to alternative markets. Notably, the Indian government is yet to acknowledge the agreement to cease Russian oil imports entirely.

Tanker Market Report 30.01.26

Geopolitics Before Fundamentals

Geopolitical developments dominated tanker markets last year, with a wave of sanctions primarily targeting Russia, secondary measures aimed at entities trading Russian and Iranian crude, the brief Israel-Iran conflict, Trump’s inauguration, US trade wars, and the US-China port-fee standoff among the key events. So far, this year is proving just as “eventful” as 2025.

Tanker Market Report 23.01.26

Clean Barrels

In the summer of last year, the EU published its 18th sanctions package, announcing a ban on imports of all products refined from Russian crude, which finally came into effect this week. Initially, the legislation appeared to suggest a blanket ban on imports from refineries which process Russian crude oil. However, further clarification under the 19th sanctions package confirmed that if a refinery can fully segregate the refining of Russian crude from non-Russian sources, then import from the non-Russian supplied part of the refinery can be allowed. Otherwise, if Russian crude oil cannot be segregated and processed separately by the refinery, but evidence is provided by the third party that no Russian crude has been received or processed in the ‘production line’ over the past 60 days prior to the bill of lading date of the cargo at issue, import into the EU is allowed. Further, net exporters of crude, such as the major Middle East producers, are exempt from the EU restrictions.

Tanker Market Report 16.01.26

Trouble in Tehran

Trouble in Tehran Following two weeks of unrest, the oil market is again focused on Iran after a period of relative calm since last summer’s 12‑day war. At the time of writing, the government appears to have quelled much of the unrest. Even so, the threat of potential US strikes, deep public dissatisfaction, disruption to […]

Tanker Market Report 09.01.26

Venezuela Reset

If anyone expected 2026 to be less eventful than 2025, the first weekend of the year has swiftly proved them wrong. On January 3rd, the US announced that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken into US custody.

Tanker Market Report 19.12.25

Year in Review

It has been another year for the books in the tanker markets, with almost too many events to recap. We covered the first half of the year in our earlier report titled “All about US”. In this report we will limit our focus to recapping some of the key developments of the second half of the year. The latter half of the year certainly had its fair share of geopolitical turmoil, but for the tanker markets it will be remembered for the sky-high dirty freight rates achieved especially in Q4. Clean markets have been healthy, though nowhere near as strong, and weaker compared to a 2023 and 2024.

Tanker Market Report 12.12.25

Scrap the Cap

Last week news broke that the G7 group of countries were considering removing the oil price cap, which was first implemented at the end of 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The removal of the cap would see a full and unconditional ban on G7/EU companies providing maritime services to support Russian oil trade, in effect pushing Russian business entirely to the shadow fleet. Whether this is bullish or bearish for tankers depends on a number of key factors.

Tanker Market Report 05.12.25

Diverging Oil Pathways

The 2025 IEA World Energy Outlook (WEO) lands at a time of heightened geopolitical tension, shifting energy policies and growing debate over climate risk. Rather than a forecast, the WEO maps out how the energy system could evolve under different policy and technology pathways. This year’s edition focuses on three core scenarios. The Current Policies Scenario (CPS) assumes no new government action and presents a cautious view on the pace at which new energy technologies can scale. The Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) takes a step further by incorporating all officially announced government plans, even if they have not yet been implemented. Finally, the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) pathway is a theoretical scenario outlining the conditions required to achieve net-zero CO₂ by 2050.

Tanker Market Report 28.11.25

The Beginning of the End (Take 3)

Once again, negotiations are ongoing to end the war in Ukraine. Back in August we wrote the second iteration of this report, after President Trump and Putin’s first face to face meeting in the former’s second term. That meeting yielded little progress, however, the most recent push for peace has seemingly taken us closer to an end to the war in Ukraine than at any other point since its outset. Negotiations are ongoing, and the initial 28-point plan proposed by the US was countered by a 19-point plan between the US and Ukraine, which Russia was not a part of. Still, as before, the path to peace remains uncertain and it is unclear to what extent trading relationships can revert to pre-war patterns.

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