Sanctions effect begins: Crude tankers forced onto longer voyages

Tanker investors have been getting cold feet this winter. Spot rates are down sharply from November and stocks are off earlier highs. Yet the bullish tanker thesis — war-induced trade inefficiencies, post-COVID reopening, new vessel capacity that's about to fall off a cliff — hasn't changed. After spot rates "began to ease from highs that were completely unsustainable" came "the predictable selloff in the equities," said Evercore ISI analyst Jon Chappell in a research note on Friday. "We've been inundated with questions about why rates have 'collapsed' and where rates can 'bottom,' completely missing the fact that the current rate…