Oil Tanker Market Collapse Triggered by the Oil Crisis

The oil tanker market collapse triggered by the oil crisis transforms a ship commissioned at the height of the boom into a daily financial burden for Reederei von Dohren. In a conversation between Margot von Dohren and Karl von Lützow, the stranded tanker Susanne makes the crisis concrete: the company’s pride earns nothing while costing thousands of dollars each day.

Causes and Background

In 1971, at the height of the tanker boom, WH 2 ordered a ship for the family shipping business. By the time the vessel was delivered, the market had changed sharply. The oil crisis sent the price of a barrel of crude from three dollars to forty, and tanker prices fell drastically. The ship arrived into a market transformed between its commissioning and its delivery.

The Susanne and the Company's Losses

The Susanne lies in a remote bay, unable to earn money. Instead, it costs the company thousands of dollars every day. Described as the pride of Reederei von Dohren, the tanker has become an emblem of the gap between the ambitions of the boom and the financial reality that followed: a major investment remains physically present, but produces no return.

News Shared at Dinner

Margot raises the situation with Karl as a matter of concern while they discuss what is happening at the office. Karl nods and assumes a solution will be found. He would rather not hear about such difficulties, but interprets Margot’s willingness to mention this one as evidence that it is not too serious; he believes she would not trouble him with a truly grave problem. The exchange shows the crisis entering their private conversation in the form of a manageable business worry, even as the ship’s daily costs continue to accumulate.