On an adjusted dollar value basis oil hasn’t been this cheap in over thirty years. Fuel is the biggest single expense for vessel operators so this should be a blessing. Even the shock of IMO 2020 low sulfur fuel regulations have been greatly softened with the difference between high sulfur and low sulfur fuels dropping to a small gap. Only in today’s economic climate it is not the blessing it could be.

“It’s the economy, stupid.” James Carville coined this very famous and often quoted remark in 1992 when he pointed out during an election year that it was the economy that was most important to voters.

Bedlam is defined as a scene of uproar and confusion. The term comes from the St. Mary Bethlehem Hospital in England which long after its beginning became an asylum to treat the mentally ill.