One year ago we witnessed one of the highest tanker market earnings in the history of tanker shipping. Today the TD 1 trade returns about $500 / day in TCE earnings while there are about 50 large tankers employed as floating storage around the world. As these vessels re-join the fleet, on top of 38 VLCC and 33 Suezmax newbuildings expected to deliver before the end of the year, the markets may further deteriorate. In order to prevent possible future losses, and sometimes in hope to impact the markets, tanker owners engage in various fleet rationalization strategies. One of them is a possible vessel lay-up. There are two types of vessel lay-up: The hot lay-up is intended for a relatively short period of time while a cold lay-up is intended for an extended period of time.