Nobu Su, an influential yet enigmatic figure in global shipping, has made a dramatic shift from dry bulk cargo to concentrate predominantly on oil tankers, cutting his dry bulk fleet by two-thirds in the past 12 months.

Mr Su told the Financial Times on Monday that his privately held Taiwan Maritime Transport (TMT) had reduced its dry bulk fleet to about 40 vessels, while over the next five years it would take delivery of several new very large crude carriers (VLCCs).