HONG KONG (Bloomberg) ? Oil-tanker owners may have a "better" year in 2006 than last year as the number of new vessels fails to keep pace with demand for crude, said HSBC Shipping Services Ltd.

The fleet will increase by a net five percent this year, compared with 7.8 percent in 2005, said Nigel Prentis, head of research at the unit of HSBC Holdings Plc. Shipowners may "end up having a better year that 2005; the balance is that fine," the bank said this week.