Furetank Takes EY International Growth Award for 26-Ship VINGA Bet

Swedish product tanker operator Furetank has won the Best International Growth distinction at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 regional awards, capping a fleet renewal program of 26 VINGA-series tankers that the company says now carry the smallest environmental footprint in their class globally.

The award, presented at Hotel Elite Park Avenue in Gothenburg, recognizes Furetank's long-term investment strategy: expanding capacity, pushing technological innovation and cutting emissions from petroleum product transportation while staying profitable. Lars Höglund, who has led the company's development for nearly four decades, accepted the prize.

"For almost four decades, this entrepreneur has made bold, long-term investments in one of the world's riskiest and most capital-intensive industries," the EY jury stated. It highlighted Höglund's commitment to technological innovation, employee involvement and sustainable development in one of the world's most capital-intensive industries.

The jury also pointed to Furetank's emphasis on safety, workplace culture and continuous improvement.

What drove the growth?

The commercial engine behind the award is the VINGA vessel series, developed in cooperation with Swedish naval architects FKAB Marine Design. Furetank and its partners have ordered 26 tankers in the series, all designed to shrink the environmental footprint of moving petroleum products by sea.

Höglund traced the strategy to a forced decision a decade ago, when the fleet needed renewal just as environmental regulation and public attention began reshaping shipping economics.

"It all goes back to a point ten years ago when we had to renew our fleet, just as society was turning its attention to the environment," Höglund said. "Together with FKAB Marine Design, we developed a vessel design that today gives us the ships with the smallest environmental footprint in their class globally."

He argued the investment proves a point still contested across the tanker market: that improved environmental performance and commercial profitability can go hand in hand.

How big is the business?

The numbers frame the scale of the turnaround. Furetank began as a family operation with a single tanker in the 1950s. Today it employs approximately 300 people and generates annual revenue of SEK 1.5 billion.

That growth trajectory — from one vessel to a fleet-led operation with a proprietary, replicable vessel design — is what the EY jury singled out as Best International Growth. The 26 ordered VINGA tankers, built with partners rather than alone, have turned a mid-sized Swedish operator into a design benchmark for the product tanker segment.

Why does it matter for the trade?

For shippers of refined petroleum products and chemicals, the VINGA series matters because it sets a reference point on emissions performance that competitors will be measured against. For carriers and tonnage providers, Furetank's model shows that ordering efficient tonnage in series, with shared partners, can spread design costs across a larger order book in an industry the jury called one of the world's riskiest and most capital-intensive.

And for a sector facing tightening environmental rules, Höglund's core claim — that green performance and profitability are compatible rather than competing goals — is now carrying an international award as supporting evidence.

What comes next?

Furetank advances to the Swedish national final of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition, scheduled for January 27, 2027, at Stockholm City Hall. A national win there would put the company in contention for the global EY award, keeping the spotlight on its fleet renewal program and the VINGA series as its next tankers deliver.