The Association was formed in its present guise in Oslo in 1970 to speak out for those independent tanker owners, i.e. non-oil companies and non-state controlled tanker owners, for the safe shipping of oil and chemicals and to act as a forum for marine policy creation.
Independent owners operate a huge percentage of the world's tanker fleet and the vast majority are INTERTANKO Members.
As of January 2019, the organisation had 198 full members, whose combined fleet comprises some 3,931 tankers totalling almost 346 million dwt.
[2] INTERTANKO is responsible for the compilation of many respected marine industry books and publications.
The Witherby Publishing Group are the official distributors of INTERTANKO's retail publications.