Heavily ‘front-loaded’ deliveries of dry bulk newbuilds will have a chance for rebalancing to avert an oversupply market in light of the escalating outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), according to Maritime Strategies International (MSI).

HongKong Chaoshang Group says the company has completed the disposal of Shantou Noble Century Shipping company and ceased the operation of its vessel chartering business.

Brazil’s Vale has updated that operations at its Malaysian iron ore terminal will carry on, following an announcement last week that operations may be temporarily suspended due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

It might seem like an obvious statement to regular readers of Seatrade Maritime News but despite the global COVID-19 pandemic the world shipping continues to work pretty much as usual round the clock.

A crew member of the bulker Corona suspected of having the coronavirus – COVID-19 has tested negative for the virus in South Africa.

Brazil’s mining giant Vale is considering a temporary closure of its Malaysian distribution center Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal (TRMT), which would result in 800,000 tonnes of lost iron ore shipments over the first quarter of 2020.

The coronavirus – COVID-19 – is sweeping through the global economy but the global shipping industry continues to operate keeping world trade running despite facing severe disruptions.

Reflecting the trend towards renewing their fleets with larger vessels at the beginning of March the Greek-owned fleet of vessels over 1,000 gt was down on 12 months ago but up in terms of carrying capacity and gross tonnage.

Denmark’s Clipper Group has inked an agreement with Norway’s Torvald Klaveness to take over the Bulkhandling pool, the world’s oldest pool of supramaxes and ultramaxes.

The multipurpose vessel (MPVs) and heavylift vessel segments are expected to experience a weak demand in the second half of this year on the back of reduced Chinese exports and the impact of the spread of the coronavirus, according to analyst Drewry.