Swire is splitting its bulk shipping activities away from China Navigation Company (CNCo) into a new entity Swire Bulk.

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp has entered into an agreement to acquire a secondhand capesize bulk carrier for $11.4m, a price that the company sees to be at historic low.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) plans to shrink its fleet size by a maximum of 40 ships as it looks to reduce market exposure as part of a ‘crisis response’ amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Germany’s Oldendorff Carriers has agreed to acquire three capesize bulkers at an ‘en bloc package’ price of $212.76m from Singapore-based Trust Energy Resources, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Power Company.

As the dry bulk shipping market lingers at some of its lowest levels in decades Bimco analyst Peter Sand warns it is being served a toxic cocktail of a drop in demand and overcapacity of supply.

Dry bulk shipping is “very close” to seeing a supply and demand balance and an improved outlook is expected in the second half of this year and into 2021.

Bulker operator Clipper Bulk has announced job cuts starting end-April amidst a dry bulk shipping market struggling with ‘historically’ low freight rates due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) global outbreak.

Leading Greek owners have thrown their weight behind a move aimed at developing new rules to drive up safety standards in the dry bulk sector similar to the oil sector’s OCIMF benchmarks for the tanker and offshore industries.

Genco Shipping & Trading is looking to disposed of all its 10 handysize bulkers as part of the company’s fleet optimisation and renewal plan.

Sinotrans & CSC Phoenix has inked a contract to acquire a bulk carrier from domestic shipping company Ningbo Haiyue Shipping at the cost of RMB65.73m ($9.44m).