Bulker safety v the bottom line

摘要

The dog daysrnof hulk carners plying the world s oceans with scant regard for pollution, safety or inspection regimes have long since passed. The surge of new huilding orders in recent years has lowered the average age of most segments ol the hulk carrier fleet, a process speeded by higher scrapping rates during the past 18 months. Stricter port state control and inspection regimes have also played a key role, while the unprecedented height and charter rates available to owners for much of the past decade made cutting corners on maintenance self-defeating given that it might result in lost earnings at sea.