Belships has trimmed its loss for the first quarter as it wrote down the book value of its ultramax and supramax fleet.

The Norwegian bulker owner logged a loss of $16.5m for the three months to March, against red ink of $20m in the corresponding quarter of 2015.

Of this amount, $13.8m was an impairment charge following the revaluation of its fleet, which consists of six ships.

Its