The shipping cycle is at or near a bottom with increasing signs of recovery is several sectors, according to executives at the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum USA. Despite the optimism, shipowners still need to work on corporate governance and industry fragmentation to attract institutional investors back into shipping.

Jason Klopfer, chief operating office of Navig8 Products Tankers, acknowledges short-term issues of supply disruptions in Nigeria and high inventories have depressed tanker rates on top of regular seasonality.