In a conference call that followed the Greek owner’s second-quarter earnings report Aristides Pittas pointed out that secondhand values have fallen by nearly 20% in recent months and noted the price tags tied to ten-year-old panamaxes are closing in on lows seen at the start of 2013.

The executive blamed the decline on what he described as an “unexpected drop” in freight rates for tonnage trading in the spot market in the first-half of 2014.

While