The South Korean shipowner is understood to have parted with the 179,200-dwt Dong-A Leto (built 2010) and Dong-A Ether (built 2011), shipbroking sources tell TradeWinds.

A price in the region of $45m is thought to have been agreed for the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries-built bulkers.

Sale-and-purchase (S&P) specialists say there is further positive sentiment in the market right now, given a fourth-quarter upturn in rates helped generate a little more confidence among owners.