Lou Kollakis was one of the first owners to take advantage of rock-bottom yard prices and order dry bulk newbuildings in China.

He raised quite a few eyebrows earlier this year when news broke that his Chartworld Shipping had inked two firm, plus two optional, newcastlemaxes at Jinhai Heavy Industry, as well as four firm kamsarmaxes at Jinglu Shipyard.

Kollakis, in an interview at his Athens office, acknowledges he may have helped stoke fears that it was 2013 all over again, when a false dawn in the dry bulk chartering market sparked a race to shipyards and a newbuilding glut the industry is still struggling to absorb.