Chief executive Niels G Stolt-Nielsen says he is worried about the growth in the world orderbook but sees interesting purchase opportunities involving ships for delivery in 2016 and 2017.

“Many of them [owners] don’t have long-term ambitions in this market,” he told Norwegian daily Dagens Naeringsliv.

Stolt-Nielsen has $500m in cash and is in a position to undertake major transactions.

The company has six ships on order in China and four in Japan, with plans to book more.

Stolt-Nielsen’s