Everything had been going so well.

Capesize bulkers have been fixing at higher spot rates compared to the same point in previous years and the futures market saw record activity in January.

But a sharp tumble in the physical market on Tuesday caused a dramatic day for capesize paper deals.

The Baltic Exchange's 5TC index, a weighted average time-charter equivalent rates on five key capesize routes, was assessed $1,463 lower on Tuesday...