Nearly half of the 10.1m dwt of dry bulk tonnage sent for demolition so far this year comprised VLOCs converted from VLCCs.

In its latest monthly report, UK shipbroker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) revealed conversions totalling 4.7m dwt have been scrapped since the beginning of the year.

Brazilian mining giant Vale announced in April that it was shedding up to 25 converted VLOCs from its operations, in a move described as a “new risk-management approach”.