For Genco Shipping & Trading chief executive John Wobensmith, it is not so much about implementing a dividend as it is sustaining a dividend.

That, he said, will hold the key to the owner’s new strategy to reward shareholders with payouts regardless of what an historically volatile dry bulk market may throw its way.

"One of the real criticisms investors make of the shipping industry is that you pay dividends in good times, but you’re too levered to pay in bad times – that’s one reason these equities haven’t traded better," Wobensmith told TradeWinds.