John Fredriksen's Golden Ocean is confident of an improvement in the dry cargo market this year despite a sticky start to 2019.

Chief executive Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal suggested an upturn in rates was on the horizon, possibly supported by increased scrapping before the end of the year.

"The start of 2019 has been marked by uncertainty created by trade tensions and by the tragic dam accident in Brazil,” she said in the company’s 2018 report.