Multipurpose tonnage owners have not had it so good for more than a decade. Time charter rates have breached a 2008 peak and brokers talk of a "red-hot" secondhand market.

The outlook is bright, underpinned by solid supply and demand fundamentals.

But despite the rosy picture, few operators are placing orders for MPP, heavylift or project cargo vessels, in contrast to the container and bulker segments, on whose recovery the MPP sector is in part thriving.