Amid blowing horns, exploding hatch covers and billowing clouds of iron ore dust, Polaris Shipping's VLOC Stellar Banner was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean at the weekend.

The loss of the 300,000-dwt, 2016-built ore carrier will run up a considerable bill for insurers. The hull is valued at around $60m but is likely to have been insured for an even higher sum, experts suggested.