Germany's Hanse Bereederung knows it cannot compete in terms of personnel with bigger shipbrokers, but it can offer a vital personal touch.

The company, active for more than 40 years as a Schoeller Group in-house broker and charterer, as well as a third-party shop, told TradeWinds that it does not like to make much of a fuss.

"We are not as well known as the big broking houses, but this doesn't mean we are inactive," Alex Karydis, director of chartering and sale and purchase (S&P), said.