Desperate offshore support vessel owners are trying to restructure nearly $8bn of debt in the latest sector downturn, TradeWinds has calculated.

As the weeks of coronavirus-related lockdown have ticked by, one shipowner after another has revealed details of bank and bondholder talks in an effort to preserve liquidity.

Markets worldwide have been hit by oil majors cutting production and exploration budgets after the crude price crashed, while the pandemic has complicated crew changeovers and destroyed demand.