Dubai’s Tomini Shipping is said to have sold two of its four Chinese-­built Dolphin 57 supramaxes and Greece’s PrimeBulk Shipmanagement one ship of the same design.

The buyers are reportedly Chinese companies driven by price considerations to reconsider their preference for Japanese-built secondhand tonnage.

Some brokers said Tomini has sold the 56,900-dwt Tomini Ability (built 2010) for $9.8m,