Crumbling shipbuilding prices may still have some way to slide as fresh newbuilding enquiries fail to materialise in a market wracked by uncertainties.

Prices are still above the record lows reported in 2016 and 2017, but shipyard managers are ­concerned about the lack of action and gaps in their forward orderbooks.

Shipbuilders, newbuilding brokers and owners have cited uncertainties over the impact of Covid-19 on trade and future fuelling choices as the key reasons there have been so few orders this year.