Golden Ocean: Rate Slide Has Been Dramatic for Owners

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday November 25, 2015

Golden Ocean Group Limited (Golden Ocean) Tuesday said this year's rate slide has been "dramatic for the owners of dry bulk tonnage" as it reported a worse than expected result for its third quarter of 2015.

A decrease in trading days during the period, as well as increased OPEX as a result of dry docking costs, contributed to a net loss of $40.7 million - more than double that of the $19 million loss expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

Golden Ocean pointed to coal as a particularly difficult segment of the dry bulk market, saying that this sector is having "another bad year."

While shipments into India have increased by 24 million metric tonnes (mt), China's imports were down 66 million mt during the first nine months of 2015, but appear to have stabilised over the last two months.

Looking ahead, Golden Ocean says it expects dry bulk to be challenging for the next six to twelve months, but was optimistic in that "there is a probability that the over supply will adjust in the prevailing market conditions."

"The focus in the coming months is to improve the liquidity and the balance sheet," it noted.

The company says that it has also delayed three newbuilds due to be delivered this year, to early in 2016.

In August, Ship & Bunker reported that Golden Ocean had booked a $33.5 million loss for the second quarter of 2015.

Ship & Bunker News Team
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com