Slumped freight rates lifted capesize scrapping to a record high in the first five months of 2011.
It counts 35 ships from the sector heading to the breakers beaches between January and the close of May, smashing the previous benchmark set 15 years ago.
Derek Langston, senior director at SSY Consultancy and Research, tells Reuters a further 11 capes have been sent to the scrap heap since the start of June but have yet to be beached.
He said: "Those 35 that have already reached the ship breakers in the first five months of this year have already surpassed the previous annual record of 24 capesize ships being scrapped in 1996.”
While the new benchmark is a welcome sight for owners struggling with freight rates around $10,000 per day in the spot market, the scrapping figure is a long way short of the 105 capesize newbuilidings which have been delivered so far this year.