Currently daily TCE forward agreement rates for general-cargo for new Capsize ships are hovering around $5,000 per day for the current month, down from $7,000 in 2015 and from the recent peak of 15,000 in 2013. Ship owners need rates to be at least $6,000 per day to break even on new ships. According to ship brokers, this has has driven over dozen small operators to file for bankruptcy-court protection. More than 20 closely held companies have gone out of business over the past year, and others are unloading assets at big losses.
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