Belships down in Q1

Norwegian handysize bulk operator Belships has seen its first quarter operating income drop around a third to US$13.3m from US$21.6m in 2008, and its net quarterly profit more than halved from US$3.9m in the first quarter of last year to US$1.4m this. The company said weak freight rates were the cause, despite the "rather surprising" bounce in rates at the start of the year. It expected the situation to remain bleak for some time.

(Source: Maritime Global Net)