Symphony Shipping has put plans to extend its newbuilding project on ice.

The Dutch multipurpose operator company had been linked to orders for another two 10,500-dwt open-top multipurpose (MPP) tweendeckers at the Ferus Smit shipyard in northern Germany.

But the outbreak of the coronavirus has forced it to focus on more pressing matters, according to Jari van Niejenhuis, managing director of the Breda-based shipmanagement company.