Two top-tier shipowners have stepped into the secondhand market to make countercyclical capesize investments.

Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime Agencies and Angeliki Frangou’s Navios Group are understood to have made moves for modern capesize tonnage in the past week at a time when only the strongest companies are able and willing to invest in the sector.

Sources say Zodiac has bought a newbuilding from Scorpio Bulkers.