Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha is prepared to cancel ship orders and reduce fleet size to help weather the current downturn in dry bulk shipping market.

“We're considering a drastic reform package,” Masakazu Yakushiji, president of Daiichi Chuo, was reported saying. “We never thought the market would stay this low for this long.”

The Japanese firm is in talks about cancelling or delaying 10 of 60 on-order dry bulk carriers as it faces a second straight annual loss. Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), which owns 26% of Daiichi, has agreed to give the company a JYP15bn ($192m) loan facility until 31 March 2013.

Daiichi may shrink its fleet to fewer than 200 vessels from about 240, according to Yakushiji.

(Source:tradewinds)