The incoming chief executive of listed shipbroker Braemar Shipping Services, James Grundy, says he will ditch diversification in favour of concentrating on its core business. The business released interim results that revealed a considerable improvement in financial performance

James Gundy has been head of Braemar’s shipbroking unit since joining the company in 2014 following the merger with ACM Shipping Group, where he was chief executive

New owners promising both organic and incremental growth, boosted by new hires

Xihe’s fleet is being marketed for sale, batch by batch. Following the successful efforts of a previous lot, which included very large crude carriers, creditors seem to be using this as the preferred means to recover debts

Charterers are said to be using ‘no crew change’ clauses in charterparties to avoid taking on the added costs of repatriating seafarers. IMEC says this lets unscrupulous operators undermine efforts to solve the crisis

The vessels, which are mostly more than 10 years old, comprise three very large crude carriers and four product tankers, all lying just outside Singapore port limits. The move signals that the piecemeal sell-off of assets is being used by some of the troubled company’s creditors as a means to recover debts