Greek dry bulk shipping concern Medmar has hit the rocks, with brokers telling Splash the Athens company has defaulted on a number of cargoes since last week. The company has been hit hard by a few cargoes it booked earlier this year – grains from South America – which it failed to hedge.
“When the market shot up they started bleeding heavily,” a source told Splash, suggesting the company was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars per cargo.
“Owners that have units on charter to them will have to take some significant haircut,” a broking contact said.
Grain houses are also scrambling to find replacement tonnage – at higher prices – to move their exports.
Medmar was founded 50 years ago and is now run by Donald McTaggart, the son of the company’s founder. It typically charters in around a dozen ships at any given time.