Sometimes graphs don’t give the feeling of the markets. S&P brokers around the world swear this has been a highly active month, and yet the VesselsValue chart below shows this November has been comparatively light in terms of concluded secondhand deals.

Despite the protestations by busy brokers that deals are ongoing, prices are not going up as evidenced by the Clarkson secondhand price index below. Why?

“Because there’s lots of vessels on the market and lots of burnt fingers out ther...