Bulker sales are thin on the ground this month. One rare sale, however, has caught the eye. BW Dry Cargo has sold the 2010-built Kamsarmax BW Barley to a new name in dry bulk, Sterling Shipping.

Brokers report Sterling has paid $15.5m for the ship, in a deal that comes with a two-year time charter back to BW at around $11,000 a day.

For Malta-registered Sterling, this is the second ship it has bought since it was founded in early 2018. And its first vessel acquisition was also from BW Dry Cargo, taking the 2013-built BW Hazel at the end of January this year, a ship that has been rechristened Sterling Svea and is now time-chartered back to BW for a firm period of two years.