The boom in commodity prices just after the Great Recession drove many in the shipping industry to rapidly expand their fleets. Fleet growth exploded from 2009 through 2012, with the industry increasing the number of ships in service by an average of 14% a year.

The oversupply in shipping caused the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), an assessment of the price to move major raw materials by sea, to plunge to a 30-year low of $290 last year