Bloomberg reported that China Cosco Holdings Co the state controlled sea cargo group that had ships seized in fee disputes has resumed charter payments to DryShips Inc and Jinhui Shipping & Transportation Ltd.

Mr Ziad Nakhleh chief financial officer of the Athens based company said DryShips is receiving payments from Cosco for three vessels that were previously subject to arbitration. Jinhui has also received money it was owed. Neither elaborated on how much was handed over.

Mr Jon Windham Barclays Capital analyst said Tianjin, China based Cosco said last week that it had reached agreements covering 18 different ships which were predominately hired in long term deals agreed to before a plunge in rates. The company may have failed to win lower fees because its size and state backing may have made shipowners less willing to compromise.

He said “It isn’t the biggest, strongest player that gets out of these contracts. It’s the smaller, weaker players because they have a credible threat of bankruptcy which could leave ship owners getting nothing.”

(Sourced from Bloomberg)