At least 24 cargo shipping company stocks lost more than 5% in the day, including several of the two exchanges’ largest shipowners by market capitalisation.
Analysts tied the drops to negative data out of China, including the announcement of a coal import tariff, not to mention concerns about oil growth and the global economy.
DryShips led the charge, as TradeWinds already reported earlier today, plunging by 21% to $1.47 after the George Economou-led company announced that it was withdrawing a notes offering.
Greece’s Costamare led declining containership owning shares with a 10.6% drop, which saw the company’s stock price close the day at $17.96. Also in the sector, Box Ships, Seaspan and Danaos all fell by more than 6%.
In the LNG space, Golar LNG Ltd plunged by 10.3% to $46.17 while GasLog saw its shares sink by 8.9% to $17.03.
Navios shares fall
Navios Maritime Holdings, the top of the Navios group’s triad of companies, lost 7.5% to reach $4.52. Bulker and containership spin-off Navios Maritime Partners fell by 7.5% to $15.
Also in bulkers, Knightsbridge Shipping, FreeSeas, Baltic Trading and Safe Bulkers all shed more than 6% of their stock price.
Among tanker owners, Capital Product Partners, Teekay Offshore Partners and parent Teekay Corp similarly dipped more than 6%.
The broader markets also saw a negative day, however, with the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping by 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite index losing 1.7%.