That's odd

Having the view over water that I have, one of the things I've noticed recently is the small flotilla of bulk carriers anchored at the top of the Tricomalee channel between Valdes and Kuiper Islands. I saw the lights of four last night. Three the night before, and all of them riding high and empty. Two others are clearly visible up just outside Departure bay. Too far away to make out names and numbers, but it is odd to see so many of these big ships just sitting at anchor like that. They weren't parked up like this in the last three years to my certain knowledge.

These Handymax size bulk carriers (like this one) are expensive to run, and leaving them unused makes me wonder. For it to make money, shipping has to be on the move all the time. For that much money to be effectively sitting still for the best part of a week means that the pulp trade has slacked off considerably. This does not bode well for the local economy. Normally, these guys come and go without hanging around.

Considering that the passage to that point is fairly narrow and relatively shallow for such shipping. I'm amazed that anyone would want to park even one a hundred and fifty metre long ship down there. Let alone four.