Shipowner pays Glencore to use vessel A Cyprus-based ship operating company has highlighted the depth of the dry bulk shipping market's rate slump after it unusually agreed to pay Glencore $2,000 a day for the commodity trader to use one of its ships. Global Maritime Investments has agreed to pay Glencore to carry grain from Japan via Australia to Europe to reposition the vessel - the Angelina - from the Pacific, where rates are especially weak, to the Atlantic. Steve Rodley, GMI's managing partner for the UK, insisted, however, that the transaction made sense because Glencore would still be required to pay for all but the $2,000 daily cost of the fuel consumed on the voyage. A glut of ships and weakening growth in demand to ship dry bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore has sent earnings for most dry bulk vessels on the short-term spot market plunging to well below operating costs. The Baltic Dry index, an index of ship earnings for a range of ship sizes and routes, last week fell to its lowest level since August 1986. Nevertheless, the BDI nevertheless on Monday recorded its first increase since December 12, rising a single point to 648. Mr Rodley said the position was analogous to that of a hire car operator whose car was stranded in a remote, inconvenient location and which had a driver offering to accept money to relocate the car somewhere more convenient, while paying for the fuel himself. A hire car company would accept such a deal in weak market conditions, he suggested. "Even though we're paying Glencore, it does make sense," he said. Market rates for a number of routes monitored by the Baltic Exchange, the London-based market that compiles the Baltic Dry index, have shown negative figures for some time. But this, according to people involved, is generally a result of the rules for calculating the index. It is far rarer for shipowners to agree actually to hand over cash to a charterer for it to use a ship. "It's very unusual for this type of fixture to be reported to the Baltic Exchange," the exchange said. Average spot market rates for Panamax vessels such as the Angelina stood at $5,778 a day, well below the $6,000 to $7,000 a day the ships typically cost to operate. Rates for Capesize ships - the largest type, which cost more to run - stood even lower, at $5,214 a day. Guy Campbell, head of dry cargo at London-based Clarksons shipbrokers, said that transactions like GMI's were likely to remain rare, despite low market rates. "I don't think at this stage we could suggest it will become common practice," he said.