Hong Kong’s Wallem Group has closed its shipbroking department at its headquarters.

“The dry cargo markets remain challenging and the sector has been particularly affected for the past years, with little prospect of immediate relief. In recent times we have witnessed amalgamation and acquisition by much larger broking houses,” group managing director Simon Doughty told Splash today.

“The handymax sector, which is the segment that we have been focused on, has experienced fewer and smaller parcels/shipments. Therefore Wallem’s shipbroking business has been adversely affected and thus after supporting the management team’s plan in sourcing new broking opportunities, which has not been possible, we have decided to withdraw from this sector,” Doughty continued.

Wallem does still have a broking operation in Taipei.

Other chartering activities will continue as usual within Wallem’s Commercial Services Division where a fleet of 24 vessels are commercially managed for a variety of owners.

In an interview with Splash from a fortnight ago, Doughty commented: “It is very difficult to be a small shipbroker today.”