Dry bulk chartering strategy: Who fared better?

Following a year of ups and downs in 2019, dry bulk operators were fully geared to meet the challenges of IMO 2020 fuel regulation, a
global anti-pollution initiative that would greatly lower sulfur emissions from high-sulfur fuel. Operators chose one of two options – either
burn low-sulphur fuel, which would lead to high operating costs, or install scrubbers for the high-sulfur fuel, which had significant upfront
costs. Some operators, including Star Bulk, chose to install scrubbers on most vessels in their fleet to gain a competitive advantage over
peers and thus brace for a good 2020.
But the hope that it would be a great year for dry bulk soon fizzled out when the COVID-19 pandemic hit commodities demand in early
2020. The virus outbreak coupled with global lockdowns lowered the consumption and cost of fuel while simultaneously decreasing the
demand for bulk goods and rendering the scrubber investments worthless, albeit, until the demand increases. The operators that were
trying to pass on their capex (incurred on scrubber installations) and/or operational (related to low-sulphur fuel) costs to charterers now
had to wait.
The spot charter