Frank Dunne, a partner at law firm Watson Farley & Williams LLP, which has the largest global shipping and vessel-finance practice, comments on how banks are handling a decline in ship prices.

He spoke at a conference in London today. “The more problems the banks have, the less willing they are to recognize the problems that the shipowners have.

They prefer to hold their breath and believe in values that seem to be somewhat surprising by market standards and prefer to believe in the future, because the consequence of looking really hard at the present and admitting how bad things are in some sectors is so awful for the banks that it might be worse for the banks than it might be for the shipowners.”