The surge in spot rates seen in the dry bulk sector over the past months has caused the secondhand market to bounce back, with activity levels up and values stabilizing.
London brokers reported that the firming charter market had "wakened" buyers and given confidence to owners looking to sell ships.
"The recent change in fortunes, particularly for the larger sizes, has encouraged many owners to now consider period fixtures as a means to ride out the volatility which many predict will return in 2020," Gibson said in its weekly report.
"We continue to see a substantial amount of tonnage being marketed for sale as owners look to raise equity to finance existing newbuilding contracts and keep lenders at bay."
Healthier spot rates saw 20 bulk carriers committed on period charters last week, Clarksons reported.
Evidence that stronger had helped support secondhand values was shown by the sale of a modern supramax bulk carrier last week.
Cyprus' Interorient Navigation was rumoured to have committed the 2006-built, 53,565dwt Bulk Navigator for $27m to Greek buyers that were not named.
This helped boost the Baltic Exchange sale and purchase assessment for a five-year-old 52,000dwt vessel to $31.6m.
Despite the price being higher than the $26m a Thai power company paid last week for the 2003-built, 53,074dwt PL Star, Clarksons said that a Japanese-built vessel of the same vintage could have commanded closer to $30m.
Asian companies continued to dominate the market though, with Chinese buyers reported to have paid $17.4m for the 1996-built, 70,359dwt Mahakam.
By comparison, ICAP Shipping rated a 10-year-old panamax bulk carrier at $25m.