Financially troubled shipowners could be facing a wave of ship seizures after two high-profile foreclosures suggested financiers' and creditors' patience was wearing thin.

Seizures are expected to increase over the year as shipowners struggle to pay shipbuilders' instalments due on new vessels. However, the extent of seizures might depend on whether a recovery in the rates earned by dry bulk ships, one of the most troubled sectors, is sustained.

Sweden's Nordea Bank last week announced it had sold 13 ships seized from Eastwind, a refrigerated ship operator, to Monaco-based Sammy Ofer, one of the world's most powerful shipowners. The same day, New York-listed Navios Maritime Holdings said it had bought four new Capesize dry bulk ships – the largest kind – which had been seized to cover their original owners' debt while under construction at a South Korean shipyard.