When prices are down we should buy ships! Is this the right time? This has been an interest of mine since I learned about microeconomics. It is the classic preference argument that says you are better off whether the market goes up or down (assuming enough liquidity). You scale down when prices are high, and scale up when they are low, and you make your money off the capital gain, rther than the operation. shipowners have been trying to do this for years, and many have been very successful. In particular, Greek shipowners have made this a specialty.
It actually works because they are able to operate the ships they do own efficiently. So they sell off the less useful ones when times are good, and buy ships for new market niches when there is a glut of ships.