(Bloomberg) — D/S Norden A/S, Europe's largest publicly traded commodity shipper, said as many as half of orders for new ships may be cancelled because owners will fail to get financing.

"I will not be surprised if 40 percent to 50 percent of the order book will never be realised," Chief Executive Officer Carsten Mortensen wrote in a newsletter posted on the company's web site today.

There are 3,420 commodity transporters on order with a combined carrying capacity of 294,731 deadweight tons, according to data from London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd.

As measured by how much the vessels can haul, that's 70 percent of the current fleet's 421,023-ton capacity.

The cancellations, combined with the demolition of ageing carriers, are "good news" for owners decimated by a record 92 percent collapse in rental returns last year, Mortensen wrote.

About two percent of the world's coal, ore and grain carriers were sent for dismantling from October through February, he said.

With almost a third of the global fleet built more than 20 years ago, others will likely follow, Mortensen wrote.

Norden cancelled orders for two partly owned vessels and is in talks about delaying other vessels or converting them into other ship types, Mortensen said.