london (Bloomberg) — Golden Ocean Group Ltd., Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen's commodities shipping line, plunged as much as 30 percent in Oslo trading after saying it will begin talks about financing with banks and bondholders.

The company fell 1.91 kroner, or 29 percent, to close at 4.75 kronor in Oslo, valuing Bermuda-based Golden Ocean at 1.32 billion kroner ($195 million). Golden Ocean also accepted a lower selling price on a vessel and two rental accords ended early, it said in a statement.

The cost of shipping commodities fell by a record 92 percent last year as steelmakers' demand for iron ore and coal weakened, prompting at least four lines to seek protection from creditors. Golden Ocean said the two rental accords were ended as its customer was operating under "financial constraints". "They under-estimated counterparty risk within Golden Ocean," Martin Sommerseth Jaer, an Oslo-based analyst at Arctic Securites ASA whose recommendations on the stock delivered the best returns for the past year, said by phone. "This is the domino effect from counterparties who've been failing."

Golden Ocean needs financing for 12 vessels, the company said. The talks with banks and bondholders were triggered after delays in building two vessels caused a prior financing accord with Ship Finance International Ltd. to be cancelled, constraining the company's "liquidity position".

The shipping line will likely sell a "substantial" number of shares to finance ship-construction and restructure its debts, Petter Narvestad, an analyst at Fondsfinans ASA in Oslo, said in an e-mailed note yesterday.