The surge of Covid-19 coronavirus cases in Italy has seen European shipping stocks fall sharply on Monday morning, following earlier sell-offs in Asia.
South Korea's Kospi index closed down nearly 3.9% on Monday, its worst day since October 2018, as confirmed virus cases topped 800.
Italy's main index was off more than 4.5% after the number of cases there hit 200, with five people dying.
Public buildings have begun to be closed down.
Boxship giant Maersk saw 5.65% chopped from its B shares, while tanker owner Frontline was down 7.37% by midday.
Torm lost 7% of its value in Denmark and ADS Crude Carriers 7.69% in Oslo.
Also in the Norwegian capital, 2020 Bulkers fell 4.8%, Golden Ocean 7.29% and BW LPG 7.69%.
Shipbrokers were not immune, with Braemar losing 5.25%, but Clarksons only dropped 1.4%.
Denmark-based tanker owner Concordia Maritime saw its shares slide 7.93%, while the offshore support vessel (OSV) sector was also hit.
Norway's Dof was down 7.88% and Siem Offshore 12.78%.
Tanker giant Euronav suffered less, with a fall of 3.8% in Belgium.
Markets to show extreme caution
“Markets [are] likely to show extreme caution in the face of [the] global spread of the coronavirus,” said Robert Carnell, chief Asia-Pacific economist at ING, who was cited in the Financial Times.
“This is no longer solely an Asia issue.”
US stocks were poised to open sharply lower later on Monday. Top Ships had closed down 12% on Friday.
Stock market reaction had so far been muted, but a spike in cases will raise fears of a pandemic.
CNN reported investors selling off stocks and putting money into safe havens like gold.
The UK FTSE 100 was down 3.3% in early trading and Germany's DAX came off more than 3.5%.
Oil prices also fell, with fears coming to the fore over energy demand.
US futures fell 3.6% to trade at $51.47 per barrel. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, also lost about 3.6% and was last trading at $56.37 per barrel.
