The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, slipped further on Thursday on extended weaker demand for bigger vessels. The index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, fell 5 points, or 0.88 percent, to 560 points. The capesize index fell 37 points, or 8.58 percent, to 394 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $264 to $4,093. The panamax index slipped 2 points, or 0.34 percent, to 586 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry 60,000- to 70,000-tonne cargoes of coal or grains, slipped $13 to $4,697, and its index slipped 2 points, or 0.34 percent, to 586 points. The indices for the relatively smaller vessels, handysize and supramax, inched up 3 points and 7 points respectively.