Schedule of Long-term Debt Instruments [Table Text Block] | Long-term debt consists of the following: | | | | | | | | | | | | December 31, 2016 | | December 31, 2015 | Bulk Pangaea Secured Note (1) | | $ | 1,040,625 |
| | $ | 1,734,375 |
| Bulk Patriot Secured Note (1) | | 1,087,500 |
| | 2,312,500 |
| Bulk Trident Secured Note (1) | | 5,737,500 |
| | 6,375,000 |
| Bulk Juliana Secured Note (1) | | 3,042,186 |
| | 3,718,229 |
| Bulk Nordic Odin Ltd., Bulk Nordic Olympic Ltd. Bulk Nordic Odyssey Ltd., Bulk Nordic Orion Ltd. and Bulk Nordic Oshima Ltd. Amended and Restated Loan Agreement (2) | | 77,325,001 |
| | 89,625,000 |
| Bulk Atlantic Secured Note | | 5,350,000 |
| | 6,530,000 |
| Bulk Phoenix Secured Note (1) | | 6,816,685 |
| | 7,649,997 |
| Term Loan Facility of USD 13,000,000 (Nordic Bulk Barents Ltd. and Nordic Bulk Bothnia Ltd.) | | 7,097,820 |
| | 10,717,370 |
| Bulk Nordic Oasis Ltd. Loan Agreement (2) | | 20,000,000 |
| | 21,500,000 |
| 109 Long Wharf Commercial Term Loan | | 1,032,067 |
| | 978,210 |
| Phoenix Bulk Carriers (US) LLC Automobile Loan | | 28,582 |
| | — |
| Phoenix Bulk Carriers (US) LLC Master Loan | | 236,242 |
| | — |
| Total | | 128,794,208 |
| | 151,140,681 |
| Less: current portion | | (19,627,846 | ) | | (19,499,262 | ) | Less: unamortized bank fees | | (1,528,511 | ) | | (2,145,266 | ) | Secured long-term debt | | $ | 107,637,851 |
| | $ | 129,496,153 |
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| | (1) | The Bulk Pangaea Secured Note, the Bulk Patriot Secured Note, the Bulk Trident Secured Note, the Bulk Juliana Secured Note, and the Bulk Phoenix Secured Note are cross-collateralized by the vessels m/v Bulk Pangaea, m/v Bulk Patriot, m/v Bulk Trident, m/v Bulk Juliana, and m/v Bulk Newport and are guaranteed by the Company. |
| | (2) | The borrower under this facility is NBHC, of which the Company and its joint venture partners, STST and ASO2020, each own one-third. NBHC is consolidated in accordance with ASC 810-10 and as such, amounts pertaining to the non-controlling ownership held by these third parties in the financial position of NBHC are reported as non-controlling interest in the accompanying balance sheets. |
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Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt [Table Text Block] | The future minimum annual payments under the debt agreements are as follows: | | | | | | Years ending December 31, | | |
| 2017 | $ | 19,627,846 |
| 2018 | 21,704,371 |
| 2019 | 16,371,749 |
| 2020 | 19,021,179 |
| 2021 | 16,618,718 |
| Thereafter | 35,450,345 |
| | $ | 128,794,208 |
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