Dry bulk chartering guide
Chartering is the contractual layer between a cargo owner and a vessel. The structure chosen determines who carries voyage cost risk, delay risk and market risk.
Voyage charter
The owner is paid a freight rate per tonne of cargo for a defined voyage and bears bunker, port and canal costs. Charterers get cost certainty; owners take speed and delay risk, mitigated through laytime and demurrage clauses.
Timecharter
The charterer hires the vessel for a period at a daily rate and pays voyage costs, including bunkers. The owner supplies crew, maintenance and insurance. Timecharter-equivalent (TCE) earnings are the standard way to compare voyage and period employment.
Contracts of affreightment
A COA commits an owner to lift a series of cargoes over a period without naming a specific vessel for each lifting. It suits industrial shippers with predictable volumes and gives owners a base of assured cargo.
Laytime and demurrage
Laytime is the time allowed for loading and discharging. Time used beyond it accrues demurrage, payable by the charterer; time saved may earn despatch. Disputes over laytime calculation are among the most common in dry bulk.