Chartering insights

Chartering guides

Chartering guides from our brokers, written for charterers and shipowners: charter types and contracts, laytime and voyage economics, ships and cargoes, and how to work with a shipbroker.

Charter types & contracts

Voyage, time and bareboat charters, contracts of affreightment, charter parties and the fixture recap.

Charter types4 min read

Voyage charter vs time charter vs bareboat charter

Who pays for what, who controls the ship, and which charter type fits your cargo.

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Charter types3 min read

Contract of affreightment (COA) explained

A series of cargoes over a period, at agreed terms, with the owner choosing the ships.

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Charter types2 min read

What is a charter party? Key clauses explained

The contract behind every fixture, and the clauses worth reading twice.

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Charter types2 min read

Fixture recap: what it contains and why it matters

The single message that records a fixture, and the mistakes that cost money later.

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Laytime, demurrage & voyage economics

Laycan, notice of readiness, laytime and demurrage, time charter equivalent and what a charter really costs.

Laytime & demurrage4 min read

Laytime and demurrage explained, with a calculation example

How port time is allowed, counted and paid for, with a worked calculation.

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Laytime & demurrage2 min read

Notice of readiness (NOR) in shipping explained

The notice that starts the laytime clock, and why an invalid one costs owners money.

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Laytime & demurrage2 min read

What is laycan in shipping?

The arrival window that decides which ships can be offered for a cargo.

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Voyage economics2 min read

Time charter equivalent (TCE): formula and worked example

Turn a freight rate into a daily earning, so voyage and time charter offers compare.

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Voyage economics2 min read

How much does it cost to charter a bulk carrier?

The cost drivers behind a freight quote, and how to build your own cost per tonne.

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Voyage economics2 min read

Voyage economics for cargo and vessel owners

The freight rate is one input, not the answer — how both sides should read the whole voyage.

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Ships & cargoes

Bulk carrier sizes, stowage factor and when a cargo needs a geared ship.

Ships2 min read

Bulk carrier sizes: Handysize, Supramax, Ultramax, Panamax and Capesize

Size classes by deadweight, which carry cranes, and what each is used for.

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Cargo2 min read

Stowage factor explained: formula, conversion and typical values

How much space a tonne of cargo takes, and how to check a cargo fits the holds.

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Ships2 min read

Geared vs gearless vessels: when your cargo needs ship's cranes

Ship's cranes, grabs and shore equipment: what the terminal decides for you.

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Working with a shipbroker

What a shipbroker does, how a charter is fixed step by step, commissions, and the data behind good matching.

Shipbroking2 min read

What does a shipbroker do?

The job behind a fixture: finding the match, negotiating it and seeing it through.

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Chartering process3 min read

How to charter a ship for your cargo, step by step

From cargo order to discharge: the chartering process in nine steps.

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Shipbroking2 min read

Shipbroker commission and address commission explained

Brokerage, address commission and the total commission line in a fixture.

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AI matching2 min read

How AI cargo–vessel matching works

Why real matching is about compatibility and reasoning, not keyword overlap or a single score.

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Data quality2 min read

Cargo requirements and vessel position data

The fields that decide a fixture, and why clean data is the foundation of a reliable match.

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Our brokers put these ideas to work on live cargoes and open vessels. Send a cargo or an open vessel.