Kraken Broking Academy

The size ladder

Every conversation on a dry bulk desk starts with size. Size decides which cargoes a ship can carry, which ports she can enter, which index prices her, and which distribution list her position goes to. These are Kraken's own classes and codes — the ones you will select on the platform every day. Learn them cold; everything from Module 2 onwards assumes them.

The ladder, drawn to one scale. The crane marks are the geared classes — everything from Panamax up has a clean deck.

Kraken vessel size categories

Class	Code	DWT band	Gear	Typical cargoes
Small Bulker	`SBL`	under 5,000	Geared	Short-sea and river parcels, aggregates, salt, bagged goods
Mini Bulker	`MBL`	5,000 – 15,000	Geared	Cement, fertiliser, steel, aggregates. Air draft and river depth rule, not dwt
Handysize	`HDY`	15,000 – 32,000	Geared	The most diverse book in bulk: grain, sugar, cement, fertiliser, steel, logs, scrap
Handymax	`HMX`	32,000 – 50,000	Geared, 4 cranes	Minor bulks, grain, steel, fertiliser. A wide and busy band on this platform
Supramax	`SMX`	50,000 – 60,000	Geared, 4×30 t	Grain, coal, bauxite, alumina, steel, cement, petcoke. The workhorse
Ultramax	`UMX`	60,000 – 66,000	Geared, 4×30 t	As Supramax, larger stems. The modern geared newbuilding standard
Panamax	`PMX`	66,000 – 80,000	Gearless	Coal, grain, bauxite
Kamsarmax	`KMX`	80,000 – 90,000	Gearless	Bauxite above all, plus coal and grain
Post Panamax	`PPX`	90,000 – 100,000	Gearless	Coal and ore on routes where the canal is irrelevant
Mini Cape	`MCAPE`	100,000 – 130,000	Gearless	Coal, iron ore into berths that cannot take a full Cape
Capesize	`CAPE`	130,000 – 200,000	Gearless	Iron ore and coal, almost exclusively
Newcastlemax	`NMX`	200,000 – 220,000	Gearless	Coal, iron ore. Beam ≤ 50 m, LOA ≤ 300 m
VLOC	`VLOC`	220,000 – 400,000	Gearless, ore only	Iron ore only. Vale's 400,000 dwt ships are the "Valemax" nickname within this class

Where a vessel sits exactly on a boundary — 32,000 or 50,000 or 80,000 — check how the platform has classified her rather than assuming. Boundaries are where mis-filed positions happen.

Kraken bands are not the textbook bands

This is the single most important thing in Module 1. If you learn ship sizes from a book, a website or another broker, some of the bands will not match what you select on the platform. Both are "right" — they answer different questions. The platform band decides which list a position is sent to. The market name decides how you talk about her to a counterparty.

Vessel	Kraken class	What the market calls her	Why it matters
38,000 dwt geared	HMX — Handymax	Handysize (large)	The Baltic's Handysize index ship is 38,200 dwt. On the platform she is a Handymax. Do not tell a charterer you have "a Handymax" when he asked for a Handy and she is the same ship
63,500 dwt geared	UMX — Ultramax	Supramax	Ultramaxes are offered, fixed and indexed on the Supramax market. Different list on the platform, same market in the real world
82,500 dwt gearless	KMX — Kamsarmax	Panamax	Kamsarmaxes trade the Panamax market and price off the BPI
116,000 dwt gearless	MCAPE — Mini Cape	Post-Panamax / "Babycape"	Kraken splits at 100,000. Most textbooks run Post-Panamax to 120,000
205,000 dwt gearless	NMX — Newcastlemax	Newcastlemax	Agrees. But note the market calls ships from about 185,000 dwt Newcastlemax; Kraken starts at 200,000

Rule of thumb. Select the class the platform defines when you are posting or filtering a position — that is a data question with one correct answer. Use the name the market uses when you are speaking or writing to a counterparty — that is a communication question, and using the wrong word makes you sound like you have not been on a desk.

Stem is not deadweight

A cargo enquiry gives you a stem — the quantity to be lifted. A position gives you deadweight — everything the ship can carry. They are never the same number.

Always allow a marginBunkers, fresh water, stores and constants eat roughly 5–10 % of deadweight. A 60,000 mt stem needs about a 65,000 dwt ship, not a 60,000 dwt one.

Stowage factorLight, bulky cargo fills the holds before it fills the deadweight. Logs, woodchips and grain run out of cubic space; iron ore and cement run out of weight.

Draft at the portA ship may have the deadweight and still not be able to load it, because the berth or the river will not float her that deep. Check the port before the ship.

Geared against gearless. The single most important thing the position row does not tell you.

Hard physical limits worth memorising

Panama — original locksBeam 32.31 m · LOA 294.13 m · Draft 12.04 m TFW. This is why Panamax beam is 32.2 m.

Panama — Neopanamax locksBeam 49 m · LOA 366 m · Draft 15.2 m. A 50 m Newcastlemax still will not fit.

Port Kamsar, GuineaLOA ≈ 229 m. Defines the Kamsarmax. Bauxite loading.

Port of Newcastle, AustraliaBeam ≤ 50 m · LOA ≤ 300 m. Defines the Newcastlemax. Coal.

Valemax terminals≈ 22–23 m laden draft. Only a handful of deepwater terminals worldwide take them fully laden.

GearUp to and including UMX, ships carry their own cranes. From PMX upwards they do not — so the port needs shore gear, floating cranes or grab barges.

Baltic Exchange benchmark vessels

Each Baltic index prices one specific imaginary ship. When someone quotes "the BSI at $14,000", they mean that ship — not yours. Yours earns a premium or a discount to it. Note the last column: three of the four benchmarks fall into a Kraken class with a different name from the index.

Index	Benchmark vessel	Gear	Max age	Kraken class
BCI — Capesize	182,000 dwt · 18.2 m SSW · LOA 292 m · beam 45 m	Gearless	10 yrs	`CAPE`
BPI — Panamax	82,500 dwt · 14.43 m SSW · LOA 229 m · beam 32.25 m	Gearless	12 yrs	`KMX`
BSI — Supramax	63,500 dwt · 13.418 m SSW · LOA 199.98 m · beam 32.24 m	4×30 t + grabs	15 yrs	`UMX`
BHSI — Handysize	38,200 dwt · 10.538 m SSW · LOA 180 m · beam 29.8 m	4×30 t	15 yrs	`HMX`

The indices moved with the fleet as ships got bigger, but the index names never changed. That is the whole reason market names and dwt bands drift apart.

What an experienced broker reads off a size in two seconds

Can she discharge herself?Up to UMX — yes, she has cranes. PMX and above — the port had better have gear or floating cranes.

Which ports are open to her?Bigger ship, fewer berths. A CAPE has perhaps a few dozen realistic load ports; an HD has thousands.

Does the stem fit?Nobody puts 30,000 mt on a Capesize. Freight per tonne collapses and the owner will not look at it.

Which index prices her?Tells you instantly whether the market is with you or against you today.

Which distribution list?A position goes to the size-specific principals list. Wrong class, wrong audience, wasted send.

Who owns this segment?Segments have different owner populations. Size hints at who you will end up calling.

Reading a position

Module 1 taught you the ships. Module 2 taught you the words. This module is the first real broking act: taking a position off the screen and working out whether she can do a job. Almost all of it comes down to one question — can she make the laycan?

Anatomy of a Kraken position

ID VESSEL NAME DWT FLAG BUILT OPEN DATE OPEN PORT 10482 MV OCEAN PRIDE 56,800 PANAMA 2014 22 SEP KANDLA

DWT — the size class56,800 puts her in SMX. The class picks the principals list her position is sent to. It also tells you which cargoes fit and which index prices her.

BUILT — the vetting filter2014, so twelve years old in 2026. Age limits are hard filters applied before anyone looks at the ship. Check it against the charterer's requirement before you offer.

OPEN DATE + OPEN PORTWhere and when she becomes free — not where she is now. She may still be discharging a week's steaming away. This is the starting point of every calculation below.

FLAGAffects inspections, union attitudes and which charterers will take her. It says nothing about who owns her — a Greek owner on Panama flag is routine.

What the row does not tell you — and you must chase. Gear (geared or gearless, how many cranes, grabs fitted) — the most important fact after size, and it is not a field. Last cargoes — how receivers judge suitability; a ship off coal cannot present grain clean without days of washing. Owner — the column is blank on most rows. Treat every position as incomplete until you have checked these against the source email.

Who is writing to you?

Before you read what the email says, work out who sent it. It changes what you can do with it, what it is worth, and who you are allowed to talk to.

A principal owns the ship or owns the cargo. He decides. Nobody has to approve him.

our vessel · our cargo · cargo is ours ex-mine we fix · we can confirm · we are prepared to pay 3.75 addcom our controlled tonnage · our board has approved the budget

A charterer principal GRANTS address commission. Watch for that: granting is a principal's act, asking is a broker's.

A broker works for someone else and relays. He asks for brokerage.

on behalf of our principals · ACCT our good charterers owners advise · owners revert · reverting soonest recd from our co-broker · sub our principals' approval our exclusive lady with head owners · PLS DO NOT RE-CIRCULATE

Count the commissions. 3.75 addcom + 1.25 + 1.25 means two broking houses are already in the chain before you add yourself — and every one of them comes out of the freight, which is why a long chain quietly makes a cargo less attractive to an owner.

An operator is the one that catches people out. He takes ships on time charter and re-lets them, so he is a charterer to the real owner and a disponent owner to you. His wording borrows from both sides — but he commits without asking anyone, and nobody pays him commission.

taken on period by us · we have the vessel on TC until end November offering her for a trip · sub OUR approval ← his own, not someone else's

What the company name does not tell you

Shipping, Maritime and Chartering sit in the names of owners, charterers and brokers alike. So does a chartering department: a trading house's freight desk is a principal, and a broking house's chartering desk is not. Read the behaviour, not the letterhead — who owns the thing, and who can say yes.

The rule that costs you a career if you break it. When a broker brings you business, that business reaches his principal through him. Going around him to the owner or charterer he introduced — even once, even by accident, even because they replied to you directly — ends the relationship, and dry bulk is small enough that everyone hears. If a principal writes to you direct and you are not sure whether a broker already sits in the chain, ask before you quote.

The three-question test

Run these in order on every candidate. Stop at the first failure — there is no point pricing a ship that cannot do the job.

1. Does the stem fit?Cargo quantity plus 5–10 pct for bunkers, water and constants. 45,000 mt needs about 50,000 dwt. Stem is never deadweight.

2. Is the gear right?If either end has no shore cranes, she must be geared. This kills more candidates than anything else, and it kills them regardless of freight.

3. Can she make the laycan?Open date plus ballast time against the cancelling date. Everything below is this question.

The whole question in one picture: open date plus ballast steaming against the laycan window. She arrives the day before laydays open — offer her.

The laycan arithmetic

Four lines, and you will do it a hundred times a week.

1. DAYS = DISTANCE (NM) ÷ ( SPEED (KTS) × 24 ) 2. ADD THE WEATHER MARGIN × 1.05 3. ETA = OPEN DATE + DAYS 4. COMPARE ETA AGAINST THE LAYCAN

Worked example. MV Ocean Pride is open Singapore 8 Sep. A cargo loads Kandla, laycan 18/25 Sep. The platform gives the ballast as 2,780 nm and she is described about 13.5 knots ballast.

2,780 ÷ ( 13.5 × 24 ) = 8.6 days 8.6 × 1.05 = 9.0 days 8 SEP + 9.0 days = ETA 17 SEP LAYCAN 18 / 25 SEP → arrives the day before laydays open 8 days clear of cancelling → OFFER HER

What early and late each cost

Too earlyShe waits. Days between arrival and the first layday are usually the owner's own waiting time at his own cost. In a congested port that can be a week of lost earnings — never present early arrival as a selling point.

Too lateThe charterer may cancel. He is not obliged to — if the market has risen he may keep the ship — but the option is his, and a ship that misses her laycan costs far more in reputation than the fixture was worth.

The targetArrive at the front of the laycan with room for weather. Comfortable, not early, not tight.

Service speeds

What to assume when the position does not state a speed. Always prefer the owner's own description if you have it — and remember a speed given WOG warrants nothing at all.

Class	Laden	Ballast	Notes
Handysize (28-38k dwt)	12.5 kts	13.0 kts	Older, smaller engines and frequent multi-port coastal work. Many 1990s-2000s Handies realistically average 11.5-12.5 kts. Assume about 300 nm/day laden.
Supramax / Ultramax (52-64k dwt)	13.0 kts	13.5 kts	The dry bulk workhorse. Charterparty description is typically 'about 13 kts laden / about 14 kts ballast on about 26-30 mt VLSFO'. Eco Ultramaxes are often instructed to steam 11-12 kts to save bunkers.
Panamax / Kamsarmax (76-82k dwt)	13.0 kts	14.0 kts	Typically described 'about 12.5-13.5 kts laden / about 13.5-14.5 kts ballast'. Note the Panama Canal draft constraint matters more than speed on Panama routings.
Capesize (170-210k dwt)	12.5 kts	13.5 kts	Baltic C5/C3 TCE models conventionally use about 12 kts laden and 13-14 kts ballast. In weak markets Capes slow-steam to 10-11 kts laden; Newcastlemax/VLOC similar. Consumption roughly 35-45 mt VLSFO/day at 12-13 kts.

Weather and current margin: brokers customarily add 5% to steaming time on a quick estimate. In a bad season on a North Atlantic or Southern Ocean leg, use more.

Indicative distances

Compiled from NGA Pub. 151 Distances Between Ports and cross-checked against commercial route data. These are for learning the arithmetic — always take the real figure from the platform's own route calculation, which accounts for the actual routing being priced.

From	To	NM	Routing	Confidence
Singapore	Dampier / Port Hedland (West Australia)	1,700	via Lombok Strait (alternatively via Sunda Strait, near identical)	high
Singapore	Kandla (West Coast India)	2,780	via Malacca Strait, south of Sri Lanka	medium
Singapore	Santos (Brazil)	8,950	via Sunda Strait and Cape of Good Hope	medium
Qingdao	Port Hedland	3,500	via Taiwan Strait / South China Sea, Mindoro or Makassar and Lombok Strait	medium
Durban	Paradip (East Coast India)	4,650	east of Madagascar, south of Sri Lanka	medium
Rotterdam	US Gulf (New Orleans / Mississippi)	4,900	direct North Atlantic, via Straits of Florida	medium
Gibraltar	US Gulf (New Orleans)	4,550	via Straits of Florida	high
Singapore	Richards Bay	4,840	via Sunda Strait, south of Madagascar	high
Kandla	Richards Bay	3,850	direct across Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, west of Madagascar / Mozambique Channel	medium
Qingdao	Vancouver	5,000	great-circle North Pacific, north of / through the Aleutian chain	medium
Port Hedland	Qingdao	3,500	via Lombok/Makassar Strait, South China Sea, Taiwan Strait	medium
Tubarao (Brazil)	Qingdao	11,200	via Cape of Good Hope, then Sunda or Lombok Strait	medium
Newcastle NSW	Qingdao	4,800	via Coral Sea, east of Papua New Guinea (Vitiaz Strait), Philippine Sea	high
Newcastle NSW	Kudamatsu / Japan	4,350	via Coral Sea, east of Papua New Guinea, then Bungo Suido into the Seto Inland Sea	medium
Richards Bay	Paradip (East Coast India)	4,550	east of Madagascar, south of Sri Lanka, up the Bay of Bengal	medium
Santos (Brazil)	Qingdao	11,450	via Cape of Good Hope, then Sunda or Lombok Strait	medium
US Gulf (New Orleans)	Rotterdam	4,900	via Straits of Florida, direct North Atlantic	medium
US Gulf (New Orleans)	Japan	9,200	via Panama Canal	medium
Kamsar (Guinea)	Yantai (China)	11,450	via Cape of Good Hope (Suez routing is within about 100 nm)	high
Vancouver	Qingdao	5,000	great-circle North Pacific	medium
Rotterdam	Iskenderun (Turkey)	3,480	via Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean	high
Constanta (Black Sea)	Alexandria (Egypt)	940	via Bosphorus and Dardanelles, south of the Aegean	high
Samarinda / East Kalimantan (Indonesia)	Krishnapatnam (India)	2,800	via Java Sea / Karimata, Singapore Strait and Malacca Strait	low
Ulsan (Korea)	Houston	9,800	via Panama Canal	medium

Routing changes the answer enormously — Rotterdam to Singapore is about 8,440 nm via Suez against about 11,720 via the Cape. Kamsar to Yantai, by contrast, is within about 30 nm either way, so that choice is purely about canal dues and Red Sea risk, not distance.

Cargoes and stowage

Module 1 taught you the ships, Module 3 taught you timing. This is the other half of matching: what the cargo is, whether it is safe to load, what the holds must look like to receive it, and — the question that catches every trainee — how much of it she can actually carry.

The one calculation that matters

A ship runs out of one of two things: deadweight or hold volume. Work both and take the lower. Which one binds depends entirely on the cargo's stowage factor.

BY WEIGHT : DWCC (tonnes) BY VOLUME : GRAIN CAPACITY (m³) ÷ STOWAGE FACTOR (m³/mt) INTAKE = THE LOWER OF THE TWO

Case 1 — dense cargo, weight binds. Capesize 180,000 dwt, grain 199,000 m³, DWCC 175,000. Iron ore fines at SF 0.36 (trading range 0.30–0.42).

BY VOLUME : 199,000 ÷ 0.36 = 552,800 mt BY WEIGHT : 175,000 mt ← BINDS She loads to her marks with two thirds of the hold volume empty.

Case 2 — same ship, light cargo, volume binds. Steam coal at SF 1.30 (trading range 1.15–1.45).

BY VOLUME : 199,000 ÷ 1.30 = 153,100 mt ← BINDS BY WEIGHT : 175,000 mt 21,900 tonnes of deadweight unusable. Even a Cape cubes out on coal. At the light end of the range (1.45) she lifts only 137,200 mt; at the heavy end (1.15) she lifts 173,000 mt. The SF you assume is worth 36,000 tonnes -- always ask the shipper for his figure.

That second case is the structural reason Capesizes are built for iron ore rather than coal — and the reason you never quote deadweight as coal intake.

Two traps sitting on top of this. Bale, not grain — bagged, baled or packaged cargo cannot flow into the spaces between frames, so it works off bale capacity, roughly 7 to 10 per cent less than grain. Draft — she may have the deadweight and the cube and still be unable to load it, because the berth or the river will not float her that deep. Check the port before the ship.

Converting stowage factors — the desk arithmetic

Half the circulars you receive quote SF in cubic metres per tonne; the other half — grain houses and scrap merchants above all — quote cubic feet. Same fact, different unit, and the conversion is one number: 35.31.

CUFT → m³/mt : DIVIDE by 35.31 m³/mt → CUFT : MULTIPLY by 35.31 "SF ABT 46-48" (yellow peas, real order) 46 ÷ 35.31 = 1.30 m³/mt 48 ÷ 35.31 = 1.36 m³/mt "STOW 50 CUFT BALE" (scrap, real order) 50 ÷ 35.31 = 1.42 m³/mt — against BALE capacity, not grain

Strictly the old cuft figure is per LONG ton (1.016 mt) — the desk ignores the 1.6 per cent and so can you, but know it exists when a stow plan comes back tight. Sanity check: no bulk cargo stows at 46 m³ per tonne — if the number looks absurd, it is in cubic feet.

Every card in the book below now shows this conversion worked, plus the intake calculation run on a reference Supramax — DWCC 54,000 mt, grain 71,000 m³ — at both ends of the cargo's SF range, so you can see which limit binds and when it flips.

The same ship, two cargoes. Dense ore reaches her marks with the holds mostly empty; light coal fills the holds with deadweight to spare. Work both limits, take the lower.

The cargo book

Forty dry bulk cargoes with their stowage factors, IMSBC group, the hold standard they demand, and the thing a broker needs to know about each. Search it while you work.

A grab working a hold: lower open, bite, lift, swing ashore. This is why "geared with grabs" makes a ship independent of the shore — and why grab damage to the tank top is a standard clause.

IMSBC groups — the safety literacy

Group A — may liquefyOres, concentrates and fines that hold moisture. If moisture exceeds the transportable moisture limit the cargo behaves as a liquid, sloshes, and capsizes the ship. Needs a TML determined within 6 months and moisture sampled within 7 days of loading.

Group B — chemical hazardListed dangerous goods, or Materials Hazardous only in Bulk: self-heating, oxygen-depleting, corrosive or flammable. Coal, sulphur, DRI, seed cake, wood pellets.

Group C — neitherNot liquefiable and not chemically hazardous — but not risk-free. Dense Group C cargoes can overstress the tank top, and grain has its own stability rules under the Grain Code.

Unlisted cargoesA cargo absent from the Code is not therefore safe. It needs a tripartite agreement between shipper, load port administration and flag state before carriage — and unlisted cargoes have caused liquefaction losses.

The declaration is not paperwork. Shippers routinely misdeclare Group A cargoes as Group C to avoid the testing regime — London P&I has flagged exactly this on Brazilian sinter feed. An incomplete or self-contradictory cargo declaration is grounds to stop loading, and the master has both the right and the duty to do so. Most cargo claims begin with a declaration nobody actually read.

The hold cleaning ladder

Six rungs. What matters commercially is not the last cargo's dirtiness but the next cargo's sensitivity — that is what sets the cleaning time, and cleaning time is the owner's money.

Load on top

No cleaning at all - the next parcel is loaded straight on top of the residues left by the previous one. Only used where the same or a fully compatible commodity follows and charterers have agreed it in writing.

Inspected by: There is effectively no inspection. Residues prevent any meaningful view of the tank top, frames or bilges, so neither surveyor nor Chief Officer can certify hold condition. Some owners insist on periodically clearing holds anyway so that structure and coatings can be surveyed.

Typical cargoes: Consecutive voyages of the same grade of coal, iron ore or bauxite; long-term single-commodity COAs and industrial shuttle trades.

Time and cost: Zero cleaning time and zero cost - this is the whole point of it. The hidden cost is that structural defects, coating breakdown and bilge blockage go undetected, and MARPOL Annex V limits on discharging residues still bite.

On the desk: Only fix this if the CP names the exact commodity and grade and says load-on-top is permitted. If the next cargo is described loosely, owners can be caught having to clean anyway with no cleaning time in the CP. Also check the vessel has had a genuine hold inspection at some point - class and P&I will ask.

Shovel clean / swept clean

Stevedores take out whatever the grab or bobcat can reach, then the crew hand-sweep or rough-sweep the remainder to the tank top. No washing. Several tonnes of previous cargo can legitimately still be in each hold.

Inspected by: Visual check by the Chief Officer or a discharge-port surveyor that no accessible cargo remains and the holds have been swept. No wash, no water test, no lights-and-mirrors work. Standards vary hugely between ports.

Typical cargoes: Iron ore, bauxite, coal and other dirty ores where the next fixture is a similar cargo. Often what a charterer actually owes the owner on redelivery from a dirty-cargo voyage.

Time and cost: Roughly 4-8 hours per vessel of crew sweeping, no fresh water. Cheap, but MARPOL Annex V restricts throwing the sweepings overboard, so residues may have to be landed ashore at cost.

On the desk: 'Swept clean' and 'shovel clean' are NOT the same thing everywhere - clarify whether crew sweeping to the tank top is included and who pays to land residues. Never accept swept/shovel clean as the redelivery standard if owners' next stem is likely to be grain; the gap to grain clean is days of work and it is the owner who eats it.

Normal clean

Holds swept clean of all residues of the previous cargo, then sea water washed, fresh water rinsed and dried, ready to receive a similar or compatible cargo. Rust scale, stains and paint condition are not the issue at this level.

Inspected by: Inspection by the Chief Officer, and by a charterers' or shippers' surveyor at the load port. The surveyor is looking for absence of previous cargo residues and free water - not for intact paint or perfect steel.

Typical cargoes: Coal, petcoke, iron ore, bauxite, salt, aggregates, scrap - the standard dirty-cargo-to-dirty-cargo requirement.

Time and cost: Order of half a day to a day per hold with a full crew. On a Panamax reckon roughly 20-25 tonnes of fresh water per hold for the final rinse; on a 100,000 dwt ship nearer 30 tonnes per hold. Fresh water is often carried in the aft peak specifically for this.

On the desk: This is the workhorse standard and the usual redelivery obligation. Watch that the CP says 'sea water washed and fresh water rinsed' rather than just 'swept' - the fresh water rinse is what removes chlorides, and its absence is what later fails a silver nitrate test on a steel or fluorspar stem.

Water washed / hose clean

The recognised step between normal clean and grain clean. All hold surfaces are hosed down under pressure from the hatch coamings downwards, chemically assisted where the previous cargo has stained, then fresh water rinsed and dried. Transferable stains must be gone but hard adherent rust and imperfect paint are still tolerated.

Inspected by: Surveyor inspection in daylight with hatches open, using torches and often binoculars for the upper hold and hatch undersides. The practical test is the wipe test - if the surveyor's hand or a cloth comes away marked, the hold has failed. Silver nitrate testing for chlorides where the next cargo is steel or a chloride-sensitive mineral.

Typical cargoes: Steel products, fluorspar, gypsum, some fertilisers, coal or petcoke where the receiver is fussy, and as the intermediate stage on the way from a dirty cargo to grain clean.

Time and cost: Typically 12-24 hours per hold including chemical contact time and drying. Heavy-duty alkaline detergent is needed after coal or petcoke and may need two or three applications. Consumables plus crew overtime commonly run into the low thousands of USD per vessel, plus the fresh water.

On the desk: Charterers often write 'washed down' or 'hose clean' loosely and then expect grain clean at the load port. Pin the wording down. This standard is also the honest answer when owners cannot promise grain clean off a petcoke voyage - better to offer it explicitly than to promise grain clean and fail.

Grain clean

Holds completely clean, dry, odour free and gas free, swept, sea water washed and fresh water rinsed, free of all previous cargo residues and transferable stains, free of loose rust scale, loose paint flakes and paint blisters, free of insects and infestation, with all lashing material and dunnage removed. Light atmospheric rusting and hard adherent rust are acceptable; loose scale is not.

Inspected by: Formal pre-loading survey by an independent surveyor appointed by shippers or charterers, and in many countries by a national authority: the National Cargo Bureau in the USA (Grain Certificate of Readiness), USDA/FGIS for the stowage examination, and the Australian biosecurity authority, which applies a near zero-tolerance criterion. Inspection is in daylight with hatches open, high-powered lights and torches, and inspection of hatch cover undersides. The USDA tolerance is up to about 2.32 m2 (25 sq ft) of loose rust or paint scale in any one area and about 9.26 m2 (100 sq ft) in aggregate per compartment. A small number of insects, dead or alive, can fail the hold and trigger fumigation.

Typical cargoes: Grains, soyabeans and soyameal, oilseeds, sugar, cement, alumina, most fertilisers, seedcake, sulphur, pulses.

Time and cost: Coming off coal or iron ore, a realistic programme to grain clean is around 5-7 days of continuous work at sea, roughly a day per hold on a Panamax plus drying time with hatches open. Fresh water demand is about 20-25 tonnes per hold on a Panamax and about 30 tonnes per hold on a 100,000 dwt vessel, so 150-250 tonnes for a full set. Add chemicals, crew overtime and, if the ship fails, shore cleaning gangs at several thousand USD per hold plus the berth time.

On the desk: By far the most-fixed standard and the most litigated. There is no universally accepted definition - London Arbitration 4/17 refused to imply a grain clean standard into vague CP wording - so spell it out and name the inspecting authority and port. Always ask what the last three cargoes were before quoting a ship grain clean, and always negotiate the failure regime: who pays for shore cleaning, whether the vessel goes off hire, and how many re-inspections are allowed. If loading in the USA, Canada or Australia say so in the fixture, because those regimes are materially stricter than a generic surveyor's.

Hospital clean

Everything required for grain clean, plus 100% intact paint coatings on every surface - tank top, bulkheads, frames, every ladder rung and the undersides of the hatch covers. No bare steel, no rust of any kind, no staining, no odour.

Inspected by: The most rigorous survey there is: daylight inspection with high-powered lighting, mirrors and torches into frame spaces and under hatch covers, white-glove or cloth wipe testing of surfaces, and full photographic documentation. Usually a specialist surveyor nominated by the receiver, not just a general cargo surveyor.

Typical cargoes: Kaolin/china clay, soda ash, barytes, chrome ore, mineral sands (ilmenite, rutile, zircon), high-grade alumina, rice, wood pulp, and other cargoes where any contamination destroys product value.

Time and cost: Not achievable by crew cleaning alone if the coatings are not already sound. It normally means re-blasting or re-coating affected areas, so shore contractors, paint and several days of cure time - realistically a yard or long anchorage stay and tens of thousands of USD. This is why it is essentially a standard for ships in dedicated trades, not tramp tonnage.

On the desk: Treat any request for hospital clean as a red flag on a tramp ship. Do not offer it on a vessel that has just carried coal, petcoke, salt or sulphur. Confirm the coating condition with the owner in writing, ideally with recent photographs, before quoting. If the receiver's inspector fails the ship, the owner carries the cleaning cost, the delay and often a cargo claim - and there is usually no charterparty protection unless a survey and re-survey mechanism with a mutually agreed surveyor was written in.

A caution worth carrying: there is no universally accepted definition of these terms. In London Arbitration 4/17 a tribunal refused to imply a grain-clean standard into vague charterparty wording. Australia, the USA and Canada apply materially stricter grain regimes than a generic surveyor — the USDA tolerance is roughly 2.32 m² of loose scale in any one area and about 9.26 m² in aggregate. Ask which regime applies before you commit an owner to a standard. Cost figures above are indicative, not quoted.

Cargo sequences — what follows what

Half of a broker's cleaning judgement is knowing which pairings owners refuse outright.

Last cargo	Next cargo	Difficulty	Why
Coal	→ Grain	hard	Coal leaves oily black staining that blisters and lifts paint when the hold sweats, and the fines lodge in frames, bilges and hatch coaming channels. Getting to grain clean typically needs a double sweep, chemical wash, high-pressure wash and fresh water rinse over about 5-7 days, and any residual discolouration can still fail the surveyor.
Petcoke	→ Grain	avoid	Green delayed petcoke is oily and produces persistent staining, especially on the tank top, that ordinary washing will not shift; chemically assisted high-pressure cleaning with brushing is required and often has to be repeated. Even after that the stain frequently remains visible and fails a grain inspection, which is why prudent owners fix a dirty intermediate cargo rather than go petcoke straight to grain.
Cement / clinker	→ Grain	hard	Cement loads hot, can reach around 110 degrees C, and any condensation sets it into hardened residue bonded to steel and into the bilge wells and drain channels. Removal means mechanical scraping and, in the worst case, diluted hydrochloric acid applied through stainless steel equipment, which is slow, hazardous and attacks coatings.
Iron ore	→ Grain	moderate	Ore itself is inert and washes off, but its weight and the grabs and bulldozers used to discharge it damage coatings and knock loose rust scale off frames and the tank top. The work is therefore descaling rather than washing, and loose scale is exactly what a grain surveyor rejects.
Nickel ore	→ Grain	hard	Nickel ore is loaded wet, near or above its transportable moisture limit, and the sticky clay-like fines pack into every frame space, bilge and corner rather than washing free. Extended high-pressure washing and full drying is needed, and residual moisture or ore staining will fail the grain inspection.
Salt	→ Steel products	hard	Salt is highly corrosive and hygroscopic, holding around 3% moisture, and chloride residue left in frames and pipe guards will cause rust staining and claims on the steel cargo. A thorough fresh water rinse and a silver nitrate test showing no chlorides is essential, and holds that were lime washed or hold-blocked before the salt must have that barrier coating fully removed first.
Sulphur	→ Anything	avoid	Wet sulphur is aggressively corrosive and reacts with steel to form ferrous sulphide, which can self-heat, so holds must be lime washed before loading and washed only with fresh water afterwards, never sea water. Removing the lime wash and neutralising the residue is a full cleaning cycle in itself, and any coating attacked by the sulphur has to be made good before a clean cargo can follow.
Fishmeal	→ Foodstuffs (grain, rice, sugar)	avoid	Fishmeal leaves a powerful and persistent odour that is absorbed into coatings, insulation and bilge systems, and taint is a total-loss cargo claim on any foodstuff, not a cosmetic defect. Deodorising treatment is required and the holds must be certified odour free by survey, which many ships simply cannot achieve in a normal ballast leg.
DRI (direct reduced iron)	→ Anything	avoid	The IMSBC Code requires holds for DRI to be clean, dry and free of salt and residues with all wooden fixtures, dunnage and combustibles removed, and the cargo reacts with water and air to generate hydrogen and heat. Afterwards the residue is reactive and may still be hot, so it must be fully removed and the holds proven dry before any other cargo, and the hold coatings are usually damaged.
Fertiliser (urea / DAP)	→ Grain	moderate	Fertiliser is hygroscopic, cakes onto steel and coatings and is chemically aggressive, so residues must be fully washed out and the holds dried. Manageable in a normal cleaning cycle, but any caked residue left in frames is a contamination reject for grain.
Grain	→ Coal	easy	The next cargo is dirtier and less sensitive than the last, so only a sweep and a wash down is needed. This is the direction of travel every operator wants - dirty cargoes should follow clean ones, not precede them.
Bauxite	→ Iron ore	easy	Both are dirty, inert, low-value ores loaded and discharged by grab, and neither is sensitive to residues, rust or staining. Normal clean or even shovel clean will usually satisfy the charterer, so the ship can go straight from one to the other.

General rule: try to run down the sensitivity ladder across a ship's next few fixtures, not up it. Grain to coal is a few hours. Coal to grain is five to seven days.

Vessel capacities

Typical figures for a modern representative ship in each class — enough to work an intake in your head. Always use the actual vessel's own figures before you fix.

Class	DWT	Grain m³	DWCC	m³ per dwt	Holds	Gear
Handysize	28,000	37,000	26,900	1.32	5 holds / 5 hatches	Geared, 4 x 30t cranes
Handysize / Handymax	38,000	47,500	36,600	1.25	5 holds / 5 hatches	Geared, 4 x 30-35t cranes
Supramax	56,000	71,000	54,000	1.27	5 holds / 5 hatches	Geared, 4 x 30t cranes (often with grabs)
Ultramax	63,500	81,000	61,300	1.28	5 holds / 5 hatches	Geared, 4 x 30t cranes
Panamax	76,000	91,000	73,400	1.20	7 holds / 7 hatches	Gearless (geared Panamaxes exist but are uncommon)
Kamsarmax	82,000	97,500	79,300	1.19	7 holds / 7 hatches	Gearless
Post-Panamax	93,000	109,000	90,000	1.17	7 holds / 7 hatches	Gearless (some 4 x 30t geared variants for Indian/Far East coal)
Capesize	180,000	199,000	175,000	1.11	9 holds / 9 hatches	Gearless
Newcastlemax	208,000	223,200	202,500	1.07	9 holds / 9 hatches	Gearless

Note the last column falls as ships get larger — 1.32 m³ per dwt on a small Handy down to 1.07 on a Newcastlemax. Small geared ships are cube-rich; ore-optimised Capes are weight-rich. That is why light cargoes live on smaller tonnage.

Freight economics

Everything so far has been about whether a ship can do a job. This module is about whether she should. A freight rate per tonne means nothing on its own — the number that matters is what the ship earns per day, and getting from one to the other is the calculation that separates a broker from someone who forwards emails.

Why TCE, and not the freight rate

It compares unlike thingsUSD 9.50 per tonne on iron ore and USD 24.00 on coal cannot be ranked against each other. Converted to dollars per day, they can — and the cheap one often wins.

It compares voyage against time charterA time charter is quoted in dollars per day. Until you turn a voyage fixture into the same unit, an owner cannot tell which to take.

It prices time, which is the real assetA ship earns by being employed. A high rate on a slow voyage with expensive ports can pay less per day than a modest rate on a quick turn.

It is what the market quotesThe Baltic indices are published as TCE per day precisely because that is the comparable number. When someone says "the BPI is at $14,000", that is a TCE.

The structure

GROSS FREIGHT = RATE PER TONNE x CARGO QUANTITY NET FREIGHT = GROSS - ADDRESS COMMISSION - BROKERAGE VOYAGE COSTS = BUNKERS + PORT DAs + CANAL + EXTRAS VOYAGE DAYS = BALLAST + LADEN STEAMING + PORT DAYS VOYAGE RESULT = NET FREIGHT - VOYAGE COSTS TCE = VOYAGE RESULT / VOYAGE DAYS

What TCE is not. It is not profit. TCE is what is left to cover the ship's daily running costs — crew, stores, lubricants, insurance, maintenance, and the finance on her. Those sit below the voyage estimate entirely. An owner comparing your TCE against his daily running cost is the person deciding whether to fix.

A voyage, worked end to end

Every figure below is computed from the data further down this page, not typed in.

PANAMAX 76,000 DWT · 70,000 MT COAL · RICHARDS BAY / PARADIP · USD 22.00 PMT FIOST REVENUE Gross freight 70,000 mt x USD 22.00 1,540,000 Less commission 5.00 pct -77,000 Net freight 1,463,000 TIME Ballast Singapore/Richards Bay 4,840 nm 15.1 days Laden Richards Bay/Paradip 4,550 nm 15.3 days Port load 3.5 + disch 5.8 + idle 1.0 10.3 days Total voyage 40.8 days COSTS Bunkers at sea 814.4 mt VLSFO @ 820.50 668,246 in port 41.3 mt LSMGO @ 1219.50 50,406 Port DAs Richards Bay 65,000 + Paradip 70,000 135,000 Extras cleaning, surveys, sundries 15,000 Total voyage costs 868,652 RESULT Net freight 1,463,000 less costs 868,652 594,348 TCE 594,348 / 40.8 days = USD 14,578 PER DAY

Read the shape of it: bunkers are by far the largest single cost, port disbursements are next, and commission quietly removes USD 77,000 before anything else happens. Those three are where estimates go wrong.

Bunkers — the biggest number in the estimate

Port	VLSFO	HSFO	LSMGO	MGO premium	As of
Singapore	820.50	629.50	1,219.50	+399	2026-08-14
Rotterdam	655.00	529.50	1,230.00	+575	2026-08-14
Fujairah	810.00	614.00	1,396.00	+586	2026-08-14
Houston	684.00	467.50	1,263.00	+579	2026-08-14
Zhoushan	823.00	—	1,286.00	+463	2026-08-16
Gibraltar	711.00	579.00	1,333.00	+622	2026-08-16
Santos	806.00	511.00	1,343.50	+538	2026-08-14
Durban	898.00	715.00	1,902.00	+1,004	2026-08-12
Panama (Balboa/Cristobal)	786.00	647.00	1,351.00	+565	2026-08-16

Figures are indicative delivered-bunker benchmarks, not firm quotes. Singapore, Rotterdam, Fujairah, Houston and Santos are Ship & Bunker assessments as of close 14 August 2026 (last published business day before 16 Aug). Zhoushan, Gibraltar, Panama Canal (used as the Balboa/Cristobal proxy) and Durban are Bulugo market indications timestamped 16 August 2026 06:00 CEST, except Durban which last refreshed 12 August 2026 and should be treated as stale. Recent movement: the market was softer on 14 August, with day-on-day changes of Singapore VLSFO -10.50, Rotterdam VLSFO -6.00, Fujairah VLSFO -5.00, Houston VLSFO -11.00, Santos VLSFO -1.00; HSFO was mixed (Singapore +2.00, Rotterdam -8.00, Houston -4.50); LSMGO was mostly easier (Singapore -6.50, Rotterdam -4.00) except Fujairah +8.50. Bunkerindex assessed Singapore slightly differently the same day (VLSFO 831.00, IFO380 624.00, LSMGO 1210.50, all around -0.7% to -1.6% on the day), which is a fair guide to the assessment-to-assessment spread you should allow. Two structural points matter for an estimate right now: the LSMGO-to-VLSFO premium is exceptionally wide, roughly USD 400/mt in Singapore and over USD 500/mt in Durban and Fujairah, so ECA steaming is far more expensive than the historical norm and ECA distance must be modelled carefully rather than approximated; and the HSFO/VLSFO scrubber spread is wide, roughly USD 190/mt in Singapore and USD 125/mt in Rotterdam, well above the circa USD 100/mt breakeven, so scrubber-fitted tonnage carries a material advantage. Zhoushan rallied hard in early August (VLSFO +86/mt on 7 August) on tight VLSFO availability after Typhoon Dolphin disrupted barging, erasing its usual discount to Singapore; suppliers there were quoting circa 12-day lead times for VLSFO. Prices move daily, so re-pull before fixing.

The LSMGO premium is the trap right now. Gas oil is running several hundred dollars a tonne above VLSFO — about USD 400 in Singapore and over USD 500 in Fujairah. That makes port days and ECA transits materially more expensive than they were, and it means you cannot price a whole voyage at one fuel number. Model the ECA legs separately.

Daily consumption

Class	Laden mt/day	Ballast mt/day	Port idle	Port working	At kts
Handysize (~28-38k dwt)	17.5	16.0	1.8	3.5	12.5
Supramax/Ultramax (~56-63k dwt)	24.0	22.0	2.2	4.5	12.5
Panamax/Kamsarmax (~76-82k dwt)	28.0	25.5	2.6	4.0	12.5
Capesize (~180k dwt)	41.5	38.0	3.2	5.5	12.5
Newcastlemax (~208k dwt)	45.0	41.0	3.5	6.0	12.5

Main engine at sea burns VLSFO; auxiliaries and boiler in port burn LSMGO. Port working consumption is higher than idle because the cranes and generators are loaded. Trainees forget port fuel entirely — on a Panamax that is around 41.3 mt of the dearest grade on board.

Emission Control Areas

North American ECA (US and Canadian coasts, generally 200nm)0.10% m/m sulphur · in force 1 August 2012 (SOx/PM); 1 January 2016 (NOx Tier III)
Bites on any US or Canada east/west coast voyage. Model the ECA leg separately at LSMGO and price the differential - at current levels roughly USD 580/mt over VLSFO in Houston. The 200nm band on a US Gulf or East Coast call is typically 12-24 hours of steaming each way, so 1-2 days of ECA fuel per call. NOx Tier III applies to ships keel-laid on or after 1 January 2016.

US Caribbean Sea ECA (Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands)0.10% m/m sulphur · in force 1 January 2014 (SOx/PM); 1 January 2016 (NOx Tier III)
Narrow in scope and rarely material to a dry bulk estimate unless the voyage actually calls Puerto Rico or the USVI. If it does, treat it the same as the North American ECA.

North Sea ECA0.10% m/m sulphur · in force 22 November 2007 (SOx); 1 January 2021 (NOx Tier III)
Contiguous with the Baltic. Any ARA, UK, Scandinavian or German/Polish discharge means the whole approach is on LSMGO. On a Continent voyage the ECA leg is often the majority of the passage, so the MGO premium of circa USD 575/mt over Rotterdam VLSFO dominates the bunker line. NOx Tier III for ships keel-laid on or after 1 January 2021.

Baltic Sea ECA0.10% m/m sulphur · in force 19 May 2006 (SOx); 1 January 2021 (NOx Tier III)
Same practical treatment as the North Sea and effectively continuous with it. A Baltic grain or coal voyage is entirely ECA from the Skagerrak inwards. Note the Baltic is also a Special Area for garbage and sewage, which affects port disbursements rather than bunkers.

Mediterranean Sea SOx ECA0.10% m/m sulphur (SOx/PM only - this is not a NOx ECA) · in force 1 May 2025 (adopted with effect 1 May 2024, compliance/enforcement from 1 May 2025)
The most significant recent change for dry bulk estimating. The whole Mediterranean including the Adriatic, Aegean and the approaches to the Turkish straits is now 0.10%. A Black Sea grain voyage, a Turkish or Egyptian discharge, or a Suez transit routing now carries a long ECA leg that previously ran on VLSFO. At the current MGO/VLSFO spread this can add tens of thousands of dollars to a Supramax voyage, so it must be modelled explicitly rather than absorbed. SOx only - no Tier III NOx requirement, so no newbuilding engine implication.

Canadian Arctic ECA0.10% m/m sulphur (from 1 March 2027); NOx Tier III for ships keel-laid on or after 1 January 2025 · in force 1 March 2026 (in force); SOx 0.10% enforced from 1 March 2027
Newly in force this year. Relevant to Arctic project cargo and any Northwest Passage or Canadian Arctic resupply voyage - marginal for mainstream dry bulk trades, but note the one-year grace before the sulphur limit actually bites on 1 March 2027.

Norwegian Sea ECA0.10% m/m sulphur (from 1 March 2027); NOx Tier III phased by construction date from 1 March 2026 · in force 1 March 2026 (in force); SOx 0.10% enforced from 1 March 2027
Newly in force this year. Extends ECA coverage up the Norwegian coast beyond the existing North Sea area. Matters for Norwegian and northern-Europe trades and Murmansk/Barents routings. Again the sulphur limit is only enforced from 1 March 2027, so for a 2026 estimate you can still burn VLSFO here, but flag it to owners for any voyage crossing into 2027.

North-East Atlantic Ocean ECA0.10% m/m sulphur (from 1 September 2028); NOx Tier III for ships with building contract on or after 1 January 2027 · in force 1 September 2027 (in force); SOx 0.10% enforced from 1 September 2028 - NOT yet in force
Adopted but not yet in force. Once it bites it will link the North Sea, Baltic, Mediterranean, Norwegian Sea and Canadian Arctic into a near-continuous ECA across the whole of northern and western Europe, meaning most European dry bulk voyages will be ECA end to end. No effect on a 2026 estimate, but it is the single biggest forward change to European voyage economics and worth flagging on long period business.

Port disbursements

Port	Basis	Indicative DA	Range	Note
Port Hedland	Capesize 180k dwt (approx 93,000 GT)	130,000	100,000–170,000	Anchored to Pilbara Ports Schedule of Charges effective 1 July 2026: tonnage charge A$0.6370/GRT with reduced Capesize bands A$0.4078-0.4893/GRT above 80,000 GRT; pilotage up to A$29,456.45 per vessel for 120,000+ GRT; berth hire A$63.21-674.02/hour by LOA; security A$0.0466/GRT (Eastern Harbour). Towage is privately contracted and is the single largest line - it is NOT in the published port tariff. CARGO HANDLING (iron ore shiploading) IS EXCLUDED - it is for the shipper/terminal account under the ore terminal arrangements and never appears in the owner's DA. Tidal port with strict sailing windows; missed tide = extra berth hire and possible tug standby.
Newcastle (NSW)	Panamax 76k dwt (approx 43,000 GT)	80,000	62,000–105,000	Anchored to Port of Newcastle Schedule of Service Charges 2026.1 effective 1 Jan 2026: Navigation Service Charge for coal vessels A$1.2995/GT (A$1.0741/GT under bilateral agreement) per entry; Port Security Charge A$2,190.85/visit; Ship Utility Charge A$276.68/visit. Wharfage A$0.5075/revenue tonne and Environmental Services Levy A$3.48/revenue tonne are payable by the CARGO OWNER, not the ship. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED - coal loading is terminal/charterer account under FIOST. Scale a Capesize to roughly USD 150,000-185,000. Queuing system at the coal terminals can add waiting days that are laytime/demurrage issues, not DA issues.
Richards Bay	Panamax 76k dwt	65,000	50,000–88,000	TNPA publishes a consolidated tariff book with charges driven by GT and days alongside; ZAR-denominated so the USD figure swings with the rand. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED - RBCT coal loading is terminal/charterer account. Watch tug availability and weather (swell) delays which can force off-berth time and re-berthing charges. Capesize roughly USD 105,000-135,000. Least reliable of the African figures - always take an agent proforma.
Tubarao / Ponta da Madeira	Capesize 180k dwt	115,000	85,000–155,000	Brazilian PILOTAGE is the standout cost - praticagem is privately set per pilotage zone and for a Capesize at Tubarao or Ponta da Madeira can alone be USD 35,000-60,000 per call including inbound and outbound. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED - Vale's iron ore terminals load for the shipper's account. Add a nautical-inspection/terminal-vetting cost. These are dedicated ore terminals so berth waiting is common but is a laytime matter. Figure is an indicative market level, not a published tariff.
Santos	Panamax 76k dwt (grain)	95,000	72,000–135,000	One of the more expensive dry bulk load ports in the world for the ship's account. SHIFTING between berths is routine in Santos grain trades and each shift attracts a fresh pilotage and towage set - budget one shift minimum. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED (FIOST grain). Congestion at the grain terminals in the Feb-Aug soybean/corn season regularly runs to 10-25 days waiting; that is demurrage, not DA, but a long stay at anchor still adds agency attendance, launch and fresh water. Also budget hold cleaning/inspection failure risk - Brazilian grain surveyors reject holds readily.
New Orleans / Mississippi River	Panamax 76k dwt (grain)	150,000	115,000–205,000	Usually the most expensive dry bulk DA on a typical estimate. RIVER PILOTAGE dominates - the 100+ mile transit from Southwest Pass to the Baton Rouge/New Orleans elevators uses several pilot associations in sequence and pilotage alone commonly runs USD 60,000-95,000 for the round trip. Add USCG/CBP entry fees and the annual Harbor Maintenance regime. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED (FIOST grain, elevator loads for charterer). Anchorage waiting for elevator berth is normal. Fog closures on the river (Dec-Mar) and high-water/current restrictions add tug requirements and standby cost. Indicative market level - get a proforma, the spread is wide.
Rotterdam	Capesize 180k dwt	125,000	95,000–165,000	Port of Rotterdam levies seaport dues on gross tonnage and transhipped quantity with a sustainability element; 2026 tariff indexation is 3.5%. Green Award, Environmental Ship Index and efficiency discounts can meaningfully cut the dues line - worth claiming. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED - EMO/EECV discharge is for the receiver/charterer. Towage and pilotage are the big lines, not the dues themselves. Scale a Panamax to roughly USD 55,000-80,000. Waste/garbage disposal and sludge landing are enforced and chargeable.
Qingdao	Capesize 180k dwt (iron ore)	72,000	55,000–98,000	Chinese vessel-related charges are set on a national schedule based on NT and are moderate relative to Europe/Americas; the discharge itself is cheap and fast. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED. Tonnage dues are payable on a 30-day or 90-day certificate - if the ship already holds a valid unexpired tonnage dues certificate from a previous China call the DA drops materially, so always ask the operator before estimating. Quarantine/holds inspection on arrival is routine. Panamax roughly USD 40,000-58,000.
Mundra / Kandla	Supramax 56k dwt	55,000	40,000–78,000	Indian major ports (Deendayal/Kandla) publish a TAMP-approved Scale of Rates with vessel-related charges quoted in USD for foreign-going vessels, driven by GRT; Mundra is a private Adani port with its own published tariff booklet and is generally the more efficient of the two. BERTH HIRE is charged by the hour on GRT, so slow discharge directly inflates the DA - this is the trap at Indian ports and is one of the few places where slow cargo ops hits the OWNER's cost line, not just laytime. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED under FIOST. Kandla is tidal with sailing-draft restrictions.
Paradip	Panamax 76k dwt (coal)	70,000	52,000–95,000	Same TAMP Scale of Rates structure as other Indian major ports - vessel charges in USD on GRT. BERTH HIRE ACCRUES HOURLY so a slow coal discharge adds directly to the ship's DA. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED. Paradip sees genuine congestion and monsoon (Jun-Sep) weather stoppages; long waits at anchorage add anchorage dues plus repeated launch/agency attendance. Cyclone season on the east coast can force the port to order vessels to sea - that is an unbudgeted bunkers and time cost.
Kamsar	Panamax 76k dwt (bauxite)	90,000	62,000–135,000	West African DAs are high, opaque and variable - a proforma from a reputable agent is essential and expect a sizeable 'sundries/formalities' line. Many Guinea bauxite cargoes are TRANSHIPPED at anchorage via floating cranes/barges rather than loaded alongside, which changes the cost structure completely - confirm whether your fixture is alongside Kamsar or transhipment off Conakry/Kamsar before estimating. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED but transhipment costs are usually charterer's account - check the charter party wording carefully, this is a common dispute. Add crew health/vaccination and possible security requirements.
Singapore	Panamax 76k dwt (bunkering call only, at anchorage)	6,000	4,000–10,000	Anchored to the MPA Port Dues Tariff: bunkering falls under Category 2 (Taking Bunkers/Ship Supplies/Changing Crew) at roughly SGD 5.50 per 100 GT for a 2-day stay and SGD 9.00 per 100 GT for 3 days - so for a 43,000 GT Panamax the statutory dues are only about SGD 2,400-3,900 (circa USD 1,800-3,000). NO PILOTAGE OR TOWAGE if the ship stays at anchorage, which is why a bunkers-only Singapore call is cheap. Rates step up sharply from day 5 - do not let the ship linger. NO CARGO involved. Add a bunker survey fee if you want quantity protection. Deviation time and bunker price differential, not the DA, are what actually drive the decision to bunker here.
Gibraltar	Panamax 76k dwt (bunkering call, anchorage/OPL)	8,000	5,000–14,000	The classic Atlantic/Mediterranean bunkering stop and the West Med alternative to Ceuta, Algeciras and Malta. Anchorage bunkering means no pilot and no tugs, so the DA is small. NO CARGO involved. Levanter easterly winds regularly stop bunkering operations at Gibraltar anchorage - build a weather allowance, and note that a blown-out barge job can cost a day. Compare Ceuta and Algeciras on the day; the port cost difference between them is trivial next to the bunker price spread.
Constanta	Panamax 76k dwt (grain)	60,000	45,000–85,000	CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED (FIOST grain). The dominant estimating issue at Constanta is NOT the DA but the BLACK SEA WAR RISK PREMIUM - this must be carried as a separate line (see other_costs) and can exceed the port cost several times over. Confirm the charterer's war risk and crew war bonus wording before fixing. Shifting between grain berths is common and each shift adds pilotage and towage. Winter fog and strong wind closures of the port entrance are frequent Dec-Feb.
Vancouver	Panamax 76k dwt (grain/coal)	100,000	78,000–138,000	Expensive on the ship's account - Canadian pilotage is tariffed by the Pacific Pilotage Authority and a Second Narrows transit for a laden bulker adds pilots and tugs. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED (elevator/terminal loads for charterer). Vancouver runs a vessel line-up/scheduling system for the grain and coal terminals and waiting at English Bay anchorage for a berth is routine - long anchorage stays now attract anchorage management costs. Add hold cleaning/CFIA grain inspection risk: Canadian grain hold inspections are strict and a failed hold means re-cleaning cost plus lost time.
Ulsan / Busan	Panamax 76k dwt	55,000	40,000–75,000	Korean vessel charges are moderate and well published on a GT basis; efficient ports with little waiting. CARGO HANDLING EXCLUDED. Pilotage and tugs are the main lines. Quarantine and vessel inspection formalities are thorough but quick. Useful as a benchmark 'normal' Far East DA against which to sanity-check other quotes. Capesize at Gwangyang/Pohang scales to roughly USD 85,000-115,000.

Treat these as levels, not quotes. Proforma DAs are commercially guarded and agents do not publish them. The figures above are built from published tariff structures and known cost drivers — Port Hedland, Newcastle and Singapore are anchored to the ports' own 2026 schedules; the rest are indicative market levels. Always get a proforma DA from the agent before you fix. And read it carefully: some agents fold cargo dues into the total, and under FIOST those are the charterer's, so carrying that figure into your estimate double-counts a cost the owner never pays.

Estimating a DA when you have no quote

Port cost is driven by GT/NT, not DWTAlmost every statutory port charge in the world - tonnage dues, port dues, light dues, pilotage bands, berth hire - is assessed on GROSS or NET tonnage, not deadweight. When you have no quote, work from the ship's GT. Rough GT for dry bulk: Handysize 32k dwt = c.20,000 GT; Supramax/Ultramax 56-64k = c.32,000-36,000 GT; Panamax 76k = c.43,000 GT; Kamsarmax 82k = c.44,000 GT; Capesize 180k = c.93,000 GT; Newcastlemax 210k = c.107,000 GT. A useful crude ratio is GT is roughly 0.53-0.58 x DWT for a modern bulk carrier.

Port cost does NOT scale linearly with size - it scales at roughly the square rootDoubling the deadweight does not double the DA. Pilotage and towage step up in bands, and many tariffs taper the per-GT rate above a threshold (Port Hedland, for example, drops from A$0.6370/GRT to A$0.4078-0.4893/GRT above 80,000 GRT). As a working approximation a Capesize DA is about 1.6-2.0x a Panamax DA at the same port, and a Panamax is about 1.3-1.5x a Supramax - not 2.4x and 1.36x as the deadweight ratios would suggest. This is a core reason bigger ships give better economics per tonne.

Broad USD bands per call when you have nothing elseAs a first-pass estimate for a normal commercial load or discharge call: Handysize USD 25,000-50,000; Supramax/Ultramax USD 35,000-70,000; Panamax/Kamsarmax USD 50,000-100,000; Capesize USD 80,000-160,000. Use the LOW end for Far East (China, Korea, Japan, SE Asia) and the Gulf; the MIDDLE for Australia, South Africa, India, Black Sea and North Europe; the HIGH end plus 30-50% for Brazil, the US Gulf river ports, Canada and West Africa. A bunkers-only anchorage call anywhere is USD 4,000-15,000.

Notoriously EXPENSIVE portsMississippi River / New Orleans and Baton Rouge (multi-association river pilotage over 100+ miles is the single biggest DA line in dry bulk); Brazilian ports generally - Santos, Paranagua, Tubarao, Ponta da Madeira, Itaqui (praticagem/pilotage is privately priced and very high); Vancouver and the Canadian west coast; Australian iron ore and coal ports once privately contracted towage is added; West Africa - Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon (opaque, high sundries); Argentina - Rosario/San Lorenzo up the Parana (river pilotage plus Parana waterway toll). Chile and Peru also run high.

Notoriously CHEAP portsChinese ports (moderate national tariff on NT, and the tonnage dues certificate may already be paid); Korean and Japanese ports; most SE Asian anchorage and transhipment operations; Singapore and Gibraltar for bunkers-only calls where no pilot or tug is taken; Persian Gulf discharge ports. Anywhere the ship works at anchorage rather than alongside is cheap because pilotage and towage - usually 50-70% of a DA - simply do not arise.

Pilotage plus towage is typically 50-70% of a commercial DAStatutory port and tonnage dues are usually the SMALLER part. If you know only the pilotage and towage for a port, you can gross up by roughly 1.5-1.9x to approximate the full DA. Conversely, if a quote looks low, check that it includes towage - towage is very often privately contracted and does NOT appear in the published port authority tariff, which is the most common reason a self-built estimate from a tariff sheet comes out far below the real DA.

Count every SHIFT and every extra movementEach shift between berths, and each move to and from anchorage, triggers a fresh pilotage, towage and mooring set - often 60-80% of the original inward cost. Santos, the Mississippi, Vancouver and most Indian ports routinely involve at least one shift. A DA quoted 'one berth, no shifting' is not the DA you will pay. Always ask the agent what the proforma assumes.

Under FIOST the DA carries the SHIP's costs onlyIn a standard dry bulk voyage charter on FIOST (Free In, Out, Stowed, Trimmed) terms, all CARGO handling - loading, discharging, stowing, trimming, and usually wharfage and cargo dues - is for the CHARTERER's account and must NOT be in the owner's voyage estimate. The estimate carries port dues, pilotage, towage, mooring, berth hire, agency and ship-related sundries. Getting this boundary wrong in either direction is the most common trainee error: including stevedoring makes the voyage look uneconomic, while forgetting berth hire at Indian ports understates it.

Currency and tariff-date riskMost port tariffs are set in local currency (AUD, ZAR, BRL, CNY, INR, EUR) and many index annually - Rotterdam's 2026 indexation is 3.5%, Australian ports reset on 1 July, Indian TAMP rates on their own cycle. A DA quoted six months ago in a weak-currency country can be materially wrong in USD today. For a long voyage or a forward fixture, add 3-5% to a stale proforma.

Always add an agency and sundries bufferEven a well-built proforma DA misses things - overtime, extra launch trips, gangway watchmen, garbage, sludge, small statutory fees. Add 5-10% contingency on a familiar port and 15-20% on West Africa, South America or any first-time port. Final DAs commonly land above proforma; owners who estimate at proforma consistently under-earn.

Canal tolls

Panama Canal

Since the 2023-2025 restructuring the Panama Canal charges DRY BULK vessels on a two-part basis: a FIXED TARIFF per transit plus a CAPACITY TARIFF per DEADWEIGHT TONNE (DWT). Note this is unusual - dry bulk is assessed on DWT, whereas container and most other segments are assessed on PC/UMS tonnage (1 PC/UMS ton = 100 cubic feet of net capacity). Per the ACP Official Tariff effective 1 January 2025: FIXED TARIFF per transit - Regular vessel under 7,500 PC/UMS USD 15,000; Regular vessel 7,500 and above USD 60,000; Super vessel USD 100,000; Neopanamax vessel USD 300,000. CAPACITY TARIFF per DWT - Regular USD 1.65; Super USD 1.50; Neopanamax USD 0.80. Vessels transiting in BALLAST pay 85% of the laden toll. Categories are defined by DIMENSION not deadweight: Regular = beam under 27.74m (91ft); Super = beam 27.74m up to 32.61m, LOA under 294.44m, draft up to 12.04m; Neopanamax = beam 32.61m or more, or LOA over 294.44m. Separately, a TRANSIT BOOKING/RESERVATION fee applies if you secure a slot in advance: Panamax locks Regular USD 12,000, Super USD 50,000; Neopanamax locks USD 100,000. Unbooked slots are allocated by an AUCTION which in drought-constrained periods has cleared at extraordinary levels (single slots have reportedly gone for USD 1-4 million during the 2023-24 Gatun Lake drought). Cancellation of a reservation costs 50-100% of the amount offered depending on timing.

Transit	Toll	Note
Panamax 76,000 dwt laden (Super vessel, beam c.32.2m)	USD 214,000	USD 100,000 fixed + 76,000 DWT x USD 1.50 = USD 214,000 in tolls alone. Add a booking fee of USD 50,000 if you reserve a Super-vessel slot in the Panamax locks, plus transit agency, inspection, line handling and tug/pilot services of roughly USD 6,000-12,000. A realistic ALL-IN budget for a booked laden Panamax transit is therefore USD 265,000-280,000, or about USD 220,000-228,000 if you take your chances unbooked.
Kamsarmax 82,000 dwt laden (Super vessel, beam c.32.26m)	USD 223,000	USD 100,000 fixed + 82,000 DWT x USD 1.50 = USD 223,000 in tolls. All-in with a booking fee and transit services, budget roughly USD 275,000-290,000. IMPORTANT DRAFT TRAP: the Panamax (old) locks are limited to about 12.04m tropical fresh water draft, but a fully laden Kamsarmax loads to around 14.4m. A genuinely full Kamsarmax therefore CANNOT use the old locks and must either part-load to the lock draft or transit the Neopanamax locks - which changes the applicable category, fee and booking cost. Confirm the category with the ACP or your transit agent before you commit a figure to an estimate; getting this wrong can move the number by USD 100,000+.
Panamax 76,000 dwt in BALLAST	USD 181,900	85% of the laden toll (USD 214,000 x 0.85). Ballast transits are rarely worth it for a bulker unless positioning for a firm fixture - at these toll levels the Cape Horn or trans-Pacific alternative frequently wins on a ballast leg.
Supramax 56,000 dwt laden (Super vessel)	USD 184,000	USD 100,000 fixed + 56,000 x USD 1.50 = USD 184,000. Note how punishing the flat USD 100,000 fixed component is on smaller ships - the toll per deadweight tonne is USD 3.29/dwt for a Supramax versus USD 2.72/dwt for a Kamsarmax. Panama structurally penalises small tonnage.
Capesize 180,000 dwt laden (Neopanamax locks)	USD 444,000	USD 300,000 fixed + 180,000 x USD 0.80 = USD 444,000, plus a USD 100,000 Neopanamax booking fee and transit services - all-in around USD 555,000-570,000. Capesizes rarely transit Panama; most Cape trades route via Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn or the Malacca/Pacific routes. Newcastlemax at 50m beam exceeds the 49m Neopanamax lock chamber working width in practice - check the ACP dimensional limits before assuming a transit is possible at all.

The fixed-plus-capacity structure means the Panama toll is now a very large, fairly INELASTIC cost - a Panamax pays over USD 200,000 whether it is full or half full. Always test the estimate against the all-water alternative (Cape Horn, or Suez for some Atlantic-Pacific trades) before assuming a Panama routing. Water level in Gatun Lake remains the operational variable: in drought years the ACP cuts daily transit slots and imposes draft restrictions, which both forces part-loading (less cargo, worse freight per tonne) and inflates auction prices. Toll figures above are computed from the ACP Official Tariff effective 1 January 2025 and should be re-verified against the current ACP tariff and the ACP transit cost estimator before being used commercially.

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal Authority assesses tolls in SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS (SDR) per SUEZ CANAL NET TON (SCNT) on a REGRESSIVE SLIDING SCALE - the rate per ton falls as tonnage rises. SCNT is a canal-specific measurement, broadly similar to but not identical with net tonnage. For DRY BULK CARRIERS the schedule effective 15 January 2024 is: first 5,000 SCNT 10.13 SDR laden / 8.62 ballast; next 5,000 SCNT 7.74 / 6.58; next 10,000 SCNT 6.12 / 5.21; next 20,000 SCNT 2.24 / 1.89; next 30,000 SCNT 1.97 / 1.68; next 50,000 SCNT 1.85 / 1.58; the rest 1.77 / 1.50. ON TOP of this base the SCA levies a SURCHARGE which it revises with market conditions - effective for transits commencing on or after 15 July 2026 the surcharge for BULK CARRIERS was more than doubled from 10% to 22%. The IMF SDR rate as at 14 August 2026 is USD 1.367010 per SDR; because tolls are SDR-denominated, the USD cost moves with the SDR basket and must be re-checked at the time of estimating. There is currently NO general dry bulk discount - the SCA's 15% rebate applies to large CONTAINER vessels of 130,000 net tons and above, extended through 2026, and has not been extended to bulk carriers, though the SCA has signalled it may do so if volumes do not recover.

Transit	Toll	Note
Panamax 76,000 dwt laden (c.40,000 SCNT)	USD 326,000	Base dues 195,350 SDR, plus the 22% bulker surcharge = 238,327 SDR, at USD 1.36701/SDR = approximately USD 325,800. Add agency and transit costs of roughly USD 4,000-8,000 for a pure transit (more with bunkering or crew change), plus canal pilotage which is included in the dues but with customary attendance costs. Budget all-in around USD 332,000-335,000.
Panamax 76,000 dwt in BALLAST (c.40,000 SCNT)	USD 277,000	Base 165,900 SDR at ballast rates, plus 22% = 202,398 SDR = approximately USD 276,700. The ballast scale is roughly 85% of laden, similar to Panama.
Kamsarmax 82,000 dwt laden (c.43,000 SCNT)	USD 336,000	Base 201,260 SDR plus 22% = 245,537 SDR = approximately USD 335,700. The regressive scale means the extra 6,000 dwt over a Panamax costs only about USD 10,000 more - Suez, unlike Panama, rewards bigger ships strongly.
Capesize 180,000 dwt laden (c.92,000 SCNT)	USD 492,000	Base 295,150 SDR plus 22% = 360,083 SDR = approximately USD 492,200. Note the toll per deadweight tonne is only USD 2.73/dwt for a Capesize versus USD 4.29/dwt for a Panamax - the regressive scale is a real economy-of-scale advantage at Suez, the opposite of Panama's structure.
Supramax 56,000 dwt laden (c.30,000 SCNT)	USD 288,000	Base 172,950 SDR plus 22% = 210,999 SDR = approximately USD 288,400. At USD 5.15/dwt this is the worst value of any bulker class at Suez - the steep first-tier rates (10.13 and 7.74 SDR) fall hardest on small ships.

RED SEA SITUATION IN 2026 - THIS IS THE CRITICAL POINT FOR ANY 2026 ESTIMATE. Suez transits in early 2026 remain roughly 60% BELOW pre-crisis levels and rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope persists, more than three months after the last reported Red Sea security incident. Tanker traffic has recovered relatively more strongly than container; bulk carriers have NOT returned at scale. Practically this means: (1) do not default a 2026 dry bulk estimate to a Suez routing - build the Cape of Good Hope alternative and compare, (2) the Cape routing adds roughly 8-12 days and 3,000-3,500 miles on a Far East/India to North Europe voyage but SAVES the entire USD 290,000-490,000 toll plus war risk premium, which frequently makes the Cape the cheaper option outright for a bulker, (3) if you do route via Suez you must carry a Red Sea/Gulf of Aden WAR RISK premium and a crew war bonus as separate lines - see other_costs, and (4) the charterer's and the owner's war risk positions must be agreed in the charter party before fixing, including who pays additional premium and whether the owner has liberty to refuse the transit. Also note the SCA raised bulker surcharges from 10% to 22% in July 2026 even while volumes were depressed, so the toll is going the wrong way for a return to Suez routings. Figures above are computed from the SCA dry bulk schedule effective 15 January 2024 with the 22% surcharge and the 14 August 2026 SDR rate; re-verify the surcharge and SDR rate at the time of estimating, and always obtain a quote from a Suez transit agent (Leth, Inchcape, GAC) for a firm figure.

The two canals price in opposite directions. Panama's flat fixed fee punishes small ships — about USD 3.29 per dwt for a Supramax against 2.72 for a Kamsarmax. Suez's regressive scale rewards big ones — about USD 2.73 per dwt for a Capesize against 5.15 for a Supramax. And there is a Kamsarmax trap at Panama: fully laden she draws around 14.4 m against the old locks' 12.04 m, so she must part-load or use the Neopanamax locks, which changes her category and can move the toll by six figures.

Carbon — new money in the estimate

EU ETS is at 100 per cent phase-in in 2026 — the first year of full surrender, up from 40 per cent in 2024 and 70 per cent in 2025. That makes the ETS line roughly 1.43 times what it was last year for the identical voyage.

EUA price EUR 81.79 per tonne CO2 CO2 per mt VLSFO 3.114 tonnes So each tonne of VLSFO burned in full EU scope costs roughly EUR 255 in allowances on top of the fuel.

EU ETS: 2026 is the first year of full 100% surrender, up from 40% in 2024 and 70% in 2025, so the ETS line in an estimate is now roughly 1.43x what it was in 2025 for the same voyage. EUA settled at EUR 81.79/t on 14 August 2026, down 1.15% on the day, up 15.72% year on year, having topped EUR 85 earlier in the year - the highest since January. Geographic scope is unchanged: 100% of emissions on intra-EEA voyages and at berth in an EEA port, 50% of emissions on voyages into or out of the EEA. From 2026 the scheme also covers methane and nitrous oxide, not just CO2, which slightly increases the liability for LNG dual-fuel tonnage in particular. Applies to ships of 5,000 GT and above. Practical calculation for a broker: tonnes of VLSFO burned in scope x 3.114 = tonnes CO2; x 100% x EUR 81.79 = EUR cost; so every tonne of VLSFO burned in full EU scope now costs about EUR 255 (roughly USD 295) in EUAs on top of the fuel itself. HSFO is 3.114 and LSMGO is 3.206 tonnes CO2 per tonne of fuel. The surrender obligation sits with the shipowner/ISM company by default, so the charterparty must say who bears it - most modern dry cargo fixtures use a BIMCO ETS clause passing the cost to charterers, and the EUA cost should be shown as a separate line, not buried in the bunker price. FuelEU Maritime: separate and additional to ETS. The 2026 requirement is a 2% reduction in well-to-wake GHG intensity from the 2020 baseline of 91.16 gCO2e/MJ, giving a limit of 89.34 gCO2e/MJ. A conventional VLSFO-only vessel runs at about 91-92 gCO2e/MJ well-to-wake and is therefore non-compliant by default, roughly 2-3% over the limit. The penalty is EUR 2,400 per tonne of VLSFO-energy-equivalent compliance deficit, and it escalates by 10% for each consecutive year of non-compliance. Same 100%/50% scope split and same 5,000 GT threshold as ETS. In practice owners manage this by pooling, banking surplus, or bunkering B24/B30 biofuel blends, and the cost of compliance is increasingly passed through as a per-day or per-voyage FuelEU surcharge. For a rough dry bulk estimate the FuelEU exposure is small relative to ETS - typically single-digit thousands of USD on a Supramax European voyage versus tens of thousands for ETS - but it is not zero and should be shown.

The line items trainees forget

Item	Typical USD	Note
Agency fees	3,000-12,000 per port call (attendance/husbandry); 4,000-18,000 for a canal transit depending on services	Two distinct things that trainees conflate. The FULL AGENCY fee is inside the DA and is charged by the agent nominated to handle the call. But if the CHARTERER nominates the agent (very common - 'charterers' agents at both ends'), the owner will still want a PROTECTING or SUPERVISORY AGENT to look after the ship's interests, statement of facts and NOR tendering - that is an ADDITIONAL USD 1,500-4,000 per port that sits outside the charterer's agency appointment and is pure owner's cost. It is left out of estimates constantly. Remote or difficult ports (West Africa, small Indonesian ports) carry a premium.
Fresh water supply	1,500-9,000 per call	Rates vary enormously - roughly USD 3-12 per tonne in most of Asia and Europe, but USD 25-60 per tonne in the Middle East, West Africa and some island ports, plus a barge or truck delivery charge of USD 500-2,500. A bulker taking 200-400 tonnes can therefore spend anywhere from USD 1,500 to USD 9,000. Ships with evaporators or reverse-osmosis plants take less, but many modern slow-steaming bulkers cannot make enough water at low engine load. Budget water at every second or third port, not every port.
Hold cleaning between cargoes	3,000-30,000 depending on previous and next cargo	The classic forgotten cost and a genuine voyage-killer. A simple sweep-and-wash between two grain cargoes might be USD 3,000-6,000 in crew overtime, chemicals and disposal. But a change from a dirty cargo to a clean one - petcoke or coal to grain, or anything to a sensitive cargo requiring GRAIN CLEAN or HOSPITAL CLEAN standard - can mean shore cleaning gangs at USD 12,000-30,000 plus 1-3 days off-hire equivalent time. Cement, salt, sulphur and petcoke residues are the worst. Also budget the RESIDUE DISPOSAL cost, which is now heavily regulated under MARPOL Annex V for solid bulk cargoes classified as Harmful to the Marine Environment (HME) and cannot simply be washed overboard. If the ship fails the hold inspection at the load port the whole voyage schedule slips - carry a contingency.
Draft survey fees	800-3,500 per survey; budget 2 surveys per port (initial and final)	Independent draft surveys establish the quantity loaded or discharged and protect against shortage claims. Usually USD 800-2,000 in Asia, USD 1,500-3,500 in Europe, the Americas and Australia. Who pays depends on the charter party - often shared or charterer's account for the official survey, but the OWNER should almost always appoint its own surveyor for its own protection on a valuable cargo, and that is an owner's cost. On a Capesize iron ore cargo a 0.5% quantity dispute is 900 tonnes; the survey fee is trivial insurance.
War risk premium - Red Sea / Gulf of Aden	40,000-250,000+ per transit for a bulker, highly volatile	Charged as a percentage of the vessel's INSURED HULL VALUE for a 7-day Listed Areas breach, plus loss-of-hire and crew war bonus. At the 2024 peak, rates reached 0.5-1.0% of hull value - on a USD 35 million Kamsarmax that is USD 175,000-350,000 for a single passage. Rates have eased substantially as incidents subsided but have NOT returned to pre-2023 levels, and underwriters reprice within days of any incident. You must also carry the CREW WAR BONUS - typically double basic wages for the days in the listed area, roughly USD 15,000-40,000 for a bulker crew - and this is normally NOT recoverable from charterers unless the charter party says so. Add the two together and a Suez routing can carry USD 60,000-290,000 of war cost on top of the toll, which is precisely why so many bulkers still route via the Cape in 2026.
War risk premium - Black Sea	60,000-400,000+ per call, extremely volatile	For Ukrainian ports (Odesa, Chornomorsk, Pivdennyi) additional war risk premium has run at 0.6-3.0% of hull value per voyage depending on the ceasefire/corridor situation, plus crew bonuses and often a requirement for specific hull war cover extensions. Romanian and Bulgarian ports (Constanta, Varna, Burgas) attract a much smaller but non-zero premium. This single line can exceed the entire port cost and freight margin - never estimate a Black Sea voyage without a firm quote from the war risk underwriter, and confirm in the charter party who bears additional premium and whether the owner has liberty to refuse. Also check that the crew's employment agreements and the flag state permit the call.
P&I and H&M insurance apportionment	1,200-4,000 per voyage day equivalent for a Panamax; roughly 8-14% of daily operating cost	Hull & Machinery and Protection & Indemnity premiums are ANNUAL fixed costs, so on a pure VOYAGE estimate they normally sit inside the daily OPEX/running cost or the time charter hire rate rather than as a separate voyage line - which is why trainees leave them out entirely when building a voyage estimate from scratch for an owned ship. For an owned Panamax, annual H&M might be USD 90,000-200,000 and P&I calls USD 90,000-160,000; apportion across trading days. The point to remember: if you are estimating on a TCE basis against a time charter, insurance is already in the hire; if you are estimating an OWNED ship's voyage result, you must load it in or you will overstate the profit.
Extra / additional insurance for certain ports (AP - Additional Premium)	3,000-40,000 per call	Underwriters designate certain ports and countries as attracting additional premium for hull, cargo or both, quite separately from war risk - typically for piracy exposure, poor port infrastructure, political instability, sanctions proximity or claims history. Common examples include parts of West Africa (Nigeria, Guinea, Cameroon), Venezuela, Libya, Yemen and some Indonesian and Papua New Guinea anchorages. Charter parties frequently provide that ADDITIONAL INSURANCE PREMIUMS on the ship arising from the charterer's ordered voyage are for CHARTERER'S ACCOUNT - check the clause, because if it is silent the owner carries it. Cargo interests may separately face additional premium, which affects the freight the charterer can bear.
Tug and pilot overtime / standby / detention	1,500-15,000 per event	Pilots and tugs are booked for a slot. If the ship is not ready, if the berth is not clear, if cargo documents are delayed, or if the movement runs into night hours, weekends or public holidays, you pay overtime rates or a cancellation/detention charge - and then pay again for the re-booked movement. Tug standby is typically charged per tug per hour (USD 300-1,000 per tug-hour). At tidal ports (Port Hedland, Kandla, the Mississippi at high water) a missed window means waiting for the next tide, with tugs on standby throughout. Budget at least one such event per voyage on a two-port voyage; it is one of the most reliable sources of DA overrun versus proforma.
Cargo hold fumigation	6,000-35,000 per voyage	Standard on agricultural cargoes - grain, soybeans, rice, oilseeds, pulses - and required by many importing countries' quarantine authorities. Usually phosphine tablets or bags applied in-hold, with the fumigation running IN TRANSIT over 5-10 days. Cost depends on cargo volume and number of holds: roughly USD 6,000-15,000 for a Supramax parcel and USD 15,000-35,000 for a Panamax. Whether it is owner's or charterer's account depends on the charter party and is a frequent dispute - as a rule fumigation ordered for the CARGO's benefit or to satisfy the receiver's quarantine is charterer's, while fumigation to deal with infestation attributable to the SHIP is owner's. Critically, in-transit fumigation carries CREW SAFETY obligations (IMO recommendations on the safe use of pesticides), may require a fumigator-in-charge to remain on board, and gas-free certification before discharge - all of which can add time and cost.
Bunker survey and bunker quantity/quality disputes	800-2,500 per bunkering	Left out of nearly every trainee estimate. An independent bunker survey at delivery protects against short-delivery, which is endemic in some ports, and a fuel sample analysis (USD 150-400) protects against off-spec fuel that can cost hundreds of thousands in engine damage. On a 1,500-tonne stem a 1% short delivery is 15 tonnes - several times the survey fee.
Garbage, sludge and MARPOL waste disposal	500-6,000 per call	Enforced rigorously in Europe, North America and Australia and increasingly elsewhere. Sludge and bilge water landing can be USD 1,500-6,000 in North Europe. Cargo hold residues from HME-classified solid bulk cargoes must be landed ashore rather than washed overboard, which adds a disposal cost at the discharge port that catches people out.
Emissions costs - EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime	15,000-120,000 per voyage touching the EU/EEA	Frequently missed on any estimate involving a European call. Shipping is inside the EU Emissions Trading System, requiring surrender of allowances for 100% of emissions on intra-EU voyages and 50% on voyages into or out of the EU/EEA. At an EUA price in the region of EUR 70-90 per tonne of CO2, a Panamax burning 1,200 tonnes of fuel on a qualifying leg faces a material allowance cost. FuelEU Maritime adds a separate penalty exposure for fuel greenhouse-gas intensity. Charter parties now routinely carry an ETS clause allocating the cost to charterers - but you must check it is there and price it if it is not.
Address commission and brokerage	2.5-5.0% of gross freight	Not a port cost but the line trainees most often forget to deduct. Typically 1.25-2.5% brokerage plus 2.5-3.75% address commission to the charterer. On a USD 2 million gross freight that is USD 50,000-100,000 straight off the top, deducted before you get to the TCE. Always calculate the estimate on NET freight.
Weather routeing, ballast water management and sundry ship's services	500-4,000 per voyage	Weather routeing service USD 500-1,500 per voyage. Ballast water treatment consumables and any required sampling/testing. Gangway watchmen and security guards, mandatory at many ports, USD 300-1,200 per day. Launch/boat hire for anchorage calls USD 300-1,500 per trip. Crew change costs if scheduled at the port - flights, hotels, agency handling - can be USD 5,000-25,000 and are often planned around a particular call, so check with the operations team before finalising the estimate.

Time charters

Half your inbox is not cargo at all — it is people hiring SHIPS by the day. One trip, six months, a year. This module teaches you to read a TC order, read the description that prices it, follow the money, and make the one decision every owner faces daily: voyage or time charter?

The great divide: who pays for what

On a voyage charter the charterer buys carriage of a cargo at a freight rate per tonne — the owner runs the voyage and pays its costs. On a time charter the charterer hires the SHIP at a rate per day and runs the voyage himself.

VOYAGE TIME CHARTER Crew, stores, insurance OWNER OWNER Maintenance, surveys OWNER OWNER BUNKERS OWNER CHARTERER Port costs / DAs OWNER CHARTERER Canal tolls OWNER CHARTERER Cargo handling per CP terms CHARTERER The market risk of delay OWNER CHARTERER (hire keeps running)

One question — who buys the fuel? — tells you instantly which world you are in.

The three shapes of TC business

TCT — one trip. "1 TCT via EC SAM to Continent, dur abt 35/40 days WOG." Hire per day for one voyage; the duration is an estimate, without guarantee — a longer trip simply pays more days.

Period. "Period abt 6/8 mos, redely WW." Months of employment; the charterer buys trading freedom, the owner sells certainty. Redelivery outside the agreed window is a breach, unlike a TCT overrun.

Index-linked. "Try index link." Hire floats with the published Baltic index (usually index × an agreed percentage) — owner and charterer share the market ride instead of betting against each other.

Delivery and redelivery — where the clock starts and stops

Hire runs from delivery to redelivery, and the terms say exactly where each happens. DOP — dropping outward pilot leaving her last port: the ballast leg to the load port is on the charterer. APS — arrival pilot station at the load port: the owner carries the ballast, and asks a ballast bonus to cover it. DLOSP — dropping last outward sea pilot, the mirror image at redelivery. RETRO — delivered as from a date and place already passed, hire calculated back to it. WW — worldwide, the widest range. Redelivery position is money: an owner takes less per day to come open in Singapore than to be stranded in the US Gulf.

The description is the price list

On TC you are chartering the DESCRIPTION. Four lines matter most:

Speed and consumption. The plain line is the owner's warranty — underperform it in good weather and the charterer claims hire and fuel back. The ECO line is offered WOG and cannot be claimed against. ABT carries a customary margin — roughly ±0.5 knot and ±5% on consumption.

WARRANTED: ABT 13.0 KTS ON ABT 26.5 MT VLSFO judged at: 12.5 kts and 27.8 mt (the ABT margins) performs 12.6 kts on 27.0 → she PERFORMS, barely strip the ABT and 12.6 vs 13.0 → a claim

BOD — bunkers on delivery. The charterer buys the fuel in her tanks on day one; the owner buys back what remains at redelivery ("about same quantities" keeps the account neutral).

BOD 1,250 MT VLSFO × USD 585 = USD 731,250 220 MT LSMGO × USD 780 = USD 171,600 CHARTERER PAYS ON DELIVERY USD 902,850 — with the first hire

Fittings and vetting. Grabs, CO2/A60, logs fitted, RightShip score, miner approvals — every fitting is a cargo the charterer CAN work, so fittings set hire.

Trading exclusions. A period charterer buys optionality; every excluded region shrinks what the ship is worth to him.

The money — worked

Hire is paid in advance, usually 15 days at a time, remitted less the address commission. Brokerage is not deducted — the brokers invoice the owner separately. Receive, then pay:

HIRE USD 15,500 PDPR · 15 DAYS ADVANCE · 3.75% ADDCOM + 1.25% BRKG FIRST REMITTANCE: 15 × 15,500 = 232,500 less 3.75% addcom = 223,781 ← lands in the bank BROKER'S INVOICE: 232,500 × 1.25% = 2,906 ← owner PAYS separately

Off-hire. When the ship cannot do what she was hired for — breakdown, drydock — the clock stops, per day pro rata:

HIRE 15,000 PDPR · ENGINE BREAKDOWN 36 HOURS 36 ÷ 24 = 1.5 DAYS × 15,000 = USD 22,500 OFF THE NEXT HIRE PAYMENT

The charterer's own delays — waiting for berth, slow stevedores — are NOT off-hire. He hired the time; he spends it. And the deadliest clause in the charter: miss a hire payment and the owner may have the right to withdraw the ship.

Voyage or TC — the owner's daily decision

The bridge back to Module 5: TCE exists precisely so the two employments can be compared. Convert the voyage to a per-day figure; strip the TC offer to net; put them side by side.

THE VOYAGE: full estimate → TCE USD 11,850/DAY (net) THE TCT: USD 12,150 PDPR offered less 5% total commissions = USD 11,543/DAY net → the VOYAGE pays more per day … on paper

Then weigh what the numbers do not show: where each job redelivers her, and what she can earn from there. And the market view: in a RISING market owners stay spot — every new trip reprices upward; in a falling one they lock period cover before the slide. Cover or stay spot is where fortunes are made and lost.

Kraken note. The marketplace carries hundreds of TC positions and TC orders — this module is why Gaile and Zyrene can now read them. House practice overrides anything taught here; CP wording overrides any definition.

DESK PAD every line editable · A+B to reuse

Tap any number in the question to send it to the line you are on. Reference an earlier line by its letter — C = A+B. Shipping functions: days(nm,kts) adds the 5% weather margin · cuft(x) · tce(result,days).

📐 Estimate Pad

The voyage estimate, laid out the way the desk lays it out. Change any figure and everything below recomputes. Same fields, same order as Kraken's Freight Estimator.