Weekly Time Charter Estimates

How time charters offer a window on shipping sentiment?

In a spot ocean transport deal, a shipper pays the vessel interest in dollars per ton of cargo moved and the ship owner covers fuel and other costs. In a time charter, the shipper (the charterer) pays the ship owner a rate in dollars per day and the charterer, not the ship owner, covers the fuel and voyage costs.

If global bulk commodity shippers expect spot prices to rise substantially in the future, they lock in their transport costs by signing time charters.

When time-charter rates rise and the duration of contracts increases, it tells you that cargo shippers are worried that spot rates will increase sustainably.