Ship Operating Costs

Ship Ops Costs Increase, Insurance Costs Plummet

International accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens says total annual operating costs in the shipping industry increased by an average 2.2 per cent in 2010. This compares with the 2.0 per cent average fall in costs recorded for the previous year, which was the first time since 2002 that operating costs had fallen. All cost categories showed an overall increase this time, with the exception of stores and insurance – with the latter falling by 4.7 per cent overall. The findings are set out in OpCost 2011, Moore Stephens’ unique ship operating costs benchmarking tool, which reveals that all individual categories of vessel covered by the research, with the exception of handysize product tankers, experienced an increase in total operating costs in 2010, the financial year covered by the survey. Costs for the three main sectors covered – bulkers, tankers and container ships – were all up. The bulker index increased by 5 index points (or 2.9 per cent) on a year-on-year basis, while the tanker index witnessed a two-index-point (1.1 per cent) rise. Meanwhile, the container ship index (with a 2002 base year, as opposed to 2000 for the other two vessel classes) was up three index points, or 1.9 per cent. The corresponding figures in last year’s OpCost report showed falls in the bulker, tanker and container ship indexes of 1, 5 and 13 points respectively.

Operating Costs Hit by Insurance and Crew Expenditure

Last year, shipowners experienced an average increase of just under four per cent in their total operating costs, compared to the previous year. And OpCost 2006, Moore Stephens' operating cost benchmark tool, confirms that the biggest increases were recorded in respect of insurance and crew costs. All vessel categories experienced an increase in total operating costs, but the increases were not as marked as in the previous year, when

Tax Moves Hurt UK Seafarers

Accountant Moore Stephens says changes to National Insurance rules for UK companies employing British seafarers announced last week may threaten British jobs. Shipping tax partner, Philip Parr, says, "From October 6, 2003, shipping companies using British resident seafarers and which operate mainly in UK waters face a payroll cost increase of 13 per cent, and increased costs of administration." On April 23, 2003 the Paymaster General announced that with effect from

Seacor Smit Announces First Quarter Results

Seacor Smit Inc., announced net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002 of $11,406,000, or $0.55 per fully diluted share, on operating revenues of $103,643,000. In the comparable quarter ended March 31, 2001, SEACOR earned $12,134,000 per fully diluted share, on operating revenues of $93,200,000. Net earnings in the immediately preceding quarter ended December 31, 2001 were $18,679,000 on operating revenues of $109,804,000.

Chiles Offshore Reports 1Q Results

Chiles Offshore Inc. reported that, for the quarter ended March 31, 2002, the company had net income of $4.1 million or $0.20 per diluted share after an extraordinary loss of $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net income of $5.3 million or $0.30 per diluted share reported for the corresponding quarter ended March 31, 2001. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2002, was $19.8 million compared to revenue of $19.2 million for the corresponding quarter ended March 31, 2001.

Sino-Global Cost-Cutting Measures

Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SINO), a leading, non-state-owned provider of shipping agency services operating primarily in China, announced new cost-cutting measures in response to the weakened global shipping industry. Specifically, some of the key measures include a 33% reduction in annualized office rent expense and reduction of staff from 75 as of September 2008 to 52 as of February 2009, resulting in an expected 27% reduction in annualized personnel expenses

Oil Price Rebound Means Big Gains for Oil Producers

The third quarter proved to be a prosperous one for oil companies, as most of our sampling realized substantial gains in net income and net operating income for the period, as compared to 1998's third quarter. A higher average worldwide crude oil price was chiefly responsible for the increases, although in some cases, cost-cutting measures also contributed heavily to the financial results. Exploration and production net operating income was up, nearly across the board

Improving Freight Rates May Help Shippers Cope With Fuel Costs

The shipping industry is in a better position to cope with soaring fuel prices because of growth in trade as Asia recovers economic crisis, analysts said. The price of bunker fuel, which typically makes up about five percent of a shippers' total operating costs, has over the past six months doubled to $140 per ton. The spoils from improved conditions have not been evenly shared within the industry, with tanker owners the worst hit

P&O Nedlloyd Announces First Quarter Results

P&O Nedlloyd made an operating loss for the quarter, traditionally the weakest of the year, of $68 million which compares with an operating profit of $31 million in Q1 2001; volumes were 9 per cent higher than in Q1 2001; average revenue rates were 17 per cent down on the same period last year; cost saving programmes have already contributed significantly to the reduction in unit costs compared to Q1 2001 and the new $350 million savings programme is on track to make a further impact later

New Book: Cost Management in Shipbuilding

Global competition in the shipbuilding industry, which is continuously intensifying due to the entry of developing countries into the shipbuilding market, leads to decreasing margins and enormous cost pressure in this industry. Many shipyards have already gone bankrupt through the inability to keep to their original budget that the offer was based on. In the naval sector it is not unusual to double the originally estimated costs when building the vessel