Moore Stephens Focuses on Running Costs

Moore Stephens says shipowners have seen crew costs rise slightly and insurance costs fall dramatically over the past year. Moore Stephens' OpCost 2001 report shows handysize bulk carrier crew costs up 6.9 percent, while insurance costs for the same ships fell 18 percent. Richard Greiner, director of research for Moore Stephens, says, "This is our second OpCost report, and it gives a very clear picture of how much shipowners and managers are spending, and where their money is going. The database of vessels we have used to mine this information has doubled this year, and we have been able to break down the costs into twelve categories, up from five last year."

OpCost is a vessel operating cost benchmarking tool exclusive to Moore Stephens. It allows owners, managers, lawyers and financiers to benchmark vessel-operating costs against a sample of actual vessels operating worldwide. Data is available for four size categories of bulk carriers, six sizes of tanker, dry cargo ships, container vessels, reefers and Ro/Ros. Average operating costs for the samples are broken down into crew wages, provisions, crew and medical expenses, lube oil, stores, spares, repairs and maintenance, P&I and marine insurance, registration fees, management fees and sundries. Moore Stephens is offering shipowners who are prepared to include their vessels in the project a forty percent discount on the cost of the annual report.