Voyage Charter News

An LNG-fueled capesize bulk carrier, ordered by NYK and to be deployed to transport iron ore and coal from Australia to Japan under a long-term consecutive voyage charter contract with JFE Steel Corporation (JFE), has been delivered.The naming ceremony for the vessel was held on January 30, 2024, at Japan Marine United Corporation's Tsu Shipyard in Mie Prefecture.The vessel is the first capesize LNG-fueled bulk carrier to be built at a shipyard in Japan, according to an NYK research.The vessel was named ‘SG Ocean’ to reflect the ‘SG’ of NYK's ‘Sail GREEN’ brand…

BIMCO’s Documentary Committee has adopted a new Emission Trading Scheme Allowances Clause for BIMCO’s ship management agreement, SHIPMAN, and three ETS clauses for Voyage Charter Parties. The clauses aim to facilitate collaboration and provide clarity and certainty between parties as new regulations come into force, changing the way the industry operates to achieve compliance and cut emissions.On January 1, 2024, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) will be extended to cover CO2 emissions from ships of 5,000GT and above calling at EU ports, regardless of flag.

BIMCO has developed a new Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) Clause for Voyage Charter Parties. The clause was adopted by BIMCO’s Documentary Committee on October 11 and is the latest addition to BIMCO’s portfolio of carbon clauses.“As the shipping industry works towards decarbonization, the need for new contracts and clauses increases. We are working constantly to ensure that BIMCO’s contracts and clauses are fit for purpose as the regulatory landscape changes,” says Nicholas Fell…

Without a radical new approach, BIMCO’s CII Operations Clause will remain a worthy but vain attempt to reconcile shipping’s environmental and commercial imperatives,Legal and contractual disputes lie ahead for shipping unless it finds a better compromise between owners and charterers to sustain the International Maritime Organization’s Carbon Intensity Index (CII).Entering into force on 1 January 2023, the CII relates primarily to the way in which ships are operated and the resulting CO2 emissions.

Greek tanker owner Performance Shipping announced on Monday it has taken delivery of a secondhand Aframax tanker it agreed to purchase in September 2022.The P. Monterey, formerly Phoenix Beacon, is a 105,525 dwt tanker built in 2011. It is equipped with a ballast water treatment system (BWTS), and its next scheduled special survey is not due until 2026.The vessel was acquired for a total purchase price of $35 million and partially financed through the recently announced term loan facility with Piraeus Bank S.A.Following the delivery, P. Monterey will commence a time charter contract with ST Shipping & Transport Pte Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore, at a daily rate of $32,000 per day for a period of 24 months +/- 45 days at the option of the charterer.P.

The 210,000-dwt ton capesize bulker Cape Brolga has been delivered from Japan Marine United Corporation's Tsu shipyard to Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.

At the Marugame business headquarters Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., the 200,000-dwt ton Cape size bulker "CAPE DISCOVERY" has been completed.The ship is compliant with the Common Structural Rules for Bulk Carrier (CSR-BC) for bulk cargo ships, and the main institution is equipped with an electronically controlled engine with enhanced anti-corrosion measures, in order to save energy, the operators have installed WAD (Weather Adapted Duct) in front of the propeller and Hybrid Fin behind the propeller.Furthermore…

Croatian joint stock shipping company Tankerska Next Generation (TNG) has concluded an additional six-month charter deal for one of its ECO class product tankers with a leading U.S.charterer of some $17,100 per day.The negotiated deal thoroughly represents the company's strategic concept that focuses on the determination to secure a strong asset base and stable cash flow.In doing so, TNG minimizes the risk of its business operations, by means of balancing the employment of the fleet on voyage charter while still focusing on the significance of time charters.Prior to that TNG secured 6 to 12 month time charter employment in charterers’ option for another ECO class product tanker.

Croatian shipping company Tankerska Next Generation (TNG) has fixed out another of its MR tankers on a period charter.The conventional ice class product tanker MT Velebit  has secured one year contracted employment with immediate effect, it said in a press release.The tanker will be chartered out to a prominent charterer at approximately USD 14,500 per day with usual market terms.Additionally, the charterer has an option to extend the contract for an additional eight months at approximately USD 15,500 per day.The achieved conditions are thoroughly in line with the company's strategic concept that focuses on the efforts to secure a strong asset base and stable cash flow.

Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) will begin work on two gas-related contracts in early 2019, an LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) Bunker Purchase Contract and a LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) voyage charter party.A press release from the largest of the international shipping associations representing shipowners said that it is planning to develop the new contracts in Asia in an effort to further increase the involvement of its Asian members. Both projects will be developed mainly by experts from the region and managed by BIMCO’s Shanghai office, assisted by head office staff in Copenhagen.“An alternative fuels contract and a voyage charter for LPG are two key projects which have global resonance…

Norwegian shipping company Golar LNG Partners is deploying a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to Jamaica for up to 15 years from the fourth quarter of 2018."FSRU Golar Freeze will shortly arrive offshore Jamaica where she will service a 15-year charter for an energy and logistics company," the partner company of Golar LNG Limited said in a stock market annoucement.From commencement of commercial operations, expected during January, 2019, hire will be receivable at the full daily base rate, initially expected to deliver approximately $18 million in annual Adjusted EBITDA, it said.Meanwhile, Golar Maria's 10-month charter commenced in early August. Spot voyages prior to this resulted in the vessel achieving a utilization rate of 89% for the quarter.

Eagle Bulk Shipping generated net revenues of $79.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, representing an increase of 73% compared to the same period in 2017. The owner-operators in the Supramax / Ultramax segment took delivery of the New London Eagle, a 2015-built CROWN-63 Ultramax, closed the sale of the Avocet, a 2010-built DIAMOND-53 Supramax, and signed a memorandum of agreement to sell the vessel Thrush for $10.9 million net of commissions and selling expenses. Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk's CEO, commented, "We continued to execute on our active owner-operator strategy during the first quarter, achieving a TCE of $11,052 and outperforming the benchmark Baltic Supramax Index by over $1,100 per day.

US based owner-operators of Supramax dry bulk vessels reported a loss of $16.6 million in its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2017, compared to a net loss of $142.4 million for the fourth quarter in 2016. The shipping company posted revenue of $74.6 million in the period, representing an increase of 78% compared to the same period in 2016. Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk's CEO, commented, "During the fourth quarter, Eagle Bulk's active management operating model drove outperformance of the benchmark Baltic Supramax Index for the fourth consecutive quarter, resulting in positive operating income for the first time in seven years. Gary added: "We are also pleased to have completed a comprehensive refinancing in December that significantly strengthened our balance sheet…

BIMCO has together with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), updated and modernised the WORLDFOOD voyage charter party used by the UN organisation to transport food to emergency areas around the world. The aim was to create a contract that made WFP’s work easier and faster. "The WORLDFOOD charter is an essential tool for the WFP as the majority of food that we deliver is transported by chartered ships at sea. It is crucial that we have a charter party that gives us the flexibility required when operating in volatile areas of the world. BIMCO’s input and support during this drafting process has been invaluable," said Loutphi Madani, Senior Legal Officer of the WFP.

BIMCO and the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) have today jointly issued the first definitive voyage charter party – LNGVOY - designed for the expanding LNG spot market. During the development process, BIMCO and GIIGNL consulted with the industry globally to gather a clear picture of how an LNG voyage charter party should work in practice. Careful account was taken of the interests of both owners and charterers to create a balanced and clearly worded agreement. One of the main goals of LNGVOY is to provide a charter party whereby the charterer can assess, with a greater degree of accuracy, the cost of transporting LNG from A to B and/or C.

The twice yearly meeting of BIMCO’s Documentary Committee took place in Hamburg on 19 November. In his first meeting as Chairperson of the Committee, Belgium’s Francis Sarre presided over the adoption of several new contracts and clauses and an update of BIMCO’s extensive suite of bills of lading and waybills. Two new owner representatives joined the Committee from Canada and Brazil, reflecting the importance of the Americas in BIMCO’s global coverage of documentary matters. In addition to the adopted contracts and clauses, the Committee also heard and commented on progress reports on a number of ongoing projects and agreed to start work on several new items. The first of the newly adopted contracts was the LNGVOY Voyage Charter Party for the transportation of liquefied natural gas.

Sinotrans Shipping slid back into the red for the first half of 2015, turning to a $18.3m loss from a small $2.3m profit in the previous corresponding period. The dry bulk and container shipping arm of Chinese state-owned Sinotrans & CSC Group continues to feel the pain of low rates. The  company is now considering diversifying its shipping business. Revenue of the Hong Kong-listed  company dropped 19% year on year (y/y) to $485.1 million , a stock filing of Sinotrans Shipping said on 14 August. ”The recovery of global economy was slow and uneven, among which the growth of developed economies has picked up but was still weaker than anticipated, while the increase in emerging economies such as China continued to slow down.

NewLead Holdings Ltd.announced today a review of the commercial competency of one of its bitumen tanker vessels, the MT Sofia since the vessel was delivered to NewLead's fleet. The Sofia is a 2008-built bitumen tanker vessel of 2,888 dwt and is one of the five bitumen tanker vessels that were delivered to NewLead's fleet during the fourth quarter of 2014. Since the end of November 2014, when NewLead took delivery of the Sofia, the vessel has been trading in the spot market under consecutive voyages. Previously, the Sofia has completed twelve different voyage charter agreements and fifteen different voyages and has transported approximately 29,175 metric tons of bitumen.

Many investors are asking questions about the dynamics of the tanker market and asked us to confirm their views on vessel utilisation across the tanker market. This answer is very much linked to how supply and demand balance one another in a bulk tramping market. Whilst there is no precise correlation between earnings and supply, it is critically important to understand that small changes can have major impact on the market as a whole. When the market is undersupplied with tankers, there is little or no resistance to pricing and when the market is oversupplied with just a few tankers, the market has no support and indeed owners have been known to even transport cargo at a negative gross cash flow! The speed of the vessel is one of those changes that can have an impact on the market.

With the amount of LNG traded on the spot market continuing to grow, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) is developing a new contract for the transportation of LNG under voyage charter terms. This will add additional flexibility to the spot market and give parties alternative means to manage their risks and control costs. Due to the nature of LNG cargo and its common use as propulsive fuel, it creates a number of challenges when carried under conventional voyage charter party terms. Some of the key issues that are addressed include the use of cargo as fuel; heel; boil-off gas (BOG); and how to deal with delays. The…

A new clause for dry cargo voyage charters is set to plug the gap in contracts that do not address ship-to-ship transfer (STST) cargo operations. STST cargo operations are a common feature in most tanker voyage charters, but rarely form part of dry cargo standard forms. If a charterer wants to conduct STST cargo operations and the charter party form does not contain the required wording, then this clause should be incorporated. It is very important to have such a clause because of the increased risk to the ship of such cargo operations. It addresses critical issues such as safety, choice of location, supply of equipment and master’s overriding authority. The clause effectively turns a berth or dock charter party into a contract that permits cargo operations at places other than berths.

Concordia Maritime has just renewed its contract with a major oil and gas company for a consecutive voyage charter arrangement for the P-MAX tankers Stena Provence and Stena Polaris. The agreement will run until the summer of 2015. “This is a testament to the fact that our P-MAX tankers make a major difference when properly utilized. We are very pleased to be able to extend this charter, which, alongside our business partner, we have long and successfully cultivated in this region of the world,” says Kim Ullman, CEO of Concordia Maritime. “We have been working hard throughout the year to implement a more assertive charter strategy to maximize the strong earnings capacity of the vessels, which is also the case within the framework of this agreement,” adds Kim Ullman.

Concordia Maritime has renewed its contract with a major oil and gas company for a consecutive voyage charter arrangement for the P-MAX tankers Stena Provence and Stena Polaris. The agreement will run until the summer of 2015. “This is a testament to the fact that our P-MAX tankers make a major difference when properly utilized. We are very pleased to be able to extend this charter, which, alongside our business partner, we have long and successfully cultivated in this region of the world,” said Kim Ullman, CEO of Concordia Maritime.