Baltic Exchange Rolls-out Opex Index

The Baltic Exchange, the a membership organisation for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts, has launched a new assessment to track the cost of operating vessels.

Initially covering a range of dry bulk vessels, the service will also be expanded to tankers and other sectors.

The Baltic Operating Expense Index (BOI) will be published quarterly and based on assessments from three leading independent third-party ship management companies: Anglo-Eastern, Columbia Shipmanagement and Fleet Management.

Collectively they manage a fleet of over 1,800 vessels. Additional companies are expected to join the panel in the future and a residual price calculation added later this year.

Baltic Exchange Chief Executive Mark Jackson said: “The Baltic Operating Expense Index is intended to provide transparency to the fluctuations in running costs. Daily operating costs are one of the variables used by shipping investors to calculate the profitability and residual value of their assets."

He added: "We already provide independent freight, sale & purchase and recycling assessments. With the addition of operational expenses assessments, shipping investors now have a complete toolkit to manage their risk and aide their decision process.”