Voyage Charter
A contract to carry a specific cargo between named ports for a freight rate, with the owner paying the voyage costs.
- Category
- Chartering
- Dictionary entry
- Voyage Charter
- Last reviewed
How it works
In a voyage charter the shipowner agrees to move a stated cargo from a load port to a discharge port for an agreed freight, usually quoted per tonne or as a Worldscale percentage. The owner remains the operator and pays the running costs of the voyage, including bunkers, port charges and canal tolls.
Because the owner carries the voyage-cost risk, freight is the headline price but TCE is the real measure of profitability. Laytime and demurrage terms in the charter party govern how long the charterer has to load and discharge before extra payments apply.
Where it shows up on The Maritime
Also known as: voyage charterparty, spot charter.
The short dictionary definition is at Dictionary entry: Voyage Charter. This page is the explainer.
Related terms
Time Charter (T/C)
A contract to hire a fully crewed ship for a period at a daily rate, with the charterer directing employment and paying voyage costs.
Bareboat Charter (BBC)
A lease of the bare ship with no crew or management, where the charterer becomes the de-facto operator for the period.
Time Charter Equivalent (TCE)
A voyage’s daily earnings net of voyage costs: the single number that makes a voyage charter comparable with a time charter rate.
Laytime
The time allowed under the charter party for the charterer to load and discharge the cargo without extra payment.
Demurrage
A daily penalty the charterer pays the owner for using more than the agreed laytime to load or discharge.
Charter Party (C/P)
The contract between shipowner and charterer setting out the terms of hiring a vessel or carrying a cargo.
More chartering terms
A plain-English reference definition: our own explanation of a standard shipping concept, not a licensed source or legal advice. See the full glossary or the broader maritime dictionary.
Last reviewed: .