Chartering tools
Calculate time charter equivalent from voyage revenue, expenses and the full voyage clock. The result is reconciled line by line and tested against one extra voyage day and higher bunker cost.
Time charter equivalent
/ day
per day, before vessel operating and ownership costs
Voyage expenses exceed gross revenue under these assumptions. The negative daily result is shown so the estimate remains fully reconciled.
One assumption changes. Everything else stays fixed.
One extra voyage day
The extra-day test is not shown on a negative result. Dividing the same loss over another day would look like an improvement without modelling the cost of that day.
Bunker cost +10%
Definition and convention
Time charter equivalent, usually shortened to TCE, is the net result of a voyage expressed per day. It converts a freight-based voyage into the daily unit used for time-charter hire, so two unlike employment opportunities can be compared on a consistent basis. TCE in shipping is a comparison convention, not a quoted freight rate and not the vessel's final profit.
The arithmetic is simple. The convention is not. A useful TCE calculation states what counts as voyage revenue, which costs have been deducted and where the voyage clock starts and stops. Two numbers built on different conventions should not be compared as though they describe the same result.
01 · Revenue
Gross voyage revenue is normally expected intake multiplied by the freight rate, or the agreed lumpsum. Add other voyage revenue only when the fixture supports it. Do not add an assumed demurrage recovery simply to improve the estimate. For tanker business, convert Worldscale points and the applicable flat rate to monetary freight before entering it.
02 · Expenses
Deduct commission on its agreed contractual base, ballast and laden bunkers, port dues, agency, canal tolls, emissions costs and other employment-specific costs borne by the owner. Use the direct commission amount when separate commissions have different bases.
03 · Time
Include the relevant ballast passage, laden passage, port time and expected waiting. A ship open at the load port and one ten days away are not equivalent candidates even when their laden voyage is identical.
Worked calculation
Consider an illustrative dry-bulk voyage with 30 total voyage days. These values are not a current market assessment. They are chosen so every step can be checked against the calculator.
Gross revenue of USD 1,260,000 less USD 663,000 of commission and voyage expenses leaves USD 597,000. Dividing that result by 30 days gives USD 19,900 per day.
That is not the vessel's profit. Crew, stores, routine maintenance, insurance, management, financing and depreciation have not been deducted. Those costs sit below TCE under the fixture-estimate convention used here.
This is the fixture-estimate convention used by the tool. A public company or counterparty may report TCE on another disclosed basis, so the definition should always travel with the number.
Usually above TCE
Usually below TCE here
From route to return
Distance is the starting point for the sea-time component. The sea distance calculator returns an indicative route, nautical miles and steaming days at the selected speed. Its result can be carried into this TCE calculator as laden sea days.
Distance does not supply the freight rate, bunker consumption, bunker price, port costs, waiting or a current market assessment. Those assumptions remain visible and separate in the TCE worksheet rather than being invented behind the result.
Companion tool
Port to port distance, steaming days, draft-aware canal routing and sea margin.
Calculate sea distanceUse the number carefully
A chartering desk uses TCE prospectively. It estimates the daily result of a proposed fixture, tests the effect of assumptions and compares the cargo with other employment. A public shipping company usually reports TCE retrospectively across a vessel, segment or fleet for a completed period.
Reported presentations can treat voyage revenue, charter hire, profit-sharing items and repositioning costs according to the company's policy. Read the reconciliation and period definition before comparing one operator's TCE with another's or with a fixture estimate.
Method references: the Baltic Exchange describes transparent income, expense, port and canal constituents in its TCE work. A current SEC filing shows why public-company expense and day conventions must still be read with the reported number.
Request TCE calculation access for a voyage estimator, freight model or internal dashboard. Ask for TCE alone or combine it with sea-distance routing.
Time charter equivalent, or TCE, expresses the net result of a voyage as a daily amount. Under the fixture-estimate convention used here, gross voyage revenue less commission, bunkers, port and canal costs and other voyage expenses is divided by total voyage days, including the relevant ballast and laden time.
TCE per day equals gross voyage revenue minus voyage expenses, divided by total voyage days. The calculation is comparable only when the same revenue, expense and time conventions are used for every voyage.
Use the commission-bearing revenue stated in the recap or charter party. Leave the basis at gross voyage revenue only when the full revenue is commission-bearing. If address and brokerage commissions apply to different bases, calculate their combined amount and use the commission amount option.
No. Worldscale points are a percentage of the applicable published flat rate, not a currency amount per tonne. Convert the flat rate and agreed Worldscale points into monetary freight first, then enter that rate or the resulting gross voyage revenue.
Not in the fixture-estimate convention used in this calculator. Crew, stores, routine maintenance, insurance, management, financing and depreciation sit below TCE. They must be considered separately before treating the voyage as profitable. A company reporting fleet TCE may use its own disclosed convention.
Yes, when the ballast leg is required to position the vessel for the cargo. Leaving it out overstates the daily return. State the chosen start and end points, especially when comparing a ship already near the load port with one ballasting in from another region.
Yes. The denominator should cover the expected time needed to complete the employment, including relevant ballast, laden passage, port time and waiting. A TCE built from steaming days alone is not comparable with one that includes the full voyage clock.
It supplies the distance and an estimate of steaming days, which are important inputs. A complete TCE also needs freight revenue, commission, bunker cost, port and canal costs, other voyage expenses, ballast time, port time and waiting assumptions.
No. TCE is a daily voyage result before vessel operating and ownership costs under the convention used here. Crew, maintenance, insurance, management, financing and depreciation still need to be considered before drawing a profit conclusion.
Worldwide cargo desk
Send the cargo, lane, quantity and dates. We will test the assumptions against the tonnage and freight structure available for the movement.