EMEA News
New Guidance on Capesize Fuel Use from Baltic Exchange
Jeremy Penn, CEO of the Baltic Exchange, says brokers should now assume speeds of 12 knots with cargo and 13 knots without for Capesize vessels, with fuel use of about 44 metric tonnes (mt) per day, Bloomberg reports.
Current guidance is based on speeds of 14.5 knots and 15 knots, for a daily fuel usage of 56 tonnes.
"The panelists report the prevailing market rate for Baltic ships on Baltic routes," Penn said.
"Increasingly, that's been a slow-steaming market, and they have been reporting rates that reflect that."
Penn said the change in guidance should not result in a "significant" change in the Exchange's published rates for Capesize vessels.
With fuel costs becoming an increasingly large part of ship operators' costs, a UniCredit poll last year showed slow steaming has increasingly become standard in the industry.
