Commercial Chartering interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your career and commercial / chartering experience.
2. Tell me about a fixture, voyage, or commercial situation you've handled.
3. Why commercial chartering vs other shipping paths (vessel ops / broking / S&P / commodity trading / shoreside logistics)?
4. Why this segment — tanker / dry bulk / container / gas / Ro-Ro?
5. Why the firm?
6. What's your read on our fleet, chartering model, and recent commercial activity?
7. Where do you see the firm's key segment heading over the next 6-12 months?
8. Walk me through a fixture or recap you've negotiated or supported — from inquiry to fixture.

Technical concepts to master

• TCE + voyage P&L + bunkers

  TCE (time-charter-equivalent) · Worldscale (WS) for tanker freight · Bunker management + stem strategy · Speed-and-consumption + slow-steaming · Ballast leg + triangulation

• Laytime + demurrage + NOR + SOF discipline

  NOR (Notice of Readiness) · Laytime calculation · Demurrage + despatch · SOF (Statement of Facts) + protest letters · Off-hire (TC context)

• Fixture forms — main terms + rider clauses

  TC main terms (NYPE / Shelltime) · Voyage main terms (Gencon / Asbatankvoy) · Rider clauses — sanctions + war risk · Rider clauses — cyber + BIMCO Cyber 2020 · Rider clauses — performance + bunker quality

• Decarbonisation commercial pass-through + CII clauses

  EU ETS pass-through · FuelEU Maritime · CII (Carbon Intensity Indicator) · Scrubber bunker spread · Alternative fuel readiness + dual-fuel premium

Practical drills

• You are evaluating a voyage charter for a Capesize (180,000 dwt). Inquiry: 170,000 mt iron ore, Tubarao-Qingdao, lay/can in two weeks. Freight idea $22 / mt. Laden voyage 38 days; ballast leg (Singapore start) 12 days. Bunker consumption: laden 60 mt/day VLSFO at sea, ballast 50 mt/day; port 5 mt/day MGO. VLSFO $560/mt, MGO $750/mt. Port + canal + agency: $200,000 total. 4 days port time included. Address commissions 3.75%. Walk through TCE and decide whether to fix or pass given C5TC last printed $25,000 / day.
• You are head of chartering. A trading house counterparty offers a Panamax bulker for 11-13 months TC delivery Far East at $14,500 / day, redelivery worldwide. Spot P5TC is $13,800 / day; the 12-month FFA is trading $14,200 / day. Your fleet is short by one Panamax for the next two quarters. Walk through how you'd negotiate, what main terms + riders you'd push, and how you'd close.
• You are operating a Suezmax voyage-chartered to load crude at Basrah, discharge Rotterdam. Laytime: 96 hours SHINC reversible. Demurrage rate $35,000 / day. NOR tendered 0600 LT Tuesday WIPON; berth allocated 1800 LT Thursday (60 hours later); pumping started 0400 LT Friday; pumping completed 1800 LT Saturday at load; departed 2200 LT Saturday. Discharge: NOR Rotterdam Wednesday 0800 LT; berth Wednesday 2000 LT; pumping start Thursday 0200 LT; pumping complete Friday 1400 LT; departed Friday 2000 LT. Local weather stoppage of 8 hours at discharge for high winds (within laytime). Walk through the laytime calculation, demurrage / despatch position, and what protest letters you'd issue.

Smart-question anchors

• Fleet + chartered-in book — owned vs TC-in, segment mix, scrubber / dual-fuel exposure, period vs spot balance
• Chartering model + pool participation — in-house desk, pool / RSA, FFA + bunker hedging posture
• Counterparty base + relationships — oil majors / traders / commodity houses / liners / broker panel
• Market view + segment positioning — period vs spot read, Baltic route conviction, ballast / triangulation rhythm
• Decarbonisation commercial pass-through — EU ETS / FuelEU / CII clause uptake, scrubber spread, alt-fuel readiness

Sourced from

BIMCO standard charter-party forms (NYPE 2015, Gencon 2022, Shelltime 4, Asbatankvoy, Barecon 2017) + BIMCO clause library (Sanctions, CONWARTIME, Cyber 2020, EU ETS, CII Operations) · Baltic Exchange (BDI / BDTI / BCTI / BLPG / BLNG indices + Baltic route assessments) + Worldscale Association · Clarksons Research + Shipping Intelligence Network (SIN) + Clarksons Platou weekly + Affinity Research + SSY / Howe Robinson / BRS weekly reports · Lloyd's List + TradeWinds + Splash247 + Lloyd's List Intelligence · INTERTANKO + INTERCARGO + ICS (International Chamber of Shipping) + OCIMF (TMSA + SIRE 2.0) + RightShip · EU MRV + EU ETS Maritime + FuelEU Maritime + IMO MEPC CII / EEXI guidance · Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) + Drewry container research + IEA oil market reports + commodity desk research (iron ore, coal, grain, crude, products)