Estimate a voyage cost
This calculator gives an indicative cost per tonne for a dry bulk voyage using a hire-based model: a vessel costs a hire rate per day, the voyage takes a number of days at sea plus days in port, and the total divided by the cargo gives the cost per tonne. Enter your own figures, or pick a preset lane to fill the distance, then adjust the speed and port days to match your vessel and terminals.
Voyage days
24
Total cost
$288,000
Cost per tonne
$5.76
Illustrative only, not a quote. This estimate is a simple hire-based model and ignores bunkers, canal dues, commissions, ballast legs, and market conditions. For a firm freight idea on your cargo and route, request a quote and our desk will respond the same business day.
How the estimate works
The model uses four steps, and each input is editable so you can match it to a real vessel and route.
- Sea days are the distance divided by the speed in nautical miles per day, which is the speed in knots multiplied by 24. A 5,920 nautical mile voyage at 14 knots is about 17.6 days at sea.
- Total days add the port days for loading and discharging to the sea days.
- Total cost is the total days multiplied by the hire rate per day.
- Cost per tonne is the total cost divided by the cargo in tonnes.
This is the same arithmetic a broker uses for a first-pass voyage estimate, stripped to its core. It deliberately leaves out bunkers, canal dues, port disbursements, address commission, and the ballast leg to the load port, all of which a full voyage estimate folds in. Treat the output as a sanity check, not a freight quote.
About the preset distances
The preset lane distances are approximate sea distances from the public sea-route reference ports.com, rounded to the nautical mile: Tubarao to Qingdao around 13,588, Richards Bay to Rotterdam around 8,143, New Orleans to Rotterdam around 5,920, and Fremantle to Qingdao around 5,148. The exact distance for a voyage depends on the precise ports and the routing chosen, so the distance field stays editable. For any other route, look the distance up on a sea-distance reference and enter it directly.
From an estimate to a firm rate
A hire-based estimate tells you roughly what a voyage should cost to run. The freight a charterer actually pays also reflects the balance of ships and cargoes on the lane, which is what the freight rate page covers, and which the Baltic indices track on the main routes. To turn an estimate into a firm number for your cargo, tell us about it and our desk will price it against the live market.