Ship Chartering Company

Bulkargo is a ship chartering company. We find ships for your cargo, negotiate the freight, and manage the deal from your first inquiry to final settlement. We work with dry bulk ships of every size, from mini-bulker to Capesize. We stay with you after the charter party is signed.

What a ship chartering company does for you

A ship chartering company sits between you, the cargo owner, and the ship owner. We find ships that fit, negotiate the freight or hire, and draft and review the charter party. We then stay with you through demurrage settlement after the voyage. One broker handles your deal from inquiry to close. Nobody hands you over to a separate operations team halfway through.

We are an independent broker. Bulkargo does not own ships, so every ship we show you is chosen to fit your cargo.

How we work with you

The steps below are the same for a single spot voyage and a long-term contract. The early steps take longer for a new cargo on an unfamiliar route. A repeat programme on a familiar route moves through the market search and the negotiation faster. The charter party we draft depends on the trade. Our Charter Party page lists the standard forms we use. Our Ship Chartering Process page sets out the full sequence, with worked timing for each step.

What it costs

You pay for a voyage charter by the tonne of cargo, and for a time charter by the day. The price depends on the route, the cargo, the size of the ship, and whether the market is going up or down.

To give you a sense of scale in a normal market: a Capesize voyage costs a few dollars a tonne on a short run, and USD 25 a tonne or more to carry iron ore from Brazil to China. A Panamax on time charter usually costs between USD 12,000 and USD 30,000 a day. Handysize and Supramax ships cost less than that, and a Capesize can cost a lot more when the market is busy.

Our Freight Rate page explains how we check freight and hire against the market on a live inquiry.

What we need from you to start

Send what you have. We can work with partial information. Each item below shapes the ship shortlist, the price, or both.

• Cargo type and rough tonnage. This tells us the ship size and any hold cleanliness or handling needs.
• Load and discharge port or region. This sets the draft and air draft limits, the loading rate, and which berths are available.
• Preferred laycan. A window of 7 to 14 days is normal. A wider window lets us include ships sailing empty toward you (ballasters), which usually gets you a better price.
• Special requirements. Hold cleanliness, loading or discharge gear, draft limits, or a maximum ship age.
• Charter type you prefer. You can also write “advise” and we will recommend one.
• Budget. This is optional, but it gives us a reference point.

For a recurring programme, also send your annual or seasonal volume forecast, the port pairs, and any existing contract of affreightment terms. A broker replies within one business day.

Charter types we handle

Our vessel chartering services cover four charter types. The right one depends on how predictable your cargo is, how much freight price swing you can accept, and how much control you want over the ship.

Ship sizes and cargoes we handle

Our ship chartering services cover every size of dry bulk ship, from mini-bulker to VLOC. We choose the ship before we talk price. We match its DWT and cubic capacity to your cargo. We also check its age and class, its last cargo, where it is now, whether it has its own cranes (geared or gearless), and any trading restrictions. Then we present options.

We charter ships for major bulks such as iron ore, coal, and grain. We also handle minor bulks such as cement, fertilizer, sugar, and salt. Industrial cargo includes steel, scrap, and aggregates. Specialty cargo includes bauxite, alumina, pet coke, wood pellets, manganese, chromite, and sulphur. Since 2022 our desk has fixed cement, quicklime, bitumen, and mining ores and earths. A separate desk handles project cargo and machinery.

Why work with an independent chartering company

We are an independent broker. We do not own ships, and we are not the in-house broking arm of a fleet. Some chartering companies sit inside a ship owner’s business. The ships they offer you first are the ones that keep their own fleet busy.

We handle the full job. The same broker stays with your deal from inquiry through the paperwork and demurrage after the voyage.

Our desk works seven days a week. Freight markets do not stop for weekends. Short-notice deals, distressed cargoes, open ship windows, and weather disruption often come up outside business hours.

Frequently asked questions