What is a fixture recap?
A fixture recap is the message a broker sends to confirm the main terms the owner and charterer have agreed. It binds both sides once the subjects are lifted. That happens before anyone writes up the formal charter party. The recap is the contract. The later document only puts it in full form.
In dry bulk chartering, the recap is the point where a negotiation becomes a fixture. The broker passes offers and counters between owner and charterer. At some point the two sides agree the headline terms: ship, cargo, quantity, laycan, freight, demurrage and the charter party form. The broker then writes those terms up and sends them out as the recap. Everyone treats the recap as the working record of the deal. The charter party that follows sets down terms already agreed. Nobody reopens the negotiation at that stage.
The recap matters because it fixes the contract long before anyone signs a charter party. The parties negotiate the headline terms against benchmarks such as the freight rate and the current time charter equivalent for the trade. The deal is done once they confirm those terms clean. The most common and costly mistake is to treat the recap as provisional, or as just a step toward the “real” contract.
What a recap contains: the main terms
Every recap is built from the same set of main terms. These are the commercial terms any dry bulk voyage fixture needs to be complete. Each one has its own detail page. The recap is really a list of those terms with the agreed values filled in.
| Main term | What it fixes in the recap | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Vessel / tonnage | Names the ship, or describes the type of ship (class, dwt, draft, gear) the owner offers for the lift. | Panamax |
| Cargo | Says what goods will be carried, with any detail on grade, stowage or loading method. | Coal |
| Quantity | The agreed cargo size, usually with a margin at the owner's option (for example 5 pct more or less in owner's option). | Voyage estimate |
| Laycan | The arrival window. The layday is the first day the charterer must accept the ship. The cancelling date is the day after which the charterer may walk away. | Laycan |
| Load and discharge ports | Names the load and discharge ports or ranges, and the safe-berth and safe-port terms. | Loading and discharge rate |
| Freight rate | The price of carriage in USD per tonne on the agreed quantity, and whether freight is prepaid or collect. | Freight rate |
| Laytime | The free time allowed for loading and discharging. It is set as a rate or a fixed period, under terms such as weather working days or SHINC. | Laytime |
| Demurrage | The daily rate the charterer pays when laytime runs over, plus any dispatch rate paid for time saved. | Demurrage |
| Commission / brokerage | The address commission and brokerage paid on freight and demurrage, as percentages. | Ship-brokering |
| Charter party form | The standard form the parties will use (a GENCON-family voyage form, for example), with the agreed changes. | Voyage charter |
The rider clauses sit below these main terms. They are the longer, detailed clauses on cargo handling, off-spec cargo, deductions, time bars, law and arbitration, and so on. The recap usually agrees the main terms in full. It points to the rider clauses through the form, with words like “otherwise as per owners’ pro-forma charter party”. This is the normal order. The commercial terms are locked first, and the detailed rider wording is still being settled against the chosen form.
Fixture recap vs the charter party
People often mix up the recap and the charter party because both cover the same deal. They do different jobs. The recap is the short, binding summary of the agreed main terms. The broker sends it as the negotiation closes. The charter party is the full formal contract, written and signed later. It turns those terms into complete clauses. A firm offer is different again. An offer is one side’s proposal, and the other side can still turn it down. A recap records terms both sides have accepted.
| Firm offer / indication | Fixture recap | Charter party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | One side's proposed terms, open for the other side to accept | The broker's summary of the terms both sides have agreed | The full formal contract, setting out the agreed terms in full |
| Binding? | Only once accepted. An indication is not even a firm position | Binding once subjects are lifted (the clean recap) | Binding, but it restates a contract that already exists |
| Who issues it | Owner or charterer, through the broker | The broker, sent to both principals | Written up from the recap and signed by both sides |
| Length and detail | Headline terms only, and it may carry subjects | Main terms in full, rider clauses by reference | Main terms plus full rider clauses and standard wording |
| When in the sequence | During negotiation | At the close of negotiation | After the fixture is concluded |
| Role in a dispute | Shows each side's negotiating position | The main evidence of what was agreed | The final wording, which should match the recap |
In practice, the contract is made at the recap. Signing comes later. The charter party may later differ from the recap. The recap is then strong evidence of what the parties actually agreed. A careful broker checks the two against each other before signing, so the formal document does not quietly rewrite the deal.
From recap to clean recap to charter party
The recap comes near the end of the chartering process. Negotiation runs on offers and counters, often “on subjects”. Subjects are conditions, such as subject to management approval or subject to stem confirmation. The recap becomes clean once those subjects are lifted, and the fixture is then concluded. Only after that is the formal charter party written up and signed. Then the voyage goes ahead.
- 01
Subjects lifted
Entry pointThis is where the stage starts. The parties have agreed the main terms on subjects, such as management approval or stem confirmation. Lifting the subjects removes those conditions, and the agreement becomes a firm fixture.
- 02
Recap
The broker sends out the recap with the agreed main terms. It is the binding summary of the deal, and both principals confirm it.
- 03
Clean recap
The recap is clean once every subject is lifted and both sides confirm it with no more changes. The fixture is now fully concluded. Neither side can back out of the agreed terms.
- 04
Charter party drawn up and signed
The full charter party is written up from the recap on the agreed standard form. It includes the negotiated changes and rider clauses, and both sides sign it. It sets down terms that already bind them.
- 05
Performance
The ship carries out the fixture: loading, voyage and discharge. Freight, demurrage and dispatch are settled against the laytime statement after cargo work ends.
This order shows why the recap decides the matter. The parties have been bound since the clean recap, well before they sign the charter party. The signed document records the deal. The deal already exists.
An annotated sample recap
The card below is a typical, anonymised recap for a Panamax coal voyage. It is not a real fixture. It shows how a recap reads as a short list of agreed main terms. The detailed rider wording still points back to the chosen form.
Panamax coal, Indonesia to South China
- Vessel / tonnage
- MV representative, Panamax 76,000 dwt, gearless
- Cargo
- Steam coal in bulk
- Quantity
- 70,000 mt, 5 pct more or less owner's option
- Laycan
- 10-19 June 2026
- Load / disch ports
- 1 safe berth Kalimantan / 1 safe berth South China
- Freight
- USD 12.50 per mt FIO, freight prepaid
- Laytime
- 20,000 mt per weather working day SHEX, both ends
- Demurrage
- USD 18,000 per day pro rata, dispatch half demurrage
- Commission
- 2.5 pct address, 1.25 pct brokerage
- Charter party form
- GENCON-family voyage form, otherwise as per owners' pro-forma
You read a recap from top to bottom as a list of main terms with their agreed values. The first lines fix the ship and the cargo. The vessel / tonnage line describes the Panamax the owner offers. The cargo and quantity lines say what is carried, with the usual owner’s option margin on the quantity.
The middle block holds the commercial core. Laycan sets the arrival window. Load and discharge ports set the safe-berth terms. Freight sets the price of carriage and when it is paid. Laytime and demurrage together set the deal on time: how much free time the ship gives, and what the charterer pays for going over it.
The last lines cover the broker’s pay (commission) and the contract form (charter party form). The phrase “otherwise as per owners’ pro-forma” is what “main terms agreed, sub details” means in practice. The main terms above are locked. The full rider clauses come from the named form and are settled in the charter party that follows.
Common confusions about recaps
Recaps are short, so people rarely get confused about what they say. The confusion is about status: what the recap commits the parties to, and how it relates to the other documents.
- Assuming the recap does not bind until the charter party is signed. This mistake costs the most. The parties are bound once the subjects are lifted and the recap is clean. A party that walks away after a clean recap because “we never signed anything” is repudiating a concluded fixture. The negotiation is already over.
- Leaving “subject” terms open and treating the recap as firm. This is the opposite mistake. A recap that still carries live subjects (subject to stem, subject to board approval) is conditional. The fixture is not firm until those subjects are lifted. Either side can walk away cleanly while a subject remains.
- Confusing a recap with a clean recap. A recap sent out with open subjects or points still under discussion is not yet clean. The clean recap is the version both sides confirm with no more changes and all subjects lifted. Only the clean recap concludes the fixture.
- Treating the main terms as the whole contract. The recap fixes the main terms and points to the rider clauses in the chosen form. The rider clauses (law and arbitration, deductions, off-spec cargo, time bars) still bind once the recap brings them in by reference. The recap only names them as “otherwise as per” the named form. They are a full part of the contract.
- Assuming the later charter party can quietly change the deal. The clean recap is the better evidence of what was agreed if the signed charter party differs from it. The formal document should match the recap. Any deliberate change needs both sides to agree. One side cannot edit the terms alone during drafting.
Scope and what this page does not cover
This page explains what a fixture recap is and how it binds the parties. It covers how the recap relates to the firm offer, the clean recap and the charter party. It does not draft recap or charter party wording. It cannot tell you whether a particular recap created a binding fixture under a given law and forum. It does not settle disputes over lifted or open subjects, or advise on the commission and brokerage terms of a specific deal. Take those questions to a chartering lawyer and your operations team, with the actual recap messages, the negotiation record and the chosen charter party form. The sample recap on this page is typical and anonymised. It is not a real fixture or a market quote. For the wider process around the recap, see the chartering process and chartering negotiations. The recap can fix a voyage charter or a time charter. To take a cargo through to a clean recap with Bulkargo as your ship chartering company, get a quote. Tell us the ship, route and laycan you are working to.