Laden voyage

A laden voyage is the leg of a voyage performed with revenue cargo on board, as opposed to the ballast (empty) leg run to position the ship. Voyage estimating splits a round voyage into ballast and laden legs because consumption, draft, and speed differ between them and only the laden leg generates freight. The ratio of laden to total days drives the round-voyage TCE: more ballast steaming dilutes earnings. Charter-party speed and consumption warranties are usually stated separately for laden and ballast conditions.