Extended Operational and Trade Vocabulary

Shipping Indices, FFAs and Freight Markets glossary (page 2)

The freight-market and derivatives vocabulary: the Baltic Exchange route codes (the Aframax AC routes), the AFRA assessment and the size class it named, forward freight agreements and clearing, and the index-panellist and assessment terms. Grounds each term in the Baltic route or the freight benchmark it belongs to.

343 defined terms.

Showing 93 on this page (page 2 of 2).

S

SGX: Singapore Exchange, the dominant Asian clearer of dry, tanker, container, and gas FFAs since the integration of legacy clearing infrastructure.
SGX AsiaClear: Brand name for SGX's cleared OTC derivatives platform that hosts most cleared FFA volume globally.
Shanghai Shipping Exchange: Publisher of SCFI, CCFI, and other freight indices and operator of related electronic trading services.
Singapore-Australia LR1: Clean tanker route forming the basis of Baltic TC7 assessments.
Skaw-Passero Range: Northwest Europe and Mediterranean geographical range used in Baltic dry bulk route definitions.
Slot Charter: Charter of a defined number of TEU slots on a containership.
Spec Voyage: Voyage based on the agreed Baltic specification vessel, central to consistent index calculation.
Speculator: FFA market participant taking directional or relative-value positions without underlying physical exposure.
SSY Futures: Derivatives arm of Simpson Spence Young active across dry, wet, container, gas, and emissions FFAs.
Standard Vessel: Reference ship used by the Baltic Exchange to define route assessments such as the Baltic Capesize standard or Panamax standard vessel.
Stem date: Date cargo is committed by the shipper.
Strip Trade: Simultaneous execution of multiple consecutive FFA contracts at agreed levels, often quoted as a strip price.
Suezmax: Tanker ~150,000-160,000 DWT, largest for Suez Canal pre-deepening.
Supramax: Dry bulk segment of about 50,000 to 60,000 dwt.
Suspension Day: Period when an index publisher does not release a value, requiring fallback rules in FFA settlement.
Swap: General term for cash-settled exchange of fixed and floating prices, synonymous in practice with FFA in freight markets.
Symmetric Margin: Clearing house practice of collecting margin from both sides of an FFA position to balance counterparty risk.

T

TC1: Baltic clean tanker route Middle East to Japan, LR2.
TC10: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from South Korea to Singapore.
TC11: Baltic clean tanker route for LR2 vessels from South Korea to Singapore.
TC12: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from West Coast India to Japan.
TC14: Baltic clean tanker route US Gulf to Continent, MR.
TC15: Baltic clean tanker route for LR2 vessels carrying naphtha from Mediterranean to Far East.
TC16: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from Amsterdam to Lome carrying refined products.
TC17: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from Middle East Gulf to East Africa carrying refined petroleum products.
TC18: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from US Gulf to Brazil carrying refined products.
TC19: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from Amsterdam to West Africa.
TC2: Baltic clean tanker route Continent to USAC, MR.
TC20: Baltic clean tanker route for LR2 vessels from Middle East Gulf to United Kingdom-Continent carrying naphtha.
TC21: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels from US Gulf to Caribbean carrying refined products.
TC22: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels covering intra-regional cross-Mediterranean clean trades.
TC23: Baltic clean tanker route covering MR clean trades within the Continent area.
TC24: Baltic clean tanker route for MR vessels with assessments aligned to short-haul European reference voyages.
TC25: Baltic clean tanker route covering MR product trades within the Asian region.
TC5: Baltic clean tanker route Middle East to Japan, LR1.
TC7: Baltic clean tanker route Singapore to Australia, MR.
TC8: Baltic clean tanker route for LR1 vessels from Middle East Gulf to United Kingdom-Continent carrying naphtha.
TC9: Baltic clean tanker route for handy size product tankers within the Baltic Sea region.
TCE: Time charter equivalent earnings per day.
TD1: Historical Baltic dirty tanker route from Middle East Gulf to United States Gulf for 280,000 metric tons of crude oil.
TD14: Baltic dirty tanker route for Aframax class vessels from Southeast Asia to East Coast Australia.
TD15: Baltic dirty tanker route West Africa to China, Suezmax.
TD17: Baltic dirty tanker route from Baltic to United Kingdom-Continent for 100,000 metric tons of crude oil on Aframax class.
TD18: Baltic dirty tanker route for Aframax class vessels from Baltic to United Kingdom-Continent for crude oil.
TD19: Baltic dirty tanker route for Aframax class vessels carrying crude oil cross-Mediterranean.
TD2: Historical Baltic dirty tanker route from Middle East Gulf to Singapore for crude oil on VLCC class vessels.
TD20: Baltic dirty tanker route West Africa to UK Continent, Suezmax.
TD22: Baltic dirty tanker route from US Gulf to China for VLCC class vessels carrying crude oil.
TD25: Baltic dirty tanker route from US Gulf to Rotterdam for Aframax class vessels carrying crude oil.
TD26: Baltic dirty tanker route for Aframax class vessels from East Coast Mexico to US Gulf.
TD27: Baltic dirty tanker route from Guyana to United Kingdom-Continent for Suezmax class vessels carrying crude oil.
TD3C: Baltic dirty tanker route Middle East Gulf to China, VLCC.
TD6: Baltic dirty tanker route Black Sea to Mediterranean, Suezmax.
TD7: Baltic dirty tanker route from North Sea to Continent for 80,000 metric tons of crude oil on Aframax class vessels.
TD8: Baltic dirty tanker route for Kuwait to Singapore Aframax crude oil voyages.
TD9: Historical Baltic dirty tanker route from Caribbean to United States Gulf on Aframax class.
Term Charter: Time charter for a defined period, often benchmarked against the prevailing FFA curve for the same route family.
Theta Decay: Concept from options on FFAs describing the loss of time value as expiry approaches.
Tick Size: Minimum price increment for cleared FFA contracts as defined by the relevant exchange rulebook.
Time Charter Average: Arithmetic mean of constituent time charter route assessments forming the BCI 5TC, BPI 4TC, BSI 10TC, or BHSI 7TC headline.
Time Charter Equivalent (TCE): Daily earnings metric calculated as voyage revenue minus voyage costs divided by total voyage days, used to compare spot earnings across routes.
Tonnage List: Shipbroker compilation of vessels open for fixture in a given region, indirectly informing FFA sentiment.
Trade Date: Calendar date on which an FFA is agreed between counterparties before clearing house novation.
Transatlantic Round: Round voyage delivery and redelivery in the Atlantic basin, central to C8 and S4 route definitions.
Transpacific Round: Round voyage delivery and redelivery in the Pacific basin, central to C10 and S2 route definitions.
Tubarao Loading: Brazilian iron ore loading port central to Baltic C3 route definition.

U

UK-Continent: Geographical discharge or loading range covering ports from Hamburg to Le Havre, used in numerous Baltic tanker and dry bulk routes.
Ultramax: Dry bulk carrier of approximately 60,000 to 65,000 deadweight tons, a larger evolution of the Supramax design.
Unfixed Cargo: Physical cargo seeking tonnage at a given time, indirectly influencing spot rate assessments feeding FFA settlement.

V

Vale Tubarao: Brazilian iron ore export complex anchoring the Atlantic side of the C3 Capesize voyage.
Variation Margin: Daily cash flow exchanged between FFA counterparties and clearing house reflecting mark-to-market changes.
Vega Exposure: Option-on-FFA sensitivity to changes in implied volatility, managed by tanker and dry options books.
Vessel Earnings: Operator-reported daily dollar figure summarizing voyage performance, comparable in concept to Baltic average earnings.
VLCC: Very Large Crude Carrier, 200,000-320,000 DWT.
VLGC: Very Large Gas Carrier, ~84,000 m3 LPG.
VLSFO Swap: Cleared derivative settling against very low sulphur fuel oil price assessments at Singapore, Rotterdam, or US Gulf hubs.
Voyage Charter: Charter for a specific voyage between named ports.
Voyage Estimation: Process of projecting voyage costs and revenues to derive TCE, used by chartering and FFA desks to evaluate trades.

W

WCI: World Container Index published by Drewry covering composite and route-level container spot freight rates across eight major trade lanes.
Weighted Time Charter Average: Methodology of weighting individual time charter route TCEs by liquidity or fleet relevance when constructing Baltic sub-indices.
Wet FFA: Forward Freight Agreement on a tanker route settled against BDTI or BCTI route assessments.
Wet Worldscale Assessment: Tanker route price published by the Baltic Exchange in Worldscale points referencing the prevailing flat rate.
WorldScale Association: Joint London and New York organization that publishes nominal flat rates each January as the basis for percentage-quoted tanker assessments.
Worldscale Flat Rate: Annually published nominal dollars-per-ton freight rate for each defined tanker voyage at the Worldscale 100 level.
Worldscale Points: Quoted percentage of the nominal flat rate at which a tanker voyage is fixed or assessed, with WS100 equal to the flat rate.

X

XSI: Xeneta Shipping Index published by Norwegian benchmarking firm Xeneta, covering long-term and spot container freight rates across major corridors.
XSI-C: Subset of the Xeneta Shipping Index focused on contract container freight rates negotiated between shippers and carriers.
XSI-S: Spot container freight rate component of the Xeneta Shipping Index family.

Y

Yangshan Outbound: Container flows from Shanghai Yangshan port reflected in SCFI and FBX China outbound assessments.
Year Strip: Position consisting of all twelve months of a calendar year for a given FFA route, used by owners and operators for annual hedging.
Yield to Owner: Concept describing the projected dollar-per-day earnings of a vessel under prevailing FFA-implied rates net of operating costs.

Z

Zone Definition: Specification of geographical ranges within Baltic route descriptions that determines acceptable load and discharge ports.
Zone Differential: Worldscale adjustment factor reflecting additional voyage costs when a tanker calls at multiple ports within a route definition.