Dry bulk chartering
Handysize through to Capesize on voyage charter, trip time charter or COA, with owners vetted on age, class and P&I cover.
Freight desk
The division that makes the other four work
Most trading losses are not price losses. They are freight and documentation losses.
Our logistics division began as an internal function — somebody had to stop our own cargoes sitting at anchorage. It now operates as a service business in its own right, moving third-party dry bulk and containerised parcels alongside the group's own tonnage.
We fix vessels on voyage charter, trip time charter and contract of affreightment, and we hold relationships with owners and brokers across the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf basins. On the container side we move sealed boxes of scrap and bagged cargo under our own freight agreements.
- Vessel nomination, vetting and approval
- Laytime, demurrage and despatch management
- Marine cargo insurance placed on warehouse-to-warehouse terms
- Draft survey and independent weight determination
Capability
End to end, origin to plant gate
Six services that can be bought together as a delivered cargo, or separately as freight and agency work.
Containerised breakbulk
Sealed container movements for scrap, pig iron and bagged material, booked on our own freight agreements.
Stevedoring & terminal
Grab discharge, hopper and conveyor operations, stockpile management and barge transshipment at shallow-draft berths.
Customs & documentation
Bills of lading, certificates of origin, phytosanitary and radiation certificates, import clearance and duty management.
Inland haulage
Road and rail movement from discharge berth to plant gate, including weighbridge reconciliation at delivery.
Position reporting
Noon reports through the voyage, ETA updates on berth changes, and a named operator reachable outside office hours.
Tonnage
Vessel classes we fix
Parcel size is usually decided by your berth, not by your tonnage requirement. Tell us the draft and the discharge rate and we will tell you the most economic class.
| Class | Suited to |
|---|---|
| Handysize | Shallow or congested berths, scrap and part cargoes |
| Handymax / Supramax | Gear-equipped ports without shore cranes |
| Panamax / Kamsarmax | Thermal coal and iron ore into mid-size terminals |
| Post-Panamax | Deep-draft coal and ore berths |
| Capesize | Long-haul iron ore and coking coal on dedicated jetties |
| Container (FCL) | Scrap, pig iron and bagged cargo on liner schedules |
Network
Ports we load and discharge
Our core lanes run from the Atlantic, African and Australian load ports into South Asia, East Asia, the Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean.
Load ports
- Samarinda, Banjarmasin & Taboneo — Indonesia
- Richards Bay & Saldanha Bay — South Africa
- Port Hedland, Newcastle & Gladstone — Australia
- Tubarão & Ponta da Madeira — Brazil
- Rotterdam, Antwerp & Liverpool — Europe & UK
Discharge ports
- Chittagong & Mongla — Bangladesh
- Port Qasim & Karachi — Pakistan
- Qingdao, Rizhao & Caofeidian — China
- Ho Chi Minh & Hai Phong — Vietnam
- İskenderun, Aliağa & Marmara — Turkey
Operating bases
- Dubai — group trading and chartering
- Singapore — Asia-Pacific coverage via agents
- Jakarta — Indonesian coal origination
- Karachi — South Asian customer support
- Istanbul — scrap and Mediterranean lanes
Operations
Where cargoes actually go wrong
Five failure points account for most claims in dry bulk. Here is how we close each one.
We take an independent initial and final draft survey at load port and attend the survey at discharge. Where the two disagree beyond the normal tolerance, we have the load-port figures, the ullage reports and the barge tallies to reconcile against — rather than an argument.
Transportable moisture limit and flow-moisture point are certified to the IMSBC Code before loading begins, and the cargo declaration is issued to the master. If a monsoon-season parcel is near its limit, we hold loading rather than present a marginal declaration.
Notice of readiness, statement of facts and time sheets are collected at both ends and reconciled against the charter party within days of completion, not months. Laytime calculations go out with supporting documents attached so they can be checked rather than contested.
Draft documents are circulated for approval before the originals are issued, and every set is checked line by line against the letter of credit terms before presentation. A discrepant presentation delays payment for everyone, so we treat it as an operations failure.
Because we charter in our own name we can divert, substitute or part-discharge a cargo without renegotiating with a third-party disponent owner first. Where a nominated berth fails, we come to the buyer with options rather than an excuse.
Freight enquiries
Need tonnage, not cargo?
We fix third-party dry bulk and containerised parcels on the same lanes we already run. Send us the cargo, the ports and the window.