Norwegian shipping company Torvald Klaveness said that employing a Panamax on rolling spot contracts was more profitable than employment on a rolling one-year time charter. However, the two strategies performed differently depending on the choice of investment and market timing.
The spot strategy passed time charter strategy by $94 and $34 per day respectively. However, the time charter generated higher earnings per day for investment horizons lasting between three to ten years. Over the longer horizons, 11 to 16 years, the spot strategy was more profitable.
The spot employment was more profitable in the short and long term. On average over all horizons the spot strategy outperformed the time charter with $23 per day. Over a 16-year period, 2001-2017, the spot earnings surpassed time charter with $482 per day.
Torvald Klaveness considered an investment horizon of less than two years and used the Panamax front curve and length of investment horizon to explain the ratio between the time charter and spot earnings and concluded that there are still some pieces missing when deciding whether to employ a vessel on time charter or in the spot market.
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