Study On Handymax Fleet Operating Strategy

The international dry bulk shipping, almost constituting 1/3 of the total world marine quantity, is nearly a perfect competition market,which is easily subjected to world political, military,economic, and natural factors.In 2008,global dry bulk shipping quantity grew 4% while there was a 5% reduction in 2009,the first negative growth in recent 10 years.Handymax bulk carrier is a significant part of global dry bulk shipping market. As handymax bulk carrier can carry a variety of dry cargoes,adapt well to relatively inferior ports, and be operated flexibly, it displays good capacity guarding against risk, and has become a concern and development priority of shipping companies.Meanwhile, there still remain various variables and uncertainties in shipping market. How to establish appropriate handymax fleet operating strategies in a shipping market of fierce competition and sharp fluctuations is an important and practical work.This paper, based on the above mentioned background and experience gained from practical operations on handymax fleet, carries the research. First of all,it will make a brief introduction on global dry bulk shipping market from market form, transportation cargoes, shipping capacity, freight and development regularity, summarize the main characteristics of handymax transportation market, and review its market conditions in recent years according to freight index.Then, based on the combination forecast model of linear trend extrapolation, brown single parameter exponential smoothing and gray prediction, future trend of handymax fleet market will be analyzed. After that, handymax fleet operating strategies are put forward, including joint operation, fleet adjustment, market competition, risk management, diversified development and information management. Finally, some matters shipping companies should pay attention to when implementing strategies are concluded.