ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by presenting in short a few basic definitions in respect of chartering, considered as a prerequisite knowledge to help reading throughout. It presents how the charter market may be structured according to a variety of criteria. Before proceeding to this type of analysis, a few critical chartering definitions will be presented. Charter is contracted between two involved parties, the "shipowner" and the "charterer", the former representing the ship's interests and the latter using the ship's services either for a specific cargo voyage or for a period of time. The charter market is not a uniform market following a single trend. Fundamental is also the segmentation of the shipping market into two major shipping industrial segments; the bulk shipping industry and the liner shipping industry. The chapter describes the predominant cargoes carried by the bulk and liner fleet. It also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
