Capesize Enquiries for a Defined Cargo Commitment

Key takeaways

• Describe the actual shipment rather than requesting a vessel category alone.
• Separate the seller’s available quantity from the required lifted quantity.
• Identify the decision-maker for every proposed alternative.
• Keep vessel and terminal acceptance conditions visible beside price.

Start with the commitment that cannot change

Ask the cargo principal which part of the shipment is fixed. It might be a contractual parcel, a delivery facility or a loading opportunity. That constraint should shape the enquiry because an attractive proposal that changes it may not solve the principal’s problem.

Next identify the flexible elements. A quantity range is meaningful only if someone has authority to choose within it. A port option is useful only if the receiver can accept it. State the approval path and the latest practical decision point for each alternative.

The Capesize label provides market context, but it does not specify an individual ship. Baltic Capesize assessments use defined vessel and route assumptions. Baltic Exchange: indices

For procurement, replace those generic assumptions with the actual cargo and proposed ship information. Do not make a standard market description the acceptance test for a particular employment.

Build the enquiry around evidence

The shipper should identify the material and supply appropriate transport information. Quantity and stowage data should have named sources. The terminal pair should refer to actual facilities, with a contact able to explain the vessel review process.

Ask the owner to state its intake assumptions rather than merely confirm that the ship belongs to the requested segment. The response should show which cargo, destination and voyage conditions it has considered.

Use this completeness checklist before circulation:

1. Identify the cargo and the documents available for acceptance review.
2. State target quantity, tolerance authority and the deadline for final quantity.
3. Name loading and discharge facilities, including genuine alternatives.
4. Explain the readiness milestone behind the requested loading window.
5. Describe handling responsibilities and unresolved equipment interfaces.
6. Ask for vessel availability, intake basis and a concise exception list.

A blank item can remain during an initial enquiry if its effect is explicit. Distinguish information needed to quote from evidence required before commitment. That prevents preliminary market discussion from becoming an accidental declaration that the shipment is fully reviewed.

Keep the live position separate from the article

For a current transaction, the shipment-specific enquiry closure record is not provided; obtain current verified information.

This record should identify confirmed inputs, unresolved questions and the person authorized to close each one. It is not a public market statistic. Use current shipper, owner and terminal confirmations for the particular employment; leave the field unresolved when the information is unavailable.

The record should also show whether all respondents received the same revision. A change privately clarified with one owner can make the shortlist misleading. Circulate material changes consistently and request confirmation of the revised basis.

Fictional case: an alternative nobody could authorize

A fictional ore buyer requests a Capesize proposal for a fixed parcel. An owner offers an attractive alternative that lifts more cargo and uses another discharge facility. The chartering team initially treats it as the preferred response because the visible freight basis looks favorable.

The buyer’s operations team then explains that the additional quantity cannot be received and the alternative facility has not been approved. The proposal is not necessarily unsuitable in principle, but it requires decisions beyond the chartering team’s authority.

The enquiry is revised to distinguish the firm requirement from separately authorized options. Owners can still offer alternatives, but each is evaluated against a complete approval path. The buyer avoids confusing commercial imagination with flexibility it actually possesses.

Common mistakes

Do not hide the controlling constraint inside a long attachment. Put the fixed requirement near the start of the enquiry so recipients understand what a compliant response must preserve.

Avoid using “usual” as a substitute for a terminal name, quantity basis or handling scope. Familiar trades can still contain a changed assumption that matters to this shipment.

Do not erase conditions when summarizing replies. A proposal awaiting cargo evidence and a proposal with completed preliminary review represent different levels of certainty. Preserve that difference until it is resolved.

Where Zeaclub fits

Zeaclub provides a multi-party shared workspace for owners, charterers, brokers and port agents.

Zeaclub offers digitalised procedures across the voyage workflow.

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