What is in and what is out
Operating cost is the number owners quote to each other and the number they understand least well. A daily OPEX figure quoted without flag, crew nationality, vessel age, docking cycle position and scope of inclusion is not a benchmark — it is a rumour.
This article sets out the structure, the drivers and a method for comparing honestly.
Operating cost (OPEX) covers the cost of running the vessel irrespective of employment: crew, stores, lubricants, repairs and maintenance, insurance, administration and a docking provision.
Voyage costs — bunkers, port charges, canal dues, agency fees and, since 2026, emissions allowances — are separate and belong in the voyage estimate.
Capital costs — depreciation, interest, financing fees — are separate again.
Mixing the three is the single most common cause of meaningless comparisons.
The structure
| Cost head | Indicative share of annual OPEX | Principal 2026 drivers |
|---|---|---|
| Crew | 40–48% | Officer scarcity; ILO minimum at USD 690/month; travel costs |
| Repairs, maintenance, spares | 16–22% | Vessel age; deferred work catching up |
| Insurance (H&M, P&I, war risk) | 9–13% | Claims record; war risk exposure on certain routes |
| Stores, lubricants, consumables | 8–12% | Commodity prices; consumption discipline |
| Dry dock provision | 6–10% | Yard rates; scope; docking cycle |
| Administration and certification | 3–5% | Class and flag fees; compliance reporting |
| Management fee | 2–4% | Segment and fleet size |
Crew: the dominant and rising line
Crew is close to half of OPEX and it is under structural upward pressure:
- A shortfall of 39,100 certificated officers, with 113,735 more needed by 2030
- ILO minimum for an able seafarer at USD 690 (2026), USD 704 (2027), USD 715 (2028)
- Travel costs affected by longer voyages on Cape routings and by crew change port availability
- Training and competency requirements increasing with new fuels and cyber obligations
Planning assumption for the rest of the decade: crew cost rises faster than general inflation, and in some ranks availability rather than price is the binding constraint.
Repairs and maintenance: the line that lies
R&M is where budget discipline is easiest to fake. Deferring maintenance produces a favourable variance this year and a larger cost next year, plus a risk of deficiency, off-hire or detention in between.
Never read R&M variance alone. Read it alongside:
| Companion indicator | What a favourable R&M variance means if… |
|---|---|
| Overdue critical PMS jobs rising | Deferral, not saving |
| Class condition of class items increasing | Deferral, and class knows |
| PSC deficiencies per inspection rising | Deferral, and inspectors know |
| Spares stockouts rising | Purchasing constrained, not efficient |
| All of the above flat or improving | A genuine saving |
Insurance
Hull and machinery, protection and indemnity, war risk and loss of hire. Three things move the number: the vessel's own claims record, the club's general increase at renewal, and trading area. War risk premiums for certain areas have been a live cost since 2023 and remain a routing input rather than an afterthought.
Dry dock provision
Dockings are lumpy. Sound practice is to accrue monthly against the expected cost of the next docking so that the cash requirement does not distort a single year. Owners who do not accrue see a violent OPEX spike in docking years and draw the wrong conclusions from year-on-year comparisons.
Benchmarking honestly
To compare two vessels' OPEX you must normalise for:
- Flag — manning requirements, fees and social costs differ
- Crew nationality mix — the single largest driver of the largest cost head
- Vessel age — maintenance intensity rises non-linearly
- Docking cycle position — year 1 after docking is not year 4
- Trading area — spares logistics, crew change cost, war risk
- Scope of inclusion — does the figure include docking provision? Lubricants? Management fee?
- Manning scale — a 22-person crew is not a 20-person crew
Without those seven, sister-ship comparisons mislead. With them, they are the most useful management tool an owner has, because two identical ships managed differently produce a clean signal.
Cost per available day, not cost per calendar day
Divide annual OPEX by available days (calendar days less off-hire and scheduled docking) rather than by 365. A vessel that costs less per calendar day but spends fifteen days off-hire is not cheaper. This single change in denominator reframes most cost conversations correctly.
Where genuine savings come from
| Lever | Typical impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Purchasing consolidation and tendering | Meaningful on 25–35% of OPEX | Requires fleet scale or a manager with it |
| Reducing urgent/AOG orders | Direct | Plan spares against PMS due dates |
| Insurance claims performance | Compounding at renewal | Loss prevention pays twice |
| Crew retention | Reduces recruitment, travel, familiarisation | Also improves safety outcomes |
| Off-hire reduction | Raises the denominator | Often larger than any cost-side saving |
| Dry dock specification quality | Controls the largest single spend | Avoids uncompeted growth work |
| Energy efficiency | Voyage cost, not OPEX — but real | Also reduces ETS and improves CII |
cost shares are indicative industry ranges compiled for illustration, not audited benchmarks. Wage figures from the ILO 2026–2028 settlement; workforce data from BIMCO/ICS 2026. Reviewed by the Zeaclub Editorial Team, 24 August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical daily operating cost for a ship?
It varies so widely by segment, age, flag and crew nationality that a single figure is not useful. Use the cost-head structure above and benchmark against normalised sister vessels rather than published averages.
Is crew really half the cost?
Between roughly 40% and 48% of OPEX for most conventional cargo tonnage, and it is the fastest-rising component.
How do I know if my manager is controlling costs?
Look at variance by cost head against budget and prior year, read R&M variance alongside overdue maintenance and PSC results, and compare cost per *available* day rather than per calendar day.
Should dry docking be in OPEX?
It should be provided for monthly so that the cost is spread across the docking cycle. Whether it is presented inside or outside the OPEX headline matters less than being consistent about it.