Energy Tanker Chartering & Oil Trading
Worldscale Tanker Freight & Deadfreight Formula
Calculate Crude/Product Tanker Effective Freight Rate (WS / 100) * Flat_Rate, Performed Cargo Freight, Short-Loading Deadfreight Damages, and Total Payable Freight.
Price VLCC and Suezmax fixtures in Worldscale points and audit short-stem Deadfreight!
Global crude and product oil tankers are never negotiated in raw $/MT from scratch—instead, Worldscale Association publishes an annual route-specific WS 100 Flat Rate ($/MT for a standard 75,000 MT reference vessel), and brokers negotiate a single percentage index WS_points (e.g., WS 75 = 75% of Flat Rate, WS 140 = 140% of Flat Rate), setting Effective Freight Rate F_eff = (WS_points / 100) * Flat_Rate! Under ASBATANKVOY / SHELLVOY charterparties, the charterer guarantees a Minimum Charter Quantity MCQ_mt (say 130,000 MT on a Suezmax): if terminal tank shortages deliver only Q_loaded < MCQ_mt, the charterer must pay Performed Freight Q_loaded * F_eff PLUS Deadfreight Penalty MAX(0, MCQ_mt - Q_loaded) * F_eff so Total Billable Freight equals MAX(Q_loaded, MCQ_mt) * F_eff!
Verify on Route_WS100_Flat_Rate = $22.00/MT (B2), Negotiated_Worldscale_Points = 75 (WS 75, B3 -> Effective Rate = $16.50/MT in E2), Minimum_Charter_Quantity MCQ_mt = 130,000 MT (B4), and Bill_of_Lading_Loaded_MT Q_loaded = 122,000 MT (8,000 MT short-loaded, B5): Performed Freight on loaded oil is 122,000 * $16.50 = $2,013,000.00 (E3); Deadfreight Shortfall Claim is 8,000 * $16.50 = $132,000.00 (E4); and Total Payable Freight is $2,145,000.00 (increasing the oil trader’s true landed freight cost per barrel/tonne loaded to $2,145,000 / 122,000 = $17.58/MT)! Load an overage stem Q_loaded = 135,000 MT (at agreed overage = 100% WS): Deadfreight drops to $0.00 and Total Freight rises to $2,227,500.00!
| Tanker Fixture Metric (WS100=$22/MT, WS 75, MCQ=130k MT, Loaded=122k MT) | Formula | Verified Output |
|---|---|---|
| Effective Worldscale Freight ($/MT) | (WS_points / 100) * WS100_Flat_Rate | $16.50 / MT |
| Performed Cargo Freight ($) | Q_loaded * F_eff | $2,013,000.00 |
| Deadfreight Shortfall Penalty ($) | MAX(0, MCQ_mt - Q_loaded) * F_eff | $132,000.00 (8,000 MT Short) |
| Total Payable Tanker Freight ($) | MAX(Q_loaded, MCQ_mt) * F_eff | $2,145,000.00 ($17.58/MT eff) |
Worldscale Deadfreight & Total Payable Freight Formula
Validate WS100_Flat_Rate > 0, WS_points > 0, MCQ_mt > 0, and Q_loaded > 0!
=LET(fl_r, B2, ws_p, B3, mc_q, B4, ld_q, B5, IF(OR(fl_r <= 0, ws_p <= 0, mc_q <= 0, ld_q <= 0), "Invalid Tanker Fixture", ROUND(MAX(ld_q, mc_q) * (ws_p / 100) * fl_r, 2)))Short-Loaded Deadfreight Damages Formula
Isolate Deadfreight separately on the freight invoice so demurrage, cargo-loss, and letter-of-credit teams reconcile B/L quantity against charterparty minimum quantity!
=IF(ISTEXT(E5), E5, ROUND(MAX(0, B4 - B5) * (B3 / 100) * B2, 2))Try the example
Use the original values or change them to test your understanding.