Tanker pool manager Signal Maritime has introduced a new monthly “Position Value” concept to enable tanker owners to capitalize directly from the geographic position of their vessels on entering or exiting its pools. The Position Value determines the potential earnings of a vessel based on its geographic position considering market conditions, historical data, and every trading option.

“At any given moment a vessel’s opening position holds an earning potential,” explains Signal Maritime Services CEO Panos Dimitracopoulos.

“We’ve developed a price tag for all geographic trading areas which allows us to price spot and time charters in a way which factors the vessel’s earning potential on pool entry or exit.”

He added:

“In a highly volatile market owners have many options and it’s important that our flexible pool model gives our partners the opportunity to time their moves as profitably as possible without harming the other pool partners or themselves. Ultimately Position Value is a zero-sum game which supports the sophisticated triangulation and trading strategies needed to run a successful tanker operation.”

The model analyses the historical voyages of a given vessel class to understand the market structure, including flows and their frequency. It utilises data for port and canal expenses, current market rates, average fuel consumption and bunker prices to calculate the Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) for each potential voyage.
Next, the model identifies the most profitable sequence of voyages for any location worldwide, given the current market conditions and most common flows. This analysis derives the Position Value of each area, representing its earnings potential.

The algorithm derived values are checked by the Signal Maritime team, shared with partners and then applied. Signal Maritime also offers its partners a free seat at its London, Singapore or Athens based chartering desks to allow them to gain a full understanding of the way in which values are derived and used.

A more detailed article explaining the concept of Position Values can be viewed here.

Signal Maritime runs MR and Aframax tanker pools and also provides a digital commercial shipping services programme. This service allows other third parties to build and run their own pools using Signal technology and commercial support.

Source: Signal Group