In this guide, we will explain TC Bunkers and how it functions. In a Time Charter (TC) Voyage, bunker consumption is tracked for the entire duration, covering positioning, the time charter period, and repositioning phases. However, the bunker costs factored into the Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) earnings reflect only those expenses attributed to the vessel owner, leaving the remaining costs for the charterer.
Terms
The terms you will come across include:
Gross Bunkers: This encompasses the total bunker costs for the voyage, irrespective of who bears them.
Net TC Bunkers: These costs incurred during the charter period are generally charged to the charterer's account.
Net Bunkers: These costs arise outside the charter period and are typically the owner’s responsibility.
Total Delivery Bunkers: The total amount of bunkers sold to the charterer upon vessel delivery.
Total Redelivery Bunkers: The amount of bunkers repurchased from the charterer upon vessel redelivery.
TC Bunkers: This is calculated as the difference between the bunkers at delivery and redelivery, not accounting for any additional bunker purchases (stems).
TC Stems: Represent the value of additional bunkers purchased by the charterer during the charter, including adjusting system stems to balance the bunkers on redelivery with the Remaining Onboard Bunkers (ROB).
Positioning Bunkers: Costs associated with bunker consumption from the beginning of the voyage until delivery to the charterer.
Bunkers P&L: When the vessel is handed over to the charterer, the onboard bunkers have an inventory value determined by FIFO (First In, First Out). If these bunkers are sold at market or contract price, which differs from their inventory value, Bunkers P&L represents this difference.
For periods when the vessel is off-hire:
Off-Hire Bunkers: These are the costs of bunkers consumed during off-hire periods, charged to the vessel's owner and deducted from the TCE calculations. If contracts are sequential, these costs also reduce the hire revenue and must be manually entered in the Revenue section.
Calculations
Bunkers included in the TCE are calculated as:
Net Bunkers - Off-Hire Bunkers = Bunkers assigned to TCE
Net Bunkers can be derived in two ways:
Gross Bunkers - Net TC Bunkers equals Net Bunkers.
Positioning Bunkers + Repositioning Bunkers - Bunkers P&L = Net Bunkers.
Calculating Net TC Bunkers involves:
Total Delivery Bunkers - Total Redelivery Bunkers = TC Bunkers.
TC Bunkers + TC Stems = Net TC Bunkers.