Vessel Operating Costs Expected To Rise Over The Next Two Years

October 31, 2013 By MI News Network

Vessel operating costs are expected to rise by 3% in both 2012 and 2013 according to our new survey. Lube expenditure and crew costs are the categories most likely to produce the highest levels of increase.
The survey is based on responses from key players in the international shipping industry, predominantly shipowners and managers in Europe and Asia. As was the case twelve months ago, those responses identified lubricants as the cost category likely to increase most significantly – by 2.9 and 2.8% in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Crew wages, meanwhile, are expected to increase by 2.3% in 2012 and by 2.4% in 2013, with other crew costs thought likely to increase 2.1% for both years under review. The cost of spares, meanwhile, is expected to escalate by 2.2% in each of the two years covered by the survey. Expenditure on stores is expected to increase by 2.1% in both 2012 and 2013, while the cost of repairs and maintenance is expected to increase by 2.1% and 2.2% in the same years. The increase in P&I costs for 2012 and 2013 is estimated by respondents at 2.1% and 2.2% respectively, while for hull and machinery insurance the respective figures are 1.9% and 2.0%. Dry-docking costs over the same period are expected to rise by 1.9% and 2.0%. As was the case in the 2011 survey, management fees were deemed likely to produce the lowest level of increase in both 2012 and 2013, at 1.3% and 1.4% respectively.