C Transport Maritime

WORLD LEADER DRY BULK SHIPPING A IN

C Transport Maritime (CTM) has been offering leading management services to partners and clients in the shipping industry since 2004. Based in Monaco, with around 200 vessels under management, it is a large operator. The company also manages three pools in the Supramax, Panamax and Capesize markets.

Carlos Pena, Chief Commercial Officer, explained more to Hannah Barnett.

With a depth of experience and a wide scope of operations, CTM is a world class vessel management company. “That is our core business and that is what we are good at,” reflected Chief Commercial Officer Carlos Pena. “We have managed hundreds of vessels over the years, so our knowledge in the dry bulk market runs deep, and our network is wide.”

A good year

2022 was a rewarding year for C Transport Maritime. The company won the Safety4Sea Dry Bulk Operator Award. Vessels under the commercial management of CTM carried 54 million tonnes of cargo of 61 different types. The company loaded at 276 different ports and visited 100 countries.

The two largest pools, the Supramax and Capesize Revenue Sharing Agreements (RSAs), also overperformed their respective indices by 8% and 14%. “So, the benefit of being in our pool as opposed the spot market was between $600,000 to $800,000 per ship, which is pretty substantial, particularly for owners with multiple vessels in our fleet,” explained Mr Pena.

At the same time, the public ship owning vehicle that CTM manages, GoodBulk, took advantage of the strongest sale and purchase environment in many years to sell 12 vessels: 11 Capesizes and one Panamax.

Of course, the company would not be able to operate on this scale, and enjoy such a successful twelve months, without a robust and professional crew. “We have an active roster of 688 crew members

manning our vessels,” said Mr Pena. “That is through our collaboration with Augustea Ship Manning in the Philippines. The crews under our management are trained to the highest industry standards, undergoing over 200,000 hours of training in 2022.”

The benefit of pools

CTM has been managing shipping pools since its inception. The company now controls three pools in the Supramax, Panamax and Capesize markets, under Supramax, Panamax and Capesize RSAs. These help reduce fragmentation in the dry bulk sector and improve efficiency of service and costs.

“Consolidation does not necessarily mean ownership concentration in a few hands; it can simply be a commercial consolidation. All it means is fewer entities controlling more ships,” Mr Pena explained.

The company is also a founding member of Capesize Chartering Ltd (CCL), which, alongside CTM, is comprised of Bocimar and Star Bulk. All vessels entered into the Capesize RSA become part of this alliance, whilst still remaining in the care of dedicated management teams.

“Overall, being in a pool brings many advantages for owners but also for charterers,” explained Mr Pena. “The pool will

be privy to better information, leading to improved decision-making and more opportunities. Vessels are positioned around the world and can take advantage of the rates in a myriad of routes, as well as optimise the best ship for a cargo or trading route. The peaks and troughs of the market are evened out, and the owners in the pool can benefit from superior market information.”

All ships in CTM’s pools are run and operated on the spot market, which has yielded better results for the company over the years and has the added benefit of flexibility. More vessels in fewer hands reduces fragmentation, unequal information and increases negotiating power.

“For charterers, the pool is a good ‘owner’, because of its volumes and the process of fixing is already standardised to most charterers’ standards,” Mr Pena continued. “ Charterers can communicate with only one company which is fronting the decisions, plus charterers can get flexibility from the pool that an owner may not be so keen to do or can’t do. For example, options on trips or switching ships depending on the dates.”

Investment opportunities

Another profitable arm for CTM comes in the form of Stone Shipping Ltd. Incorporated in Bermuda, Stone Shipping is a chartering vehicle formed in 2019 for the purpose of chartering-in Supramax and Ultramax vessels, either on fixed- or floating-rate periods, on behalf of investors.

As Mr Pena explained: “Stone Shipping is a chartering vehicle that aims to give access to the dry bulk charter-in market to both first-time and seasoned investors. I t has a market neutral strategy and its returns have been very good.”

The charter-in market is one that is normally reserved for shipping companies and ship managers with extensive knowledge of the sector, a long-standing reputation for good performance and a strong financial footing. Through Stone Shipping,

CTM is opening a typically closed sector of the dry bulk industry to investors. The platform has delivered highly satisfying returns to its investors with the last one that closed coming in at +35% IRR. Since its inception, Stone Shipping has raised $44 million across five privately invested funds and has chartered-in close to 30 vessels. The vast majority have been employed on the spot market in CTM’s Supramax pool, the Supramax RSA

Shipping sustainability

There is no doubt that a fleet this large comes with a lot of responsibility. Some of that involves environmental accountability.

“Clean oceans and air are essential for our very existence, not only as a company but as individuals,” said Mr Pena. “It’s about making a difference where we can drive growth and value for clients, whilst simultaneously protecting the environment and benefiting society. This is why we engage with financial institutions for the promotion of the Poseidon Principles and we started the process of inking our first sustainability-linked loan.”

CTM has done almost 20 sale and purchase transactions in the last 12 months for various clients, transactions that are transforming CTM’s managed fleet to a more modern and fuel efficient one. Carbon emissions from the global fleet on a perdeadweight basis have fallen considerably in the past 15 years, showing how much more efficient ships have become. For instance, one of CTM’s 2022-built 180,000 tonne ship consumes 60% less fuel than a 2010-built 180,000 tonne ship.

With an ongoing vision to create value for its operating partners, it is evident that CTM is a company continuing to adapt, evolve and grow, as the market requires.