'DRY BULKER OPEX & PROFIT MARGINS'

       by Mr. Anastasios Maraslis
         S.T.I.C - CEO/President.

Almost anyone can realize that he could be better, do things better, have better results - in comparison with his present condition - Almost anyone could recognize that there is always room for improvement, especially nowadays.

The betterment, of any condition, starts the very minute when someone realizes and recognizes that ‘the things’ need to get better and can get better.

And this is feasible just by assuming full responsibility and control of any condition he is in.

By defying his fears of failure and seizing to blame others, his life, his luck, his destiny, the market, his government, God, etc (in other words to seize looking for excuses for continuing to hold his present condition). This means ‘taking full responsibility’.

This way one frees himself from the old and current bonds and liberates himself, his mind, his decision power to create a better future based on full responsibility and a causative stand point of view.

When someone is open minded and decided to change and bring betterment he is focused in discovering new ideas, new alliances, new technologies, and new ways which would serve his new purpose.

One of the major problems these days one has to deal with is Opex which is decisive for a company’s viability in correlation with profitability.

High Opex affect seriously a company’s profitability, especially in a volatile highly antagonistic market, where low freight rates have tremendous impact on a company’s cash flow and profit margins and should be drastically lowered or bettered.

It is a survival matter.

Disregarding- ignoring the necessity doing something about it is an executive’s ‘out point’, it is unethical, it is an omission.

It equals to treason against ones organization and ones executive position.

‘Know how’ and ‘exact technology’ is what is usually missing and thus often decisions under duress, fail.

This is Shipowners Trust International Corp. (S.T.I.C)'s role since 1997.

That is helping and providing an ‘exact technology’ and ‘know how’ to singleton owners up to large fleet owners/managers, Internationally, to better their present condition by risk analysis, risk management, continuous monitoring by statistics, accounting, undertaking with professionalism and responsibility - on outsourcing basis or consultancy basis - what needs to change and improve in the following sectors;

a) Ship Management

b) Commercial Management

c) Ships Operations

d) Chartering

e) Marine & Claims Insurance Management.

f) Alternative Finance

g) S&P

h) Human resource capacity tests and training

i) Accounting.

Please do not hessitate to contact us for discussing, in full confidentiallity, your thoughts and interests for betterment.

Kind regards
S.T.I.C
Mr. Anastasios Andreas Maraslis
CEO/President

SHIP MANAGERS/CHARTERING /S&P / TRADING.
www.eshipownerstrust.com

Chartering@eshipownerstrust.com (Chartering Dept.)
Operations@eshipownerstrust.com (Operations Dept.)
dry@eshipownerstrust.com            (Trading Dept.)
SnP@eshipownerstrust.com            (Sale & Purchase/Demolition)
info@eshipownerstrust.com           (General/Admin.Dept.)

'TO SET THE RECORDS STRAIGHT'

                                              " TO SET THE RECORDS STRAIGHT"
                                              by Mr. Anastasios Maraslis
                                             S.T.I.C-President/Director.

I am sorry to state the obvious but, sometimes, it seems we forget the basics or we take for granted what should be always checked first;

 

-A fixture which never came through, since charts failed to lift the subjs, is not to be

 considered a fixture, at all!
 Therefore the hire/freight of such failed biz can't and shouldn't be a guidance to what

 the freight market levels are!
-(Since when a failed fixture can be a guidance for owners or brokers? Is an athlete's  

 failed try to high jump 2.50 m a guide that men jump 2.50 m?).
-There are few, (happily), charterers who have no firm biz in their hands, (L/C is not

 opened/sales contract under negos), who indicate high rates to attract/secure the vessel

 and they even start firm negos with owners but failed to lift the subjs, left vessels in spot

 position, (something we all experience in large scale recently), and instigated the false r

 ate as a guide!
- A Charter fixture is considered to have been realised ONLY when is CLEAN OF SUBJS and

  when the FREIGHT or at least the first HIRE is being PAID, cleared in owners bank a/c!
-Reported, fictitious hire or freight numbers, derriving from Freight Derivatives, 'paper'

 market, or RECORD FIXTURES - who knows how done -as source of info/guidance is not

 pragmatic/true FOR US!

-There are men who make high jumps over 2.40 meters (Javier Sotomayor /WR since

 1993) but this doesn't reflect what the average athlete can do or the average ordinary

 man!

 

Please ppose to us any firm business (L/C is in place) and preferrably, cargo at port ready for loading, and when quoting a vessel kindly check what is the physical market paying empirically and not what the 'paper' market is expecting to make or the reports/promote as a guidance.

 

Freight Rates are determined by the doctrine of supply and demand ONLY and not by feeding owners expectations with ideas based on speculation. To set ones records straight, more effort is required, in real time, in the physical market, instead parrot /quoting what is published/read. Owners and Chrts alike need useful advise/consultancy from WHAT ONE HAS PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED/TOUCHED- NOT READ!

 

Wishing successful fixtures to all!

 

Sincerely yours

Shipowners Trust International Corporation (S.T.I.C)

Anastasios Maraslis
President/Director.

www.eshipownerstrust.com

chartering@eshipownerstrust.com

SHIPOWNERS TRUST INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION                              S.T.I.C                    
Shipping & Trading
SHIP OPERATION/CHARTERING /S&P / TRADING.

'REPORTS AND MARKET JOURNALS VS HANDS ON THE BUSINESS'

Dear friends,colleagues,associates and clients,

'REPORTS AND MARKET JOURNALS VS HANDS ON THE BUSINESS
                   'by Mr. Anastasios Maraslis

                        President/Director

We all know that the majority of CP fixtures is on PNC basis.

However we do witness, very often, various 'fixture reports- journals' declaring vessels' fixtures at high hire or freight levels and  - too often -beyond the reality we experience as brokers, owners or charterers and thus most of the times we are getting confused or frustrated - especially in this soft freight market -
This is because these reports/journals are taken -by many - for granted or as being the ultimate and ONLY reliable source for brokers or shipowners or charterers to base their judgement on, for fixing their vessels or cargoes, chasing and striving to achieve the ‘ journals reported levels’.

Like most of the economic papers and journalists  writings influence investors psychology and the ‘market’ itself. However the ‘market’ it is us (brokers, owners, charterers). It has an identity, it is not something impersonal. It is you and me, all of us who fix vessels or cargoes as part of our daily routines.

We, here at S.T.I.C, receive daily various offers for our exclusive fleet or for our exclusive firm Charterers orders and we are indicated rates based on the argument of what these reports-journals reported as being the current market fixtures/rates.

S.T.I.C's general company policy is to doubt, a priori, what is written in such reports and to make our own investigation, queries, through our own channels to check what the AVERAGE markets levels are and what is pragmatic or not, usual or unusual, what is a RECORD FIXTURE or what is a below the average fixture.

But mostly we trust our everyday work and what we have in our hands every minute coming from experience and hard work and negotiations with charterers and owners alike.

Thus, we invite all our shipping colleagues, who wish to share their OWN, CONTROLLED, first hand INFORMATION, which is resulted as a product of YOUR negotiations and eventual fixtures, to ALLY WITH US for useful information exchanges, which will eventually
assist all of us in our everyday work adding CERTAINTY, CONTROL and RESPONSIBILITY to our fixtures at any time.

The above IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE JOURNALS & REPORTS will built an undisputed source of information based on reason and not on sentiment which is so volatile and fragile.

Looking forward to hearing from you with your interest to share your personal experience and information for dry bulk cargoes & vessels fixtures for HANDYMAX & SUPRAMAX size markets worldwide.

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With great deal of thanks for your support and interest.

Sincerely yours,

S.T.I.C
Anastasios Maraslis
President/Director.

SHIPOWNERS TRUST INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

S.T.I.C

Shipping & Trading
SHIP OPERATION/CHARTERING /S&P / TRADING.

S.T.I.C BUILDING - 3, VOUDOURI STR.,- PIRAEUS 185 37 -GREECE.
+30 210 4529500 (TEL), +30 210 4529505 (FAX)
+30 6943 108283 MOBILE/Mrs. Sapfo. /
+30 6945 590744 MOBILE/Capt.Andreas/
anastchart2010@hotmail.com /MSN/
sm_chart@hotmail.com /MSN/
s.t.i.c.chartering-operations (SKYPE)
www.eshipownerstrust.com
chartering@eshipownerstrust.com        (Chartering Dept.)Operations@eshipownerstrust.com       (Operations Dept.)Dry@eshipownerstrust.com                  (S&P/TRADING Dept.)info@eshipownerstrust.com                 (General/Admin.Dept.)

‘A SHIPBROKERS TRIBUTE'

                                      ‘A SHIPBROKERS TRIBUTE'

                        Article Written by Mr. Anastasios Maraslis
                                    S.T.I.C - President/Director
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                             22nd February '012.

'Tuesday morning 8:30am Feb, 2012 and many offices are still closed.

White collar employees are ‘trapped’ in traffic on their way to catch up with their morning tasks with

a bleary eye'.

The above scene stands for many but not for all!

In shipping business we have to be all time alerts and work ‘strange’ unusual hours - often

from 4 am in the morning--to search and to discover the suitable vessel or the firm cargo.

80-90 per cent of cargoes are transported via sea routes by ocean going vessels and this

makes our business a real, tangible business.

Shipbroker's role is a catalyst in shipping cargoes around the globe and this is a unique call.

Too often, competition is fierce and the long hours of work is exhausting, especially when

many shipbrokers are racing to get the same cargo -especially in a poor freight market -

In a flourishing market, there is great demand and appetite for more vessels/ tonnage

capacity to cover plenty of cargoes available and anyone can and is fixing anything making

good money -even the cowboys of the market -

Regrettably, but interestingly enough, Shipping has its peaks and its lows.

Nowadays, once again, we are experiencing a down spiral cycle, (similar to the ‘70’s, ‘80’s

and ‘90’s).

This shipping crisis though is different from the previous decades. Is not only the vessels’

oversupply and the scarcity of cargoes trading - movement but we are experiencing an

unprecedented collapse in the banking system, the Europe’s financial turmoil and the

withdrawal and closure of many credit lines!

No wonder for this is a new shipping recession it is part of the excitement our business

offers.

In difficult periods like this, challenge is what keeps our hearts pounding with passion and

thirst for achievement and accomplishment.

For it is in this challenging times the shipbrokers -worldwide- who must prove their role

significance with showing their focused and inexhaustible hard work and intelligence by

providing once again more than it is expected.

Vessels’ owners are very much worried for their vessel’s employment opportunities and the

scarcity of options in their goal to keep the propellers running at all times.

Profits are getting squeezed, sometimes close to non existent and often the aim is

becoming merely the survival, in certain trading areas and or cases.

Prompt paying credible charterers is owners’ a major concern also which a shipbroker must provide sufficient evidence and information for.

Strategic planning and repositioning of vessels is also a matter to contemplate seriously.

Those Shipbrokers who rely in their personal experience from their day in- day out hard

work have better control over their business and do always consult well and accurately

their clients.

Well experienced and dedicated hard workings Shipbrokers are the only professionals a

ship-owner, a Charterer or a Shipper can rely on in getting the right information for

planning the future or the next fixture.

A reason why Shipbrokers should be reading a lot what is going on internationally.

They read financial papers and magazines, political papers, environmental/climate changes

reports so they would at all times have a clear understanding on how to interlink together

all important information and datums for comprehending how the shipping industry is or is

going to be affected.

As I aforesaid Shipping business is tangible and a very real business. Ships are daily

transporting millions of tons of cargoes from one country to another every day, and YOU,

THE SHIPBROKER - have made it happen!

Professional shipbrokers are not wasting a minute of their day and work pretty intensive

for many hours as it is an International business.

Disappointing and frustrating enough when dates change, or when a cargo is postponed.

A successful shipbroker inspires himself and never lets the market’s downturns spoil his

moral.

No matter the level of expertise he or she has he(she) always has the beginners mind and

treat clients with passion to win their business!

In every call he(she) is making he(she) is transpiring this passion and enthusiasm.

But most important of all is the code of ethics he(she) applies in his(her) daily routines!

Disciplined and ethical 'his word is his bond' endures and overcomes successfully anything

with 'clean hands'.

Since we all are emotional these days due to the unpleasant developments in the world

economy and the soft market this article is dedicated -as a special tribute- to our special 

world wide colleagues, our special fellow and associated hard working shipbrokers,

who support us since S.T.I.C was established in 1997 until today.

Special thanks to all!
S.T.I.C
Anastasios Maraslis
++

                                            S.T.I.C                                                              

                               Shipping & Trading
SHIP'S OPERATION / DRY CARGO CHARTERING / S&P / TRADING
+30 210 4529500 (Tel)
+30 210 4529505 (Fax)
www.eshipownerstrust.com
chartering@eshipownerstrust.com (for chartering)
operations@eshipownerstrust.com (for ships operation/post fixture)
dry@eshipownerstrust.com (for Trading/ S&P)
S.T.I.C BUILDING
3, VOUDOURI STR.,
PIRAEUS 185 37
GREECE.

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