Department of Maritime and Logistics Management-Voyage Planning Essay

Department of Maritime and Logistics Management-Voyage Planning Assignment - Essay Example It is not specified whether or not the ship will be able to carry a cargo on its way to either Manila or Shanghai in order to take either of the two jobs available. Conventional logic dictates that whenever a ship makes an oceanic voyage, it is more efficient for the ship to contain a cargo rather than simply travel empty. If at all possible, any cargo vessel should attempt to carry cargo of some sort even if its ultimate objective is to arrive at a different port city to undertake a more valuable cargo. Without knowledge of whether or not the vessel can undertake a cargo on its way to either of the major ports, then this analysis will presume that there is no cargo known it to be available for this ship when it arrives in Hong Kong. Therefore, if a situation arises where the cargo vessel must travel empty then the links of an empty voyage should be minimized. Therefore, it is more logical in this instance to travel from Hong Kong to Manilla due to the simple fact that the distance t he ship will have to travel without a cargo will be minimized, as opposed to a trip from Hong Kong to Shanghai, a greater overall distance in nautical miles. Moreover, a shorter journey would enable the ship to undertake the paying job faster. What this analysis must determine is whether or not the expense and profit potential of option one would outweigh the benefits of option two in the long run. If there is a potential for greater profit at the end of the final voyage, it must be great enough to outweigh the potential for lost time and the expense of traveling to either destination without cargo. The amount of the respective cargoes the ship can hold must also be considered based upon the available price. For steel, each unit will be packaged as .91 m? per tonne as opposed to 1.20 for the timber. So for the same amount of weight, a greater volume of steel can be loaded onto the ship. In addition to the weight over volume difference between the two commodities, the price for steel is also higher. By calculating cubic meters, it has been found that the same weight of steel will take up just slightly more than three fourths the volume of the same weight in timber. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to make determinations concerning the most useful cargo carrying strategy for the ship in question. Additional information that would aid in this determination is whether or not the Nunki is specialized for one cargo or the other. All ships have weight and volume limitations, the ship specialized for a particular cargo but loaded up with a different commodity with an unusual stowage factor may find itself in the situation of being unable to fully utilize its entire volume by carrying the cargo in question. The same weight in steel represents just over 75% of the same volume in timber, and this must be factored into price calculations. With the net tonnage of 18,800, we must still subtract from that 400 tons of dead weight (including freshwater and constants) leaving 18,400 tonnes remaining. Under ideal conditions, and traveling an identical distance it would be more logical to carry the steel cargo, unless specialized factors in ship construction would further reduce the available volume if steel were not the originally intended cargo of the vessel. But in this case, the different destinations will represent differences in the time and route of the two possible voyages. Calculations: Net Tonnage 18,800 0.91 / 1.2 = 0.75 Steel 24.50 per