The impact of chartering strategy and green shipping on the profitability of a company

Abstract

The choice between spot and time chartering market divides the investors in the shipping industry. Both strategies have their positive and negative aspects, which will be extensively analyzed. Simultaneously, the new trend that is here to upset the industry, is the green shipping strategy implementation. Green shipping strategy differs from the chartering strategy because this is applied by the International Maritime Organization and all the companies must comply with it. This dissertation aims to answer the question regarding which chartering strategy is more profitable and how the implementation of green shipping strategy will affect the profitability of the company. For this research, data was collected from twenty-one shipping companies over the period 2011 to 2020. The results of the study support that the choice of chartering strategy has a statistically significant impact on the profitability of a maritime company. Specifically, the outcome of the analysis is that voyage chartering strategy has a positive impact on profitability compared to a time chartering strategy, which affects it negatively, for this sample during the examined period. Even though time chartering is the strategy that is preferred by the owners to manage industrial risks, the generated income is lower, compared to voyage chartering generated income. The results also support a positive relationship between green shipping strategy and profitability. Specifically, an eco-friendly fleet positively affects the profitability, regardless the preferred chartering strategy.