Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) expresses the daily profit of a voyage after deducting voyage costs — the apples-to-apples number that lets you compare a Pacific round against an Atlantic fronthaul. Getting it right is the foundation of every fixture decision.
The TCE formula
TCE = (Voyage revenue − Voyage costs) ÷ Voyage duration in days. Voyage costs include bunkers, port and canal charges, and other voyage-specific expenses — but not the fixed daily running cost of the vessel.
Three inputs people get wrong
- Bunker consumption at the real speed profile — eco speed vs full speed changes the result materially.
- Port and waiting days — congestion and laytime are routinely underestimated.
- Ballast leg costs — the unpaid repositioning voyage must be amortised into the calculation.
Automating it
NAVGreen’s AI voyage calculation parses the charter party and cargo text automatically, then computes a dynamic P&L and TCE under different speed and routing assumptions — so the comparison is consistent and instant rather than a hand-built spreadsheet.