Ballast leg
Meaning
The ballast leg is the empty voyage a tanker makes to reach its next load port, carrying sea water as ballast instead of cargo.
Also written as Ballast voyage, Ballasting
Ballast leg explained
Ballast legs earn nothing but still burn fuel and take time, so they are a large part of voyage economics. For a VLCC trading MEG/China, the ballast leg back to the Gulf is almost as long as the laden voyage.
A full TCE calculation includes the ballast days, from the end of the last discharge to arrival at the next load port.
Related terms
TCE
TCE (time charter equivalent) converts a voyage's freight into daily earnings: freight minus voyage costs, divided by the days the voyage takes.
Laden leg
The laden leg is the part of a voyage when the tanker is carrying cargo, from the load port to the discharge port.
Open date
A ship's open date and open port are when and where it will finish its current employment and be free to load its next cargo.