Category: Buyer Guides

What buying a newbuilding vessel actually involves: choosing a yard, the contract and payment schedule, build timeline, and how newbuild price compares to secondhand tonnage. [...]

The four strands of ship acquisition due diligence — commercial, technical, legal and documentary — what to verify at each stage from shortlist to delivery, and the checks that most often kill a deal. [...]

What decides a ship's value ten years after you buy it: age band, class continuity, emissions rating, engine and gear. A buyer's guide to residual value and which specifications hold their price. [...]

Container ship prices in 2026 by size — a 1,000 TEU feeder from about USD 20m new, a 5,000 TEU ship around USD 52–80m, 13,000 TEU dual-fuel at USD 185m+, plus secondhand values and what drives price. [...]

The 10 biggest red flags when buying a used ship — from overdue surveys and missing ballast water systems to unclear title and a seller who won't share documents. [...]

A buyer's guide to ship class notations — what CSA, ESP, PSPC, AUT/UMS, DP1/2/3, ice class, in-water survey and other classification notations mean, and why they matter when you buy. [...]

A buyer's guide to a ship's environmental compliance — ballast water treatment (BWMS), EEXI and CII, sulphur rules and scrubbers — what each requires, and how to avoid buying a compliance problem. [...]

A buyer's guide to tugboats — bollard pull, ASD vs conventional vs tractor tugs, harbour, escort, terminal and coastal towage, FiFi and towing gear, and how to match a tug to the job. [...]

A buyer's guide to ship age — what different vessel ages mean for price, finance, insurance, surveys and trading, whether older ships are worth buying, and how to judge condition over age. [...]

A buyer's guide to the ship survey cycle — annual, intermediate and special surveys, drydocking and in-water survey, the 5-year class cycle, and how a vessel's survey position affects what you pay. [...]