Fixture

A Fixture is a concluded chartering agreement — the point at which an owner and charterer, usually through shipbrokers, have agreed all the main terms and the ship is committed to the cargo or period. To “fix” a ship is to charter it; the deal reached is the fixture, later documented in the formal charter party.

Negotiating a fixture involves agreeing the vessel, cargo, freight or hire rate, laycan, load and discharge ports, laytime and demurrage, and the many charter-party clauses, typically moving from an initial offer through counters to a final agreement (“fixed on subs” then “subs lifted”). Fixture reports — details of concluded deals circulated in the market — are an important source of rate intelligence, feeding indices like the Baltic and informing the next negotiations. The fixture is the fundamental commercial transaction of chartering, the moment cargo and ship are matched and priced. Understanding how fixtures are negotiated and reported is central to the chartering market.