Top KPIs your Fleet and Chartering Teams should be Showing you in 2026

This KPI tracks Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) per day against both a relevant market index and the fleet’s cash breakeven level. It shows whether the fleet is consistently turning today’s market into returns on capital that beat peers and stay safely above the cost of owning and operating the ships.

TCE should be presented net of voyage costs, including bunkers, port and canal charges and any carbon related costs where applicable, so that comparisons across segments and routes are meaningful.

This KPI tracks how much of the fleet’s available days are actually earning money versus sitting idle or off-hire. It combines overall utilization with a clear breakdown of off-hire days by cause, so leadership can see whether lost earnings are driven by technical issues, commercial gaps, waiting and congestion, or time in the yard.

Utilisation is typically calculated as on-hire or trading days divided by total ownership days. Off-hire should be captured on the same basis, with clear coding of the main causes so that operational and technical actions can be tied directly to reductions in lost days.

This KPI looks at voyage contribution margin after all voyage related costs, including bunkers, port and canal fees and any carbon costs such as EU ETS allowances. It shows whether the commercial team is turning revenue into real cash once fuel and carbon are priced correctly into the voyage P and L.

Voyage contribution margin should always be calculated on a net basis after fuel and carbon costs, so that changes in bunker strategy, routing and carbon policy can be traced directly into earnings.

This KPI tracks daily operating cost per vessel against budget and against previous years. It bundles crew, maintenance, insurance, lubricants, spares, technical management and other running costs into a simple “OPEX per day” figure, so leadership can see whether the fleet’s cost base is moving in line with plan or quietly eroding competitiveness.

OPEX per day should exclude voyage related costs such as bunkers and port charges, and should be shown on a comparable basis across segments, with clear notes for one off items and the timing of special surveys and drydockings.

This KPI measures how reliably ships arrive when customers expect them to. It combines an on-time arrival percentage with the average delay on late calls, so leadership can see whether the fleet is delivering predictable, dependable schedules or forcing customers to build in big buffers and contingency inventory.

Schedule reliability should be defined with a clear time window and consistent planned arrival reference, and should be calculated on the same basis across trades to make comparisons meaningful for customers and internal planning.

This KPI links how efficiently ships move through port calls with how much money is paid or earned on demurrage and dispatch. It shows whether port time is tightly managed or whether delays, poor coordination and terminal bottlenecks are quietly eating into voyage margins.

Port call metrics should use consistent time stamps for arrival, NOR tendering, laytime start and completion, so that trends in port stay and demurrage performance can be trusted across trades and over time.

This KPI brings together lost time injuries and Port State Control outcomes. It tracks LTIF on a fleet basis and the PSC record by flag and port, so leadership can see whether the safety culture is improving and whether the fleet is seen as a low risk operator by inspectors, charterers and terminals.

Safety metrics should use consistent definitions for recordable incidents, exposure hours and serious cases, and PSC statistics should be tracked on the same basis across flags and regions so that changes in inspection focus or performance are visible over time.

This KPI tracks how much CO₂ the fleet emits per unit of transport work, and how ships score on CII or AER. It shows the distribution of vessels by rating and whether the fleet is moving onto a path that keeps regulatory risk, customer expectations and access to capital under control over the next decade.

Carbon intensity should be calculated using consistent system boundaries and data quality checks, with the same methodology applied across the fleet so that CII or AER comparisons remain credible over time.

This KPI links the fleet’s total CO₂ footprint with the cost of compliance under schemes such as the EU Emissions Trading System. It shows how many tonnes of CO₂ the fleet emits in total, how much of that falls into regulated voyages, and what the annual allowance bill looks like before and after pass-through to customers.

ETS exposure should be calculated with clear underlying voyage and emissions data, using the same methodology and price assumptions across the fleet, so that trends in both gross and net carbon cost can be trusted in board level discussions.

This KPI tracks the gap between the actual greenhouse gas intensity of the energy used on FuelEU Maritime voyages and the regulatory target. It shows which ships and trades sit comfortably inside the compliant band and which ones are carrying a GHG intensity deficit that will attract penalties or force operational changes.

This simple calculator assumes that excess CO₂e is proportional to the difference between actual and target GHG intensity across the annual FuelEU energy use, using a basic energy to emissions conversion. Actual compliance calculations should follow the detailed FuelEU Maritime rules and any guidance issued by regulators.

This KPI measures how much verified value digital tools actually deliver at sea. It links voyage optimisation, weather routing, trim and engine analytics to realised fuel savings and higher voyage earnings, so leadership can see whether digital projects are moving the needle or just creating dashboards.

Savings should be based on controlled comparisons against a clear baseline, with weather and trading pattern differences normalised where possible, so that digital optimisation impact on fuel and earnings is credible in board and investor discussions.

This KPI measures how reliable the fleet’s operational and emissions data really is. It combines timeliness and completeness of reports with basic validation checks and system adoption, so leadership can see whether dashboards, KPIs and compliance filings sit on solid ground or on guesswork.

Data quality KPIs should sit alongside operational KPIs, with clear ownership on board and ashore, so that improvements in reporting discipline are treated as a lever for better earnings and risk control, not just an admin task.