The Data of VesselsValue

VesselsValue employs a team of analysts and researchers to collect, collate, test and manage all the relevant ship data. They are continually supported by a team of experienced S&P brokers.

Introduction

A ship’s value is dependent on its type, size, age, features and freight earnings. These factors must be known for the ship being valued and for all the sales used in the valuation. Therefore, a complete and accurate database of ship and sales details is essential for an automated valuation service. This comprehensive database is also applied to and significantly benefits VesselsValue’s other products such as Trade, Mapping, Fleet Search and Deals Search.

VesselsValue has an experienced team of analysts and researchers to collect, collate, test and manage all the relevant ship data. They are continually supported by a network of experienced brokers. This document describes the data used by VesselsValue, how it is collected and how its validity is tested and assured.

The Ships Database

The ships database comprises of:

Cargo

Bulker > 20,000 DWT
Small Dry > 1,000 DWT
Container > 500 TEU
Tanker > 1,000 DWT
LNG/LPG > 100 CBM
Vehicle Carrier > 200 CEU
RoRo > 100 LM
Reefer > 2,000 CFT
Floater > 29,500 DWT

Offshore

MODU > 50ft water depth
OSV (AHTS/PSV/FSV/OGT) > 100 BHP/DWT
OCV (Lay/Well/Dive/Liftboat) > 10m LOA

Passenger

Cruise > 1,000 GT
Superyacht > 24m LOA

This includes all live ships on the water and those under construction (“newbuildings”) that have an assigned IMO number. Other specialized types will be included in future releases of the service. Currently, the specific data for each ship includes:

IMO number
Ship’s name and ex-names
Ship’s size (DWT, TEU, CBM, BHP, LM, GT, LOA, CEU)
Builder and date of build
Ship type
Shipyard and location
Classification society and P&I
7 layers of Ownership, Management and their contact details (Beneficial/Registered Owner, Commercially Managed and Controlled, Operated and Technically/ISM Managed and Pool)
Specific ship features (e.g. lifting gear, coating, heating, engine, ice class, scrubber, BWT, bollard pull, BHP, deck space, rated water depth, drilling depth, generation, stainless steel tanks)
AIS raw data (eg. location and captain’s report information
AIS derived data (eg. journeys and stoppages)
Incident information (eg. collisions, groundings, pollution, sinking, smuggling and more)

In the case of some newbuildings (mostly those with delivery dates beyond a year in the future), the full specification of the ship may not be known as construction has not started. In these cases, the most common specification is assumed and the valuation is calculated using the known size, build year and yard and the standard features. Once the designs are finalized and the construction is underway the specifications are collected, checked and updated.

The Sales Database

VesselsValue maintains a database of all known and confirmed ship sales and negotiations. The information recorded for the sales includes:

The ships details as per the ships database
Buyer and seller of the ship
Price achieved
Date of sale
Sale specific conditions (e.g. sale and lease back, en bloc sales, attached time charters and SS/DD due/passed)
Additional comments and considerations (i.e. distressed or internal sales)

All the specifications of the sold or negotiating ships are fixed at the time of sale to represent the exact state of the ship when it was sold.

This prevents the possibility of valuation errors due to conversions or other alterations to the ship after the date of sale. Where sales have attached conditions or considerations that may affect the price achieved in the sale (e.g. attached time charters), careful consideration is given as to how they are used. We have developed a set of criteria to determine whether they represent the competitive price achievable in the
market and can therefore be used in valuations.

Ship Data Collection

Ship data is collected by a team of data analysts from a variety of primary and secondary sources. These include, but are not restricted to:

Existing database derived from 28 years of S&P and chartering correspondences
Direct research with owners, operators, brokers and other industry experts
Industry recognized surveys for detailed tanker information
A global vessel tracking service for accurate information on number of ships on the water
and corresponding IMO and MMSI numbers
Class records where publicly available
Publicly accessible owner or operator websites and fleet lists
News publications and press releases
VesselsValue sales database for timely and accurate change of Management information
AIS Supplier

This ship data, along with the sales data, is analyzed, categorized and collated into a relational database allowing for advanced search and retrieval capabilities.

The database is updated on a daily basis to reflect changes to existing ships and to add new orders to the new building list. This includes:

Identification of when newbuildings are launched into active service (e.g. changes in ship status)
Continuous updating of ship names, ex-names, classification society
Identification of conversions and other changes in ship features
Removal of scrapped ships and total losses
AIS updates

Sales Data Collection

The accurate capturing of sales as soon as they happen is a critical element in providing up to the minute valuations. VesselsValue’s team of analysts, working closely with a network of brokers, identifies sales and active negotiations through a multitude of sources.

These include:

Direct and indirect broker involvement in the sale
Broker emails and other forms of communication with the S&P market
S&P broker weekly reports
News publications and press releases
Formal and informal statements from operators and other market participants
Public websites and other sources of record

This process ensures that sales are captured and recorded as early as possible. The sales
are checked regularly to ensure that price and status of any failed sales or renegotiations are updated accordingly.

Freight Earnings Collection

A variety of freight earnings and market sentiment data across the different ship types is collected, analyzed and recorded on a daily basis. These are used by VesselsValue algorithms to adjust valuations for changing
market conditions. Significant analysis has been conducted to ensure that the freight earnings used in the
valuations best represent the earnings of each ship type.

Data Verification

All our ship and sales data are analyzed, categorized and put through a rigorous series of daily, weekly and spot checks to ensure completeness and accuracy. This entails:

Categorizing the ship types according to the most commonly used industry definitions taking into account size e.g. DWT, length and width, age, coating (Tankers), lifting gear (Bulkers), bollard pull/BHP
(AHTS/AHT), deck space (PSV), rated water depth, drilling depth and generation (MODUs), CEU/GT (Vehicle Carrier), LM (RoRo), GT/Pax (Cruise) and GT (Superyachts)
Detailed cross checking using multiple data sources
Analysis by yard, owner, operator and ship type to identify and eliminate
inconsistencies and contradictions
Detailed ship specification outlier analysis
Automated potential error identification reports
Confirmation of sales and ships specifications with primary sources such as
owners and brokers
Regular outlier analysis of the value of every ship in the database

Comprehensive market knowledge plays a critical part in these checks. This, along with the processes described above, ensures that VesselsValue uses the most up to date, accurate and complete data possible for its ship valuations.