Weighted average age of fleet at end of period (in years)
4.9
4.3
3.4
3.7
3.8
Ownership days (2)
7,000
6,913
5,813
4,897
3,510
Available days (3)
6,930
6,892
5,813
4,856
3,471
Operating days (4)
6,857
6,862
5,771
4,849
3,460
Fleet utilization (5)
98.9
%
99.6
%
99.3
%
99.9
%
99.7
%
Average Daily Results:
Time charter equivalent (TCE) rate (6)
$
32,811
$
46,777
$
31,272
$
22,661
$
27,838
Daily vessel operating expenses (7)
5,910
5,772
5,046
4,592
4,261
7
(1)
Average number of vessels is the number of vessels that constituted our fleet for the relevant period, as measured by the sum of the number of days each vessel was a part of our fleet during the period divided by the number of calendar days in the period.
(2)
Ownership days are the aggregate number of days in a period during which each vessel in our fleet has been owned by us. Ownership days are an indicator of the size of our fleet over a period and affect both the amount of revenues and the amount of expenses that we record during a period.
(3)
Available days are the number of our ownership days less the aggregate number of days that our vessels are off-hire due to scheduled repairs or repairs under guarantee, vessel upgrades or special surveys and the aggregate amount of time that we spend positioning our vessels. The shipping industry uses available days to measure the number of days in a period during which vessels should be capable of generating revenues.
(4)
Operating days are the number of available days in a period less the aggregate number of days that our vessels are off-hire due to any reason, including unforeseen circumstances. The shipping industry uses operating days to measure the aggregate number of days in a period during which vessels actually generate revenues.
(5)
We calculate fleet utilization by dividing the number of our operating days during a period by the number of our available days during the period. The shipping industry uses fleet utilization to measure a company's efficiency in finding suitable employment for its vessels and minimizing the amount of days that its vessels are off-hire for reasons other than scheduled repairs or repairs under guarantee, vessel upgrades, special surveys or vessel positioning.
(6)
Time charter equivalent rates, or TCE rates, are defined as our voyage and time charter revenues less voyage expenses during a period divided by the number of our available days during the period, which is consistent with industry standards. Voyage expenses include port charges, bunker (fuel) expenses, canal charges and commissions. TCE rate is a non-GAAP measure, and is a standard shipping industry performance measure used primarily to compare daily earnings generated by vessels on time charters with daily earnings generated by vessels on voyage charters, because charter hire rates for vessels on voyage charters are generally not expressed in per day amounts while charter hire rates for vessels on time charters are generally expressed in such amounts. The following table reflects the calculation of our TCE rates for the periods presented.
