Freight & Shipping Trading Desk Master Program

Energy-Linked Freight, Logistics & Congestion Risk

How senior traders run P&L, risk and control on freight & shipping desks. Built around congestion, demurrage, sanctions and survival — not maritime theory.

Curriculum — 110 Cumulative Chapters

Module 1 — What a Freight Trading Desk Really Is (Chapters 1–10)
  1. Why Freight Is a Derivative of Energy
  2. Freight as Optionality, Not Transport
  3. Physical vs Paper Freight Desks
  4. Chartering vs Trading Responsibilities
  5. Desk Mandates, Capital Allocation & Risk Budgets
  6. When Not to Fix a Ship
  7. Spec vs Coverage Control Points
  8. How Freight Desks Actually Fail
  9. Senior View of Freight Desk P&L
  10. Lessons from Failed Freight Books
Module 2 — Freight Market Structure That Matters (Chapters 11–26)
  1. Tanker Classes (VLCC, Suezmax, Aframax, MR)
  2. LNG Carrier Market Reality
  3. Dry Bulk vs Energy Freight Differences
  4. Spot vs Time Charter Economics
  5. Voyage Charters Explained Properly
  6. Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs)
  7. Freight Curve Reality (Why It’s Thin)
  8. Regional Fragmentation & Arbitrage
  9. Port Congestion as a Trade
  10. Canal Constraints (Panama, Suez)
  11. Ice, Weather & Seasonal Risk
  12. Political & Sanctions Risk
  13. Liquidity Illusions in Freight
  14. When Market Structure Breaks
  15. Freight Market Cycles
  16. Case Study: Structural Freight Failure
Module 3 — Senior Trading & Fixing Playbooks (Chapters 27–44)
  1. Fixing vs Trading — Who Owns the Risk
  2. Spot Fixing Under Volatility
  3. Time Charter Optionality
  4. Freight as Storage Economics
  5. Floating Storage Trades
  6. Demurrage as Hidden P&L
  7. Congestion Capture Strategies
  8. Arbitrage Windows in Freight
  9. Scaling Positions Without Liquidity
  10. Counterparty & Owner Risk
  11. Knowing When Rates Are Wrong
  12. Risk-Off Freight Playbooks
  13. Correlation Breakdown (Freight vs Oil/Gas)
  14. Trading Through Market Closures
  15. Portfolio vs Single-Voyage Thinking
  16. Senior Fixing Review Framework
  17. Walking Away from “Cheap” Ships
  18. Case Study: Freight Trade That Killed Energy P&L
Module 4 — Valuation, FFAs & Model Skepticism (Chapters 45–58)
  1. Freight Valuation — Why Models Lie
  2. Spot vs Forward Curve Disconnect
  3. FFA Basis Risk
  4. MTM as Narrative, Not Truth
  5. P&L Attribution: Freight vs Energy
  6. Stressing Congestion Assumptions
  7. Optionality Mispricing
  8. Model Override Governance
  9. Broker Curves vs Reality
  10. Shadow Books & Excel
  11. When FFAs Fail to Hedge
  12. Managing Freight Analytics
  13. Audit-Driven Valuation Adjustments
  14. Case Study: Model-Driven Freight Loss
Module 5 — Risk, Credit & Survival (Chapters 59–74)
  1. Risk as Capital Preservation
  2. Liquidity Risk in Freight
  3. Counterparty Default Risk
  4. Owner Bankruptcy & Vessel Withdrawal
  5. Margin Calls on FFAs
  6. Collateral & Credit Triggers
  7. Stress Testing Port Closure
  8. Kill Switches & Fixing Freezes
  9. Who Pulls the Plug — And When
  10. Risk Escalation Playbooks
  11. Trading Under Sanctions Scrutiny
  12. Lessons from Freight Blow-Ups
  13. LNG Shipping Crisis — Desk View
  14. Oil Market Dislocation & Freight
  15. War, Embargo & Rerouting Risk
  16. Case Study: Desk Survival Playbook
Module 6 — Execution, Operations & Legal Risk (Chapters 75–86)
  1. Charter Party Terms That Matter
  2. Laytime, Demurrage & Detention
  3. Documentation Failures
  4. Claims, Disputes & Arbitration
  5. Force Majeure Abuse
  6. Operational Overrides & Audit Trails
  7. Vessel Performance Disputes
  8. Insurance & P&I Club Risk
  9. Cyber & AIS Manipulation
  10. Follow-the-Sun Operations
  11. Settlement & Invoice Chaos
  12. Operational Risk Case Study
Module 7 — Systems, ETRM & Freight Control (Chapters 87–98)
  1. Why ETRM Struggles with Freight
  2. Voyage & TC Deal Capture
  3. Freight Exposure Views That Matter
  4. MTM Under Sparse Data
  5. Integration with Oil, Gas & LNG Books
  6. FFA Lifecycle Tracking
  7. Shadow Systems & Broker Sheets
  8. Governance Failures in Freight Desks
  9. Change Control & Audit Trails
  10. What a Desk-Grade Freight Stack Looks Like
  11. Data Quality & Broker Dependency
  12. When Systems Create False Comfort
Module 8 — Behavior, Accountability & Leadership (Chapters 99–110)
  1. Career Risk on Freight Desks
  2. Incentives vs Long-Term Survival
  3. Overconfidence in Tight Markets
  4. Decision-Making Under Time Pressure
  5. Ethics, Sanctions & Disclosure Risk
  6. Crisis Leadership During Disruptions
  7. Managing Post-Loss Environments
  8. Culture: Fixers vs Traders
  9. Board-Level Risk Communication
  10. Lessons from Long-Lived Freight Desks
  11. When to Exit a Route or Market
  12. Legacy of a Senior Freight Trader

Why Senior Freight Traders Respect This Program

Self-Paced


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