Shipping : is it a high risk low return business?

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the risk and return characteristics of the shipping business. Shipping profitability and returns are evaluated and an analysis is performed to examine whether the returns are adequate to compensate the amount of risk the investor is bearing. Statistical tools are used to quantify risk and the average returns of the shipping industry are measured and compared with other asset classes. Diversification among different types of ships, and different asset classes is used to maximize the return and minimize the risk of an "efficient fleet". The Capital Asset Pricing Model and the efficient frontier are used to identify the optimal asset allocation. Valuation methods and investment timing techniques are used in order to increase the probability of success and improve the decision making. Finally a real project is evaluated using financial tools.