Chartering is an activity within the
shipping industry. In some cases a charterer may own
cargo and employ a
shipbroker to find a
ship to deliver the
cargo for a certain price, called
freight rate. Freight rates may be on a per-ton basis over a certain route (e.g. for iron ore between Brazil and China), in
Worldscale points (in case of
oil tankers) or alternatively may be expressed in terms of a total sum - normally in U.S. dollars - per day for the agreed duration of the charter.