The Risk Management Department is a service and control unit, offering day-to-day operational support for corporate management, Western Bulk Shipholding and the seven business units in Western Bulk Chartering. The department is set up to ensure that all activities and exposures stays within the risk boundaries set by the Board of Directors and corporate management.

Based in Singapore, the core risk team produces daily VaR numbers, and provides M2M valuations of all physical and derivative positions in the business units’ forward books. These are complemented by stress tests, Cash Flow at Risk analyses and other measures. Together they provide a comprehensive base of information to complement and assist commercial and managerial decision making.

All new counterparts for the group are vetted by the risk team, and current exposures to existing counterparts are monitored and re-evaluated continuously. Working closely with the commercial – and legal/claims departments, the counterpart approval process aims to take all available information into account when assessing potential new accounts.