Displacement Tonnage

Displacement Tonnage is a measurement of a ship's total weight. Imagine placing a ship into a giant bathtub; the weight of the water that spills over the side is equal to the ship's weight. That's its displacement, measured in metric tons. This figure represents the combined weight of everything on board—the hull, engines, crew, fuel, and cargo. Unlike other metrics that measure volume or carrying capacity, displacement measures pure mass. For investors, the most crucial component of displacement is a sub-metric called Lightship Tonnage (LDT). This is the weight of the ship when it's completely empty—