Shipbroking is a financial service, which forms part of the global shipping industry. Shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries/negotiators (i.e. brokers) between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers and sellers of ships.
Some brokerage firms have developed into large companies, incorporating departments specialising in various sectors, e.g. Dry Cargo Chartering, Tanker Chartering, Container Chartering, Sale & Purchase, Demolition and Research. Other "boutique" companies concentrate on specific sectors of the shipping market.
The principal shipping and shipbroking centres are London, New York and Singapore. Tokyo has a longstanding tradition in shipping/shipbroking, which is now more focussed on Japanese domestic trade. Other places continue to develop in international shipping services, such as: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Delhi and Mumbai; Copenhagen, Geneva, Genoa, Hamburg, Oslo, Paris and Piraeus in Europe; and in North America, Connecticut, Houston and Montreal are important shipbroking centres.
Until recently, it was commonplace for shipbrokers to cover more than one discipline, although nowadays the vast majority of shipbrokers specialise. The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers sets educational standards throughout the industry, Fellowship of which is considered a great honour.
Shipbroking can be categorised as follows:
Read more about Shipbroking: Sale and Purchase, Dry Cargo Broking, Tanker Broking, Container Broking