SHIP BROKING

The role of a shipbroker is to act as an intermediary between the two parties to a contract, whether they are shipowners and charterers in the chartering market, or buyers and sellers in the Sale and Purchase market.The broker may be acting particularly for one principal or perhaps is the sole broker between the two contracting parties.He or she will be involved in many stages of the deals: presenting the business to potential clients,negotiating the main terms of the fixture or sale, finalising the details of the contract and following the deal through to its conclusion. Everyone can start their own shipbroking business. This is the beauty of shipbroking. Shipbroker don’t need any formal qualifications nor do they need industry accreditation. Also there are low barriers to entry. This is so important. Moreover shipbrokers usually earn 1.25 percent of the total freight bill. So if 50.000 mt of steels from the black sea to China gets fixed at usd 35 per tonne. The total freight bill is usd 1.75 million. 1.25 percent of 1.75 million is usd 21,875 dollars in comission to the broker.
Economy in shipping industry
Strong global economic growth and favorable geographical distribution have more than doubled the tonnage demand growthnrate from the 1990s to this decade: from 3 percent to 6.5 percent. Our estimate for 2007 is as high as 9 percent.
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

Why shipbroking? It’s a highly paid niche skill. Low supply and high demand. You can travel. Also you can live anywhere and work from anywhere. The work is interesting and everyday is different. It’s not so complicated. You can create a business and lifestyle that suits your personality. Low barriers to entry. No formal qualifications, no large outlays.