shipbroking
Shipping is an extremely important part of global trade and the world economy with over 95% of freight moving by sea. Whilst enormous volumes of commodities are transported every day from country to country, few people know what happens to enable these cargoes to be shipped. How do you find a ship to carry the cargo you have just sold or bought, or how do you find a cargo to fill a ship you are running. The answer is to talk to your shipbroker.
t. ward act for you in this business. We find the right ship for the right cargo or the right cargo for the right ship. We negotiate the shipping terms and freight costs between the shipowner and the cargo owner. We can find out the port costs and can arrange stevedoring charges at loading and discharging ports – in short we look after your problems from quay to quay or door to door or port to port. We set up, facilitate and oversee the venture and arrange payment of freight and or port costs.
The role of a shipbroker is to act as an intermediary between the parties in a shipping contract, whether they be shipowners or charterers. They may be acting specifically for one principal or perhaps is the sole broker between two contracting parties. He or she will be involved in many stages of the deal; presenting and offering the business to potential clients, negotiating the main terms of the shipping ‘Fixture’ (the agreed deal), finalising the details of the ‘Charterparty’ (the completed contract for the carriage of the goods) and following the deal through to its conclusion.
The size and type of vessel involved range from coasters carrying a few hundred tons to tankers able to lift several hundred thousand tons. It might vary from bulk carriers, containerships, gas carriers, cruise ships, tankers, tugs, car carriers, livestock carriers to oil-rigs or ferries - even floating prisons.
Cargoes carried range typically from raw bulk commodities such as coal, iron ore, grain, timber. aggregates and crude oil through to finished goods such as pipes, fertiliser, animal feed, fabricated steel products and finished products such as whisky and washing machines carried in containers.
London has a greater concentration of shipbrokers than any other city in the world, but the business is truly global and brokers deal with principals, clients and vessels all round the world. The advantage of using t.ward is that, whilst we are continuously in touch with London we are at a slight distance from the main stream of activity and thus can act in a more discreet manner in London and worldwide.
A shipbroker will also buy and sell ships.