Anyone heard of being a ship broker?
 

hows the prospects?

Any one knows on the prospects of being a shipbroker?

1) Career progression
2) Salary progression
3) qualities needed to excel
4) Future of ship brokering
5) best shipbrokerage to work in
6) a comparison of charterer and shipbroker

- Trainee > Broker > Divisional Director
- Salary starting from $3000 to $50K (excluded bonus)
- Min O level
- Great Future

My Ahmad from operation drives a A4.

I drove a humble 5 series.

All best and good luck.

anyone has any advise on how to break into shipbroking?

ups for ppl more info on shipbroking.

how can to get in if without prior maritime knowledge..

I am in chartering/freight trading field (tankers).
Shipbrokers - need tenacity/relationship/communications skill
Prior maritime knowledge - good to have, but can pick up on job
Broking jobs start with stint on Ops to understand how things work & if good, firm will bump u up to be broker.
No life. Good broker works & entertains hard. To excel, do not think about work life balence, especially when you just start. Clientele base & support is everything.
Education - spans from O levels to degree holders. Know some non grads that are doing extremely well in this line; ie, its a people business and being streetwise helps.
Principles these days (charterers & owners) talk direct nowadays and view broking as a necessary evil. Gone are the days when there is co-broking.
Renumeration - trainee takes rubbish. Experienced people can command as high as USD20K/mth excluding comms/bonus. Professional firm setup. Star brokers pulling in more business usually get a much higher cut/basic.

Agree, no brains job, must know tok cock sing song, crack silly or dirty jokes, drink 1/2 bottle of whisky in one sitting, know all mama sans well, you can earn alot
I know as i work in commodity house before, and go out with Gfi, bcg, acm brokers on boys night out

is it possible to stay 'pure' in this type of brokerage business? Personally I don't want to betray my gf/wife.

Good luck to you.

Then you don't stand a chance in this line... you should go and take up a "clean" government job...

that bad?????

is it even possible to be a good broker without going for the entertainment and stuff?

how is the trainee rubbish renumeration like?
how long does it take to rise from trainee to broker?

bump this thread!

Anyway, is it better to enter the big 5 first or get exposure from smaller, private owned shipbroking shops?

How long to rise from trainee to mid-level? and whats the average pay in big 5?

thanks in advance.

shipbroker
 

only charterers or shipowners with no brains will use broker with no brains. this apply to this author who wrote this statement. but to be fair to the author, since he say he work in a commodity house, he is facing those freight future brokers (who are different category).

shipbroking is a highly skilled job that need the technical know how. there are so many terminology to know and negotiating terms on the contract etc...

to progress from a trainee to full pledge broker - normally take about 2 years.

but importantly is to have your first customer.

work hours can be from 8am to 8pm or anything upto 2am

Commodity traders do both physical and futures freights.. they have no brains? Haha, some of your clients should from commodity houses, and never never talk bad about them, else u can lose business

what are the shipping broking firms in sg?

I am a shipbroker (offshore) and yes, I can tell you nobody cares about promotions and career progression as brokers are generally very money-driven people. Promotions means you need to guide people/ take care of people/ spend time doing admin work. Roughly, if you are good, you should be a section head in about 3-5 years. Probably 10 years or so, managerial position should not be a problem as well.

Basic salary can be between 3-10k per month (depending on rank). Bonuses, depends on how much you bring in for the brokerage. Unwritten rule is 1/3 of the commission you bring into the co is yours. So actually, earning 100-300k in bonuses when you have less than 5 years experience is normal.

Qualities to excel: very hardworking (most brokers I know, will still turn up at 830 for work looking fresh like they didn't get drunk the night before), PR skills is very important, initiative, good time management. Good shipbrokers are generally very smart (street + book) as well. They read widely, listen/read news every day and have a good general knowledge of the industry and non-related stuff as well. This is so that you can carry out decent conversions with your clients and it gains their trust. Such shipbrokers usually rack in about 500k onwards in bonuses alone.

Don't think there is any ranking for brokerages as after all, shipbroking is a very "me" profession. You will do well as long as you are smart and willing to work hard.

Oh by the way, I am female and I earn a 6 figure salary annually. I can assure you that staying "pure" in the job is not difficult as long as you are not tempted.

Sounds like a lot of wheeling and dealing kind of job. And the $$$ tantalising. But really how long can one keep at it? Is it like the professional sportsmen (eg footballer, basket ball players) who rake in big bucks but have short shelf life - 10 years or less?

If one gets too "old" for the wheeling and dealing, where then do they progress to?

And on a personal note, are you married? Do you have time to go on dates, raise a family?

Hi
 

I sort of fit the bill like above and I went to temasek for interview being a ship broker but I flung technically when I met the 2nd female head.. The guy manager with engineering degree quit his engineering field job at age of 30+ changed to ship brokering and interviewed me.. He liked me and I passed his round, but I can't answer some brokering cost benefit analysis etc because I just don't have the background!

Give up anyway

hi, how high is the 6 figure salary you are talking about? isnt it tough as a female?

also, would you have any knowledge on oil brokering? can i assume its along the same lines in terms of entertainment?

Thank you

Marry me !

Hi all !

I'm a final year undergrad majoring in Economics and finance and due for completion this coming may( my results will be out somewhere in aug) I am pretty confident that i could secure a First class hons or at least a 2nd upper and i am very interested in getting into ship brokering line. But the downside is that -- i do not have any maritime related experience... unfortunately i couldn't get any internships from firms in the related business back then.. ( brokering, chartering,ship mgt..etc)
The only experience i hav was a intern in the back office of a foreign bank.. doing mainly ops stuffs,nothing glamorous..

Would that affect my chances of getting in ? I am looking in applying to a few major shipbroking firms( foreign ones), would it b very hard for someone like me with no prior experience? I have a basic idea of what a ship broker does and what to expect and im all prepared for it.. would the firms discriminate against me becos of me lacking in experience and perhaps " relevant knowledge".. Or would it be better if i were to apply to local / SMEs firms for a start?

Anybody knows how is it like being a junior shipbroker in a boutique firm? how's the prospect like and remuneration?

Jrs usually start off with low basic ~4k and average bonuses of ~50k if dont screw up badly.

what should my expected salary be given that I have totally no experience in the shipping line (only 1 yr working experience in another industry)?

How can I convince the interviewer to hire me?

hey who ever u are get in touch. need info on shipbroking. [email protected]

there are many different kinds of brokers and sub categories:

1. S&P / demolition
2. Chartering

a. Offshore
b. Tankers, bulkers, container
c. Dry /wet cargo

Offshore segment seems to be where the best rates are now.. most others are in a slump. A broker can cover more than one segment but there are more clearly drawn departments in the bigger brokering firms.

Working for an owner, i do not like using a broker if i can help it. That said brokers always offer to bring me out for drinks and more which i turn down. Different strokes for different folks. ;)

I am pursuing Chartered Shipbrokering course in ICS London. will i get a good job with a good pay??

why do people insist on posting such questions?? your qualifications will get u one foot in. the rest is up to u.

because I want to estimate my future earnings.. Duh

u sound like u have no working experience.

Well I am working in a logistics company for 8months. Right now pursuing MICS. I just wanted to know whether I can earn well. Nothing wrong in it..

Has anyone taken any ICS exams?

My company does trading of oils. Do drop me a PM if u have any suppliers and buyers. Thanks!

dry bulk broker
 

Am a ex seafarer (Master Mariner), have been offered 4.5k/mth at a dry bulk
brokering/chartering firm.a small set-up. but surely an invaluable break.
Have been working with an offshore company in the safety dept.
Would be of great assistance any experienced brokers could shed some insight on brokering as
a career.
Especially what to expect as commissions for a starter like me, as 4.5 is
lower than what I get know and am banking on the future growth.

Who you know
 

The business is all about who you know. If you are trying to get into a posh big 5 firm I suggest you try something publicly listed. There is a lot of rubbing shoulders in this industry. You will have a very difficult time if you don't get an internship in college at a firm, if you don't know anybody. Also learn a language to put yourself ahead like Chinese, Japanese, or Norwegian.

Singaporean master mariners command much higher than that because there are so few of the around. at 4.5k/mth u should be an indian or indon master, but nonetheless good break for u to come onshore. don't forget your potential commissions and remember it is a sales job, much more dynamic than HSE. be prepared to wine and dine. cheers.

I'm currently working as a chartering broker for tankers. Started with zero shipping background. Joined as a trainee abt 3 yrs back, and am now a shipbroker. Maybe can answer your questions below:

1) In terms of hierarchy, it is rather flat. You will start as a trainee probably doing operations first for at least a year. From there, depending how good you, you may move to do chartering. Most brokers dont really care abt titles or career progression, as end of the day its the money that counts

2) Trainees start approx $3k. From there you move to junior broker, abt 4-6k. Fully fledged shipbrokers can earn anything from 6k - 30k per mth, before bonuses. Again this depends on how much money you can bring in for the company. General rule of thumb is you need to bring in at least 3 times your salary cost.

3) Qualities needed are thick skin, cos you will likely get alot of flak from both owners and charterers. Also be able to think quick on your feet, and be able to remember off hand where your vsls and cgo are and dates, so you can quickly connect the dots. Also have good interpersonal skills to be able to deal with various types of ppl.

4) At the moment, shipbroking still here to stay I feel, because there are still alot of owners/chtrs who prefer to use a broker, for the added service the brokers provide eg operational matters, if vsl run late, broker will try find replacement vsl etc. Can help them find out whether owners are being honest with their vsl itinerary etc, all these matters which they dont have time to handle themselves.

5) Various firms around. Some are stronger in drybulk, some tankers, so chemicals etc...so hard to comment. Very mush it is up to the individual broker. If you can retain your client base who supports you, it doesnt really matter which brokerage you work in.

6) A charterer is the person who has the cargo, and is looking to charter a vsl to move his cargo. A shipbroker, or chartering broker is the person who will try and find a suitable vsl for the charterers.

Hope this helps

Just to add on this is only one type of chartering, i.e. tanker brokering. for commodities there are also container and bulk cargo chartering.

Then there are S&P, demolition, new building, T/C, B/B, etc brokers as well.

Wow this was really helpful, thanks! I recently graduated from NUS and I have been looking out for a trainee shipbroker position for the past 3 months but none of the firms are hiring fresh grads, most are looking for experienced professionals. May I ask how did you manage to get the trainee position? And do you happen to have any contacts that you can share? You can drop me a message! :) It would really mean a lot to me if you do. Thanks a lot for your help!