In maritime trade, you broker ships — matching ship owners with cargo shippers, negotiating charter contracts, supporting the financial and operational aspects of ship chartering and sale-and-purchase transactions.
Most days mix client conversations, market intelligence, and the steady cadence of brokerage work — sitting with ship owners and charterers, working the market for available ships and cargo, negotiating charter party terms, supporting due diligence on sale-and-purchase deals. Charters fixed, commissions earned, and client relationships shape the visible measures.
The harder part is often the market-driven dynamic — shipping markets move significantly with global trade flows, fuel costs, and capacity, and brokers work with significant income variability across cycles. Variance across employers is wide: major shipbroking houses (Clarksons, BRS, SSY) run with specialized brokers by ship type or trade lane; independent brokers build personal books over years.
This role tends to fit folks who carry deep maritime industry knowledge, comfort with commission-driven income, and the relationship-building stamina that shipbroking requires. Maritime industry experience, growing market knowledge, and personal client network anchor advancement. The trade-off is the income volatility of commission-based work and the cumulative travel and entertainment expectations that maintaining a brokerage book involves.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Admin & Office roles →In maritime trade, you broker ships — matching ship owners with cargo shippers, negotiating charter contracts, supporting the financial and operational aspects of ship chartering and sale-and-purchase transactions.
Median pay for a Ship Broker is about $50K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $37K to $76K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, and Negotiation.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 8.5% through 2034, with roughly 97,800 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Cargo Broker, Customs Broker, and Customs House Broker.
Don't do Truest if you aren't ready
to invest in yourself and your career.