Platform guide
How Global Ship Broker works
From discovery to accepted-offer handoff, voyage economics and settlement preparation — a practical broker workflow in one platform. Here is exactly how each step works.
Create a private workspace
Register with your email, select your role and create or join a company workspace. Broker teams use this workspace as the private desk where circulars, positions and deal notes are staged.
KYC, company verification and workspace membership become stronger trust signals before protected access or Deal Room disclosure.
Forward circulars from Outlook
Use the Outlook add-in or inbound workspace address to push broker circulars into the Circular Inbox. The parser extracts vessel, cargo, route, laycan, quantity and shorthand terms into structured drafts.
Nothing becomes public just because it was parsed. Records remain in the tenant-isolated review queue until a broker approves a protected listing or Deal Room handoff.
Match inside the broker desk first
The Matching Desk scores available vessels against cargo requests using vessel type, DWT/cubic fit, route overlap, laycan window, port constraints and operator capabilities.
The first value is private productivity: your team sees internal matches before deciding whether to disclose anything to the protected board.
Message counterparties
Use the built-in messaging system to initiate contact with ship owners, cargo owners, operators or brokers. Each conversation is linked to the relevant vessel or cargo listing for context.
Messages and file attachments are accessible from the dashboard inbox. For production document storage, object storage should be configured.
Make and negotiate offers
Submit a structured commercial offer on any vessel sale, available vessel, or cargo request. Set a price, add a message, and optionally set an expiry. The recipient can accept, reject, or send a counter-offer.
Counter-offer roundtrip: one side counters, the other side can accept, reject or continue negotiation depending on the current offer state.
Review economics and operational risk
Before a quote becomes firm, users can review route economics through the voyage/TCE calculator, inspect bunker and port-cost assumptions, compare cargo fit, check AIS freshness and review laytime/demurrage inputs.
Market intelligence, valuation assumptions, bunker data, AIS coverage and demurrage guides are treated as decision support. Provider-backed feeds can be connected where commercial data access is available.
Proceed into a Deal Room
Once an offer is accepted or a qualified opportunity is approved, the parties can create a Deal Room with deal status, checklist, activity timeline, settlement statement and funding-route preparation.
For high-value maritime transactions, the platform tracks SWIFT references, L/C status, partner escrow notes, broker commission waterfall and audit records; external banks, law firms or escrow providers remain controlling.
Prepare recap, documents and closing file
Deal context stays attached to the record: messages, counter-offers, Q88/Baltic questionnaires, vessel documents, survey reports, cargo specs, capacity allocations, settlement notes and approval history.
The data model is structured for BIMCO-style recap and charter-party generation, e-signature provider handoff, pre-purchase inspection workflows and Q88/questionnaire parsing as enterprise integrations are added.
Enterprise workflow layer
What the platform is built to support
Maritime escrow preparation
Settlement records support wire and escrow instruction fields, approval flow, tax notes and payout audit trail. External escrow providers remain the legal payment rail.
BIMCO-style recap path
Offer, capacity, route, cargo and settlement fields are structured so recap, charter-party and e-signature integrations can be generated from the deal record.
Bunker and market data feeds
The market layer is provider-ready for bunker prices, Baltic indices, demolition prices and valuation feeds when licensed data access is available.
Survey and inspection workflow
Vessel sale files support technical documents, inspection readiness and survey-report records so pre-purchase inspection can be managed from the same file trail.
Sanctions and UBO review layer
KYC, sanctions records, vessel identity, flags, ports, cargo type and counterparty notes are kept together so provider-backed OFAC, EU, UN, UBO and dark-fleet screening can be attached.
Blind listing workflow
The intended broker workflow separates public discovery from controlled disclosure: public, semi-private and invite-only deal-room visibility for off-market mandates.
Position list intelligence
AIS/open-position records, available vessels and cargo requests are designed to feed automatic position-list style matching by port, laycan and route proximity.
Laytime and demurrage file trail
Cargo forms and calculator assumptions capture load/discharge rates, NOR terms, demurrage, despatch and turn time so future laytime statements can be generated from structured data.
Platform modules
Everything in one place
Protected Board
Review protected S&P opportunities with structured specs, price benchmarks and broker controls.
Tonnage Desk
Post vessels open for cargo — matched against active requests by route and laycan.
Capacity Offers
Publish part-cargo capacity, slots, hold/tank allocation and COA volume for agent-led allocation workflows.
Cargo Desk
Post transport needs and receive ranked vessel matches by capacity and route.
AIS Tracking
Provider-backed or demo vessel positions with commercial-vessel filtering and coverage disclosure.
Voyage & TCE Calculator
Estimate voyage result, TCE, freight curve, bunker exposure, canal cost and sale-value assumptions.
Market Intelligence
Track freight signals, vessel values, route-risk notes and operational context before quoting.
Messaging
Secure, listing-linked conversations between counterparties. File attachments supported.
Offers
Structured price negotiation with counter-offer roundtrip and dashboard status tracking.
Transactions & settlement
Accepted-offer deal rooms with checklist, settlement waterfall, payout route and commission transparency.
Profile & KYC
Identity verification, trust score, and verified badge for counterparty confidence.
Documents & inspection readiness
Class, survey, cargo and closing documents stay linked to listings and transaction review.
Q88 & questionnaire intake
Upload Q88, Baltic Questionnaire, vessel particulars, circulars and survey files for AI-assisted extraction and review.
Private workflow software, sold as SaaS
The recommended model is predictable subscription pricing per broker seat or enterprise workspace. Freight settlement stays with SWIFT, L/C, partner escrow or party-approved rails.