外文翻译---国际海运业：国际产业的国际规则

管理学院

外文翻译

专业：国际经济与贸易

班级学号：国贸073-14 学生姓名：

指导教师：

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING:GLOBAL REGULATION FOR A GLOBAL INDUSTRY

Source:[1]Krishna Prasad,Changing Role of Ship-Brokers,Journal of Information Technology,2004

[2]European Community,Overview of the International Commercial

Shipbuilding Industry,First Marine International Limited.2003

[3]ICS,IMO,International shipping:Global Regulation For a Global

Industry,International Chamber of Shipping,2007

Conclusions from Modal Workshop 4

at the 2009 International Transport Forum

Statement by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

The following statement reflects the discussion during Modal Workshop 4, International Shipping: Global Regulation for a Global Industry, which took place at the 2009 International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany, on 27 May 2009.

Following several years of incredibly buoyant shipping markets, for many trades the best in living memory, much of the international shipping industry has fallen prey to the worldwide economic downturn. Shipping is inherently the servant of the economy, so the contraction in trade, following the beginning of the ‘credit crunch’ in late 2008, has translated into a dramatic and abrupt reduction in demand for shipping.

Initially worst hurt were the containership trades. By the spring of 2009 some 10% of the fleet was already laid up, much of it too modern and expensive to go to recycling yards. However, the dry bulk trades have also been severely

affected, particularly by the reduction in demand for raw materials from China, with spot market freight rates for some bulk carriers being a fraction of the peak prices achieved in 2008. By April 2009, rates for crude, product and chemical tankers had also fallen very sharply. In general most shipping markets present a rather bleak picture.

A major concern of ICS national shipowners’ associations therefore is to

discourage governments from responding to the crisis with protectionist measures, which will only damage world trade further. More particularly, governments must avoid measures that restrict fair and open access to shipping markets. Although most shipping today enjoys relatively liberalised trading conditions compared to the days of national cargo reservation in the 1980s,shipping is unusual in that it is one of the few major industries not yet covered by a global multilateral trade agreement. However, the prospect of a new agreement under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) looks increasingly uncertain. The industry must therefore be extremely vigilant inreacting to any moves towards protectionism in maritime trades, especially

those using safety and security as a pretext.

The shipping industry does not expect special treatment, or the billions of dollars of support being granted by some governments to the likes of the banking and automobile industries. However, to operate competitively and efficiently in very difficult circumstances, shipping requires the maintenance of a regulatory ‘level playing field’, and continuation of the certainty now provided by the tonnage tax regimes that apply to shipowners in many countries.

Shipping is notoriously volatile, and its more experienced practitioners are familiar with the cyclical boom and bust nature of maritime freight rates.However, the contraction resulting from the general global downturn could well be exacerbated by the large number of new buildings due to come into service during the next few years, notwithstanding efforts by many shipowners to cancel or renegotiate contracts. Many of these ships were ordered at high prices at the top of the market.

In the face of this two-way pressure, there is likely to be a considerable increase in the number of older vessels that will be sent for dismantling and recycling. In view of the adoption, in May 2009, of a new IMO Convention to address concerns about working and environmental conditions in ship recycling yards, the need for governments to identify facilities that are acceptable for use will become all the more pressing.

As the IMO Secretary-General has forcefully identified, financial pressures on the industry must not be allowed to result in any reduction in standards. Much has been achieved in the last 20 years with regard to safety and environmental performance, and no one is suggesting a moratorium on new regulations that genuinely improve safety, which is always the industry’s overriding priority. Ho wever, governments

need to understand that any immediate regulatory and policy decisions they take must avoid impacting negatively on shipping as it struggles to deal with the current economic situation.

Notwithstanding the current gloom and doom, the longer term outlook for the industry remains very good. The world’s population continues to expand, and emerging economies will continue to increase their requirements for the goods and raw materials that shipping transports so safely and efficiently. In the longer term, provided the politicians make sensible decisions, the fact that shipping is the most fuel efficient and carbon friendly form of commercial transport should work in favour of an even greater proportion of world trade being carried by sea.

It is to be hoped that Ministers at the International Transport Forum will

deliver a strong statement in support of the maintenance of open shipping markets, and, more generally, promote an early conclusion of the WTO negotiations for a new global trade agreement.

China has seen order intake rise steadily over the past five years, achieving a share of 13% by 2002. This has been in line with the plans of central government to develop the industry, with major investment in recent years. However, in terms of market share the industry is still well behind the two leaders in Japan and South Korea. Chinese builders focus in particular on tankers and bulk carriers to gain volume but participate in most market sectors apart from the LNG market. China expects to achieve the capability to build LNG carriers in the near future. It is also only recently that China has developed the capability to build large tankers (aframax and above) and the construction of a greater share of the VLCC market is an aim of the industry. A greater share of the container sector, in particular the large ship sector, is also a goal of the industry. To date container ship construction has been restricted to smaller ships only.

The EU industry has seen order intake fall significantly in recent years, in particular due to a downturn in the ordering of cruise ships and loss of share of the container market. Market share in the EU industry is now down to 7%. EU shipyards have lost almost all share of the bulk carrier sector and most of the tanker sector. Container ship market share, the last volume sector in which EU yards have a foothold, has also fallen over the past five years. Increasing reliance has been placed on the passenger and specialised sectors, with shipyards taking a 54% share

of ferry orders in 2002 and almost all cruise ship orders. Having said this, order volume for passenger ships was relatively low in 2002 and order intake into EU shipyards was correspondingly low.

In effect the industry in the EU has had to retrench into a small number of market niches in recen years, predominantly small ships, passenger ships and specialised ships. The cruise market maintained some volume up to 2001 but with a sharp fall in order intake in that sector the industry as a whole has seen order intake and market share plummet.

Japan has seen a steady order intake in recent years, with the market lead alternating with South Korea according to shifts in market and economic conditions. Japan had a very strong market lead in 2002. Japanese shipbuilding’s mai n product is bulk carriers for the home market, making up almost 40% of all orders taken in 2002. Oil and chemical tankers and gas carriers also make up a significant portion of the industry’s business. Japanese shipbuilding has lost a considerable share o f the container ship market to South Korea.

South Korea experienced a significant peak of order intake in 2000 and a relatively steady level in other years. South Korean shipyards took over 50% of the container ship market in 2002, over 40% of the oil tanker market and significant shares of the gas and chemical tanker markets. The industry has tried to exit the bulk carrier sector because of low value, although it has been forced to take orders recently to maintain production volume.

South Korean builders have been trying to pursue a strategy to address the higher value sectors to maximise profitability, in particular the market for LNG carriers. The scope to do this is limited in relation to the volume of work needed to keep the industry in South Korea busy. The product focus tables included in appendix 3 to this report indicate that whilst there was a significant intake of LNG carriers in 2001, ordinarily this sector makes up less than 10% of the total order intake into South Korea. Korean builders have yet to penetrate the passenger ship sector to any significant degree, this being the other high added value sector that the yards may try to pursue. In a typical year up to around 80% of orders will be from the main bulk cargo sectors, tankers, bulk carriers and container ships.

Shipbrokers are intermediaries between the two parties to a contract, whether they are Shipowners and Charterers or buyers and sellers. They may act for one principal and occasionally as the sole broker between the two contracting parties.They will be involved in most aspects of a contract, including circulation of tonnage and business to potential clients, negotiating the main terms of the fixture or sale, finalising the details of the contract and following the contract through to

its conclusion. With few exceptions, virtually all second-hand ship purchases are conducted through a Shipbroker. The decision to buy or sell a vessel can have far reaching consequences for an owner in terms of profitability and market position. Shipbrokers are uniquely positioned to offer clients information on market activity that might not otherwise be available. Whilst such information is free to clients, Shipbrokers must earn their living by concluding sales or fixtures. The matter of trust between Shipbrokers and their clients is absolutely paramount and most Owners and Charterers have good relationships with their Brokers which have taken a considerable time to develop. Through their worldwide network of contacts Shipbrokers have a vast pool of information that is available to their clients on a confidential and competent basis.

Ship brokering, as a profession, has been in vogue since the early days of commercial shipping. Initially the owner of the ship was also the trader – or in other words, the trader was the owner of the ship. He bought goods in one place, carried the goods in his ship to another place and sold it there. As the trade evolved, the trading activity and the shipping activity were separated; the ship owner merely carried cargo from the trader or various traders in one location to another location and handed it over to the buyers. With the evolution in trade specialization in shipping, the role of ship-brokers became more pronounced. The shipbroker was the intermediary who would find ships for the merchants; and cargoes for the ship owners who often traveled with the ship.

The modern day shipping market comprises of, on one side, ship-owners with varying fleet sizes and operators, who though do not own ships but never the less control the commercial operations of ships and on the other side,charterers of varying sizes who control different cargoes – large and small lots; the

ship-broker as an intermediary between the owners and the Charterers. The primary role of the shipbroker remains to be‘finding ships for cargoes and cargoes for ships’ but modern day communication and computing tools are redefining the finer aspects of Shipbroking.

This Paper looks at the role of the shipbrokers in the past, the impact of technology in the profession of ship brokering and the changing role of shipbrokers. The

dry-cargo market is taken for analysis as it is the least standardized shipping market – and perhaps one of the most complicated in terms of practices and commercial operations.

This Paper looks at the role of the shipbrokers in the past, the impact of technology in the profession of ship brokering and the changing role of shipbrokers. The

dry-cargo market is taken for analysis as it is the least standardized shipping market – and perhaps one of the most complicated in terms of practices and commercial operations.

SHIPBROKING

Shipping is an international business. A person dealing with ship-chartering has to work with the conditions prevailing day by day in the international freight market.

A large number of customs and rules of the trade have been established through the years all over the world. These rules and ethics are scrupulously followed by the practitioners worldwide else it is not possible to do business worth millions of dollars with parties across the world at short notice.

Chartering work is essentially a form of exchange of information. It is a business where the right information at the right moment is essential to be successful. Everyone involved in chartering acts, to a large extent, as a collector, judge and distributor of information. Ship broking can be seen as an information network; a network of people as well as technology that facilitates information exchanges. A great deal of the flow of information consists of details on fixtures all over the world. "Making a fixture" means that the parties interested in a specific sea transport contract reach an agreement through negotiations.

The parties involved in a chartering deal are, on the one hand, someone who owns, controls or operates a ship (as an owner, time chartered owner or disponent owner).We shall call him Owner for simplicity. On the other hand, there are persons who require some cargo to be carried by sea transport between two destinations. Normally (but not always) he is the cargo owner. Let us call him charterer. Charterer can act as an owner when he controls the tonnage. There can be various aspects as roles get redefined or can get complex.

Ship-brokers normally specialize in a specific segment of the market; be it dry cargo, chemical, passenger vessels, RORO vessels etc. The various market segments have their own peculiarities and the market behavior is also varied –forcing the practitioners to adopt specializations.

Ship-broking, particularly that of a competitive broker is an opportunity based business. As and when opportunities for new business crop up, the broker has to be on his toes to help conclude the deal. The importance of time is all the more important these days when certain segments of the market see highly volatile fluctuations.

The charterers value the brokers’ information, knowledge, skills for negotiation as well as his perception of the market. As in other businesses, value added services generate goodwill and brokers who offer such services stand out among other ordinary ones.

Chartering Methodology

The chartering methodology is in the process of transformation as a result of the revolutionizing changes brought in by digital communication and computing power.

Instead of a short list of close contacts, every broker now has hundreds of contacts. Each and every business is flashed to these contacts many times – sometimes more than once a day. This is in contrast to the olden days when, due the high cost of telex communication, businesses were given only to a few contacts.

Even after commencement of the negotiation, it is not uncommon for owners (or Charterers) to look at other businesses. They may leave a negotiation half way through and choose to work another business. In the past, once the owner (or charterer) chose a particular business and started negotiations they tried to conclude it. Only if the chosen business fails do they go for another. One could say that the negotiations are no longer focused.

The primary function of a shipbroker representing a ship-owner is to find employment for the ships under the control of his principal (the ship-owner or shipoperator).In the case of a ship broker representing a cargo interest, the

ship-brokers role is to find suitable ships for the cargo which his principal (the charterer) wants to transport. This function requires an in depth knowledge of ship and cargoes, information about Ports, methods of loading and discharging of various cargoes, weather patterns,demand and supply of ships and so forth.

With the advent of digital communication and powerful computing techniques ship- brokers’ network has grown far and wide. Each ship broker gets cargo and ship position from a hundred sources or so – over a thousand emails a day. Each broker circulates his prospective businesses – ships looking for cargoes or cargoes looking for suitable ships- to his contacts. Some of these are re-circulated again and again.

Managing the vast number of email messages received by a ship broker everyday is a challenge in itself. It may appear that simple solutions like filters, ‘rules’ etc can be used to minimize the inflow of messages. But this may not an easy task considering the fact that almost every message with cargo and ship information is a source of information for the shipbroker. It shows the state of the market in terms of demand and supply of ship. Activating filters often sends many of the wanted messages to the ‘junk’ folder.

In the olden times the shipbroker had rather limited reach. Each broker had a few contacts with whom he had interacted regularly using telex as the primary mode ofcommunication. Telex being expensive and less user friendly (relatively), the interaction was limited to bare essentials. Telephone, the other communication method available those days was prohibitively expensive and unreliable when used for long distance contacts. ‘Urgent’ and ‘Lightning’ calls were not connected for hours and hours.

As said earlier, shipbrokers track the market activity closely. It is this information that is used by many owners and Charterers to formulate their business strategies. Large ship brokering houses have set up elaborate research outfits. These research units constantly collect data on a wide range of parameters and analyze them. Analytical reports are given to their clients and associates on a regular basis. The Baltic Exchange and some leading ship brokers publishes information on fixtures (contracts) concluded. They also publish indices on various segments of the market.

The broker is also expected to advise on the possible trends of rates or availability of cargoes or ships etc. For example, if demand for iron ore increases, the ships available for carriage of grain may drop and so much so, the grain freight rates may shoot up. Is it better to go in for long term time charter or prefer spot market for our requirement of space for next 12 months? An experienced broker can give sound advise in such matters.

Disputes are unavoidable in any business deal – particularly when it is carried out across different cultures and under conditions which are dynamic and unpredictable. Although every contract provides a dispute resolution mechanism, the parties to the contract look forward to the intermediaries to anticipate potential dispute areas and take corrective actions. They also look forward to the ship-broker to help resolve any disputes that may come up in spite of the precautions. Ship-brokers, having built up a close rapport with the owner and the charterer are in a position to forge out formulas to find solutions to complicated problems. Commercial prudence can realize that legal disputes take much of time and money and both parties will accept a mutually acceptable and fair solution from a unbiased broker rather go in for costly litigation. Usually the parties to the contract resort to judicial and other dispute resolution mechanisms only after the intermediaries fail.

The process of chartering starts with the pre fixture analysis when the

trader/charterer gives the basic details of the business to his broker (or in – house shipping department) who estimates the achievable freight rate. The broker, in addition to giving the freight rate also advises the trader about important parameters affecting the particular business. Using this information, the trader concludes the sale deed and asks the shipping department or the broker to fix the ship.

The freight market is not a uniform one; it consists of various part markets that are not dependent on each other. The demand and supply and the market behavior of each of these segments are not necessarily inter related. Individual segments behave in their own way. It is not uncommon to see one segment riding the crest of a market boom when another one will be reeling under depressive pressures.

The information and data required for analyzing the market trends for each segment is as different as the various segments in the industry. In addition to supply and

demand, the state of the market also depends on economic situation, price of oil, war,strikes, weather and climatic factors, good or bad harvest, governmental policies, and so on and so forth. The hands-on broker need to have his data base spread over a wide variety of parameters to give meaningful information to his clients.

Owning and operating a commercial ship in international and domestic trades is a complicated process that requires extensive experience and a large amount of capital (which limits entry by people unfamiliar to the business). You can't just buy a ship and sail off for a few months and then resell the ship to launder your money. Shipping is a highly cyclical business with volatile vessel values. Ship operation is very expensive – it costs $5-10,000 minimum per day to operate a ship and if someone does not know what they are doing, the losses can pile up fast.

Offshore companies have been set up for decades with sophisticated structures that even financial institutions have trouble identifying who is the true ship owner - let alone the S&P broker who has no financial data available regarding a single purpose ship owning company.

In the regular course of his business the S+P broker knows the market and what ships are or may become available for sale and who may be interested in purchasing them. The S+P broker provides sales candidates (i.e. a ship) to a buyer, arranges the inspection of the vessel, communicates the negotiations between the buyer / seller leading to an agreement, prepares the sales contract and coordinates the transaction until the ship is delivered and the agreed price is paid.

We estimate that approximately 1,000 large ships are sold worldwide per year and the U.S. brokers may sell 25-50 of those (roughly 2.5-5.0 percent) .There are more than a hundred ship brokerage firms outside of the U.S.that provide sale and purchase services. In the U;S. there is only a handful, so it should be noted that putting restrictions on their activities would put them at a competitive disadvantage with foreign brokers. Regulations must be universal and apply to brokers in all countries – we estimate that 95-97 % of ship sale transactions take place outside of the U.S.If a ship owner has the choice between a foreign broker requiring no disclosure vs. a U.S. broker that requires extensive paperwork and registration, the choice is obvious and the small amount of business that currently gets done will dry up for the Americans.

国际海运业：国际产业的国际规则

Source:[1]Krishna Prasad,Changing Role of Ship-Brokers,Journal of Information Technology,2004

[2]European Community,Overview of the International Commercial

Shipbuilding Industry,First Marine International Limited.2003

[3]ICS,IMO,International shipping:Global Regulation For a Global

Industry,International Chamber of Shipping,2007

在2009年国际航运公会和国际海事组织组织的国际运输论坛模型研讨会上得出的结论。

下面的这些观点是在模型研讨会上的讨论，这次研讨会于2009年5月在德国莱比锡举行。在国际运输论坛上，研讨主题是国际产业的国际规则。

由于国际航运市场辉煌灿烂的几年，产生了许多令人难以忘怀的好的贸易，然而国际海运业却在国际经济下滑中首当其冲。航运业天生就是经济的仆人，在2008信贷危机爆发的伊始，因为国际贸易的波动，导致了国际市场对远洋运输需求的急剧的减少。

最先遭受到重创的应该属于集装箱远洋运输。到了2009年春天，有10%的船队已经被裁掉了，他们当中有很多太先进太贵以至于不能回去回收场。并且，由于干散货运输受中国市场对原材料需求减少的影响，加上即期市场运费价格与巅峰时2008年的价格相比相差过大，国际干散货的贸易受到严重冲击。到了2009年4月份，国际原油运费，国际商品运费和化学品船的运费急剧下滑。总的说来，大部分海运市场呈现出一片颓势。

国际航运公会全国船东联盟的一个主要的担心就是政府可能为了应对危机而采取贸易保护措施。即使现在的大部分的海洋运输具有相对于上世纪80年代较为自由的贸易条件，但是海运业是少数几个没有被全球多边贸易协定包括的行业之一。然而，一个新的在世界贸易组织保护下的协定仍然看起来不确定。海运业必须警惕在远洋贸易中的保护主义行为，尤其是用安全性作为借口的。

国际航运业没有奢求特殊的对待，和像政府对待银行业与汽车产业一样给予大量资金注入。然而，航运业为了在困难的情况下具有竞争力和高效率，它需要保持公平竞争环境的，还有应用在许多国家船东身上的稳定性，这种稳定性是由吨位税政策决定的。

海运业是众所周知的不稳定的行业，并且它的经验丰富的践行者对海运运费的周期起伏相当熟悉。然而，这个由于经济形势下滑导致的阵痛可能会由一

些未来几年投入使用的在建船舶而加重，尽管一些船东使劲浑身解数取消和重新商定合同。很多船都是在市场最旺时以高价定制的。

面对这样的双向压力，很有可能会有大量的老船将会被拆掉或者回收。在这个观点下，在2009年5月，国际海事组织强调了其对拆船厂的工作和环境条件的担忧，迫切需要政府确定哪些设施是可以使用的。

国际海事组织总秘书长已经有力地强调了，即使海运业存在经济压力，但是行业标准不会因此而降低。在过去20年中取得的安全与环境标准，没有人提出在安全性提高方面的暂停，安全性是海运行业的首要问题。并且，政府必须清楚，他们做出的任何管理政策必须不能给海运业带来负面影响，由于海运业要应付目前的经济形势。

尽管目前形势糟糕，长期来看海运业前景还是非常不错的。世界人口持续增长，新兴经济体会对原材料和大宗商品需求持续增加，海运方式是如此的安全和高效。在长期来看，给政客提供了做出合理决定的条件，实际上海运是最节能环保与低碳的运输方式，应该在世界货物运输中占据更大的份额。

国际运输论坛上的总理们被寄予了厚望，论坛将会得出一个保持航运市场开放性的声明，并且，尽快发表出新的国际贸易协定。

中国在过去几年里的订单量开始稳定提高，在2010年达到了13%的市场份额。这与中央政府发展造船行业的政策是分不开的，中央政府进行了很多大的投资。然而在市场份额中，中国仍然落后于世界的两大造船强国日本和韩国。中国的造船企业主要青睐于油轮与散货船的体积，但是很少参与建造液化气船的建造。中国希望在最近几年能获得建造液化气船的能力。中国最近正在发展建造巨型油轮的能力，建造超大型油轮是其产业的目标。集装箱领域也是中国进军的目标之一。到目前为止，也仅仅是造一些小型的集装箱船。

欧盟的造船订单在最近几年大幅下滑，尤其是在游艇和集装箱船的建造上。欧盟的市场份额目前已经下降到7%。欧盟的船厂几乎失去了所有的散货船和油轮的份额。作为欧盟的立足点并占据大量市场份额的集装箱船建造，在最近五年也有所下降。越来越倾向于客船和特殊船的建造，船厂取得了54%的渡轮订单和几乎所有的游轮订单。全世界的客船的订单在2002年有所下降，所以欧盟的客船订单相应也有所下降。

实际上，欧盟的造船行业只占据了很少的市场份额，主要集中在小型船舶，客船上，以及特种船舶上。游轮订单在2009年有所增长，但是随着世界范围内的订单下降，欧洲的游轮订单也有所下滑。

日本近年来的订单很稳定，在市场份额中与韩国轮流领先，市场和经济条件的变化是他们地位此起彼伏的重要原因。日本在2010年有很强的市场份额。日本市场的主要产品是国内需求的散货船，这些散货船几乎占据了2010年订单的40%，油船和化学品船以及液化天然气船同时占据了大量的市场份额。但是，日本在集装箱船的建造上逊色于韩国。

韩国在2008年左右订单量达到了顶峰，在随后几年也基本稳定。韩国的船厂占据了几乎50%的集装箱船市场，40%的油轮市场，并且取得了大量的天然气和化学品船的市场份额。尽管为了保持生产量在近来接了很多散货船单，但由于散货船的低附加值，韩国造船厂正在一直在试图退出散货船的生产。

韩国造船企业的策略是进军高价值的的造船领域，特别是液化天然气船。为了使韩国造船业景气，这些液化天然气船的远远不够的。在2009年，尽管有大量的液化天然气船订单，但是这些船还是不到总订单数的10%。韩国造船企业已经积极进入客船领域，客船是很多船厂追求进入的领域，因为客船同样也是高附加值的船舶。一年中，将近80%造出的船都是散货船，油轮和集装箱船。

船舶经纪人是合同两方的中间商，这两方可以是船东和租船人或者是船舶买家和船舶卖家。船舶经纪人是委托人，有时也是唯一合同双方的唯一经纪人。他们参与有始到终的参与合同的制定，包括潜在客户的经营，商定船舶舾装的有关事宜，销售这些船舶，完成合同的细节，跟踪合同直至合同结束。几乎所有的二手船的买卖都是经过船舶经纪人完成的。买卖一艘船的决定对于盈利能力与市场地位来说具有长远的影响。船舶经纪人处在特俗的独一无二的位置上，他们会为客户提供现在市场上的信息，这些信息有可能不能带来效益。这些信息是对客户免费的，那么船舶经纪人就要通过完成买卖行为取得自己的收入。船舶经纪人与他们客户之间的信任是最重要的，大部分船东和他们的租船人与船舶经纪人有着非常良好的关系，这种关系是经过大量时间培养的。通过他们全世界的联系网络，船舶经纪人有着大量信息给他们的客户，这些信息是非常保密与有竞争性的。

船舶中介，作为一个职业，在海运商业起初就是非常流行的。起初，船舶的拥有者同时也是贸易者，换句话说，船舶的贸易者同时也是船舶的拥有者。他在一个地方买些东西，然后把这些东西带到另一个地方去卖掉。随着贸易的发展，贸易活动和海运活动分分别开来；船主仅仅是把来自很多贸易商的货物从一个地点运送到另一个地点并交给买家。随着船舶运输的专业化，船舶经纪人的角色变得更有发言权了。船舶贸易商是中间商，他能为商人找到想买的船，能为船东找到想运输的货物。当今的船运市场包括，一方面是有船的船东和没有船但是能控制船的操作的运作者，另一方面，做为租船人拥有大量的货物。船舶经纪人作为船东和租船人之间的中间人。船舶经纪人的首要任务还是找到装货的船和找到装船的货。而如今，沟通和计算工具重新定义了船舶经纪人的工作。

这篇文章回顾船舶经纪人过去的角色，科技对船舶经纪的影响以及船舶经纪人角色的变化。干散货市场被用来作为分析因为它是最典型的货运市场，但是就操作与商业实践来说可能是最复杂的。

船运是一个国际产业，一个从事租船的经纪人必须处理每天的国际运输

市场上的很多问题，很多规则与规范通过这么多年已经在全世界范围内建立起来。这些规则与道德标准被实践者们严格的遵守执行，不然的话在短期内与别的国家做成百上千万的生意是不可能的。

租船工作实际上就是一种信息交换的方式。它是一种信息快速及时到达的生意。每一个从事船舶租赁的人，从大的方面说，就是一个信息的收集者，判断者和发布者。船舶经纪可以被看作是信息网；一个由人、服务信息交换的科技组成的网络。在全世界范围内，很大部分信息的流动包括了细节。“做固定”意味着在特定海洋运输的一方可以通过谈判达成共识。

在租船交易的参与方中有拥有船舶，控制船舶和操作船舶的人。我们叫他简单的拥有者。另一方面，有一些人拥有货物，想要把这些货物运送到另一个目的地去。正常来说，他是一个货物拥有者。让我们叫他承租人，承租人也可以是拥有者当他拥有货物的时候。有很多方面会导致角色重新定义或变复杂。

船舶经纪人通常专注于市场的某个部分；可以是干散货、化学品、客船或者是滚装船。每一个市场部分都有自己的独特性并且市场的行为是如此的千变万化，迫使这些参与者采用专业化。

船舶经纪，是一个充满机遇与挑战的行业。当有新的生意突然出现，经纪人就会使劲浑身解数促交易的达成，时间的重要性在今天如此的重要当市场特定的部分有很强的波动性和不稳定性。

承租人会审视经纪人的信息，知识，谈判技巧同时也包括他的市场洞察力。在其他生意里，有附加值的服务会产生好的商誉并且能提供如此的经纪人会脱颖而出。

租船方法论是一种过程的转变，作为由数位传输和计算效率带来的革命性变化的结果。

每一个船舶经纪人除了有一个密切联系的名单外，还有很多的联系人。每一单生意都会在这些联系人中产生，有的时候，每天多于一次。这与过去的情况大相径庭，由于电报传输的高成本，过去生意只在一个联系人当中进行。

即使在谈判开始以后，承租人去看其他生意是不常见。他们将会把谈判进行到一半如果做其他生意。在过去，一旦承租人选择了一个生意并且开始谈判，他们通常希望它有结果。除非生意不能谈成他们采取找下一个。现在谈判可以说不像以前一样专注了。

租船市场现在已经不仅取决于供给和需求，并且取决于很多其他的因素。

船东的船舶经纪人的最主要的职能就是使他的船在他的原则下受到雇佣。如果一个船舶经纪人代表的是货主，那么船舶经纪人的职责就是为货主找到一艘符合他的条件的船。这个能力需要有对船舶和货物很强的知识，关于港口的信息，卸各种货的方法，气候，以及船舶供需方面的信息。

随着数位传输和强大计算技术的到来，经纪人的网络开始变得宽而广。每一个船舶经纪人从各种各样的渠道了解到船舶和货物的信息，通过每天上千封邮件。每一个船舶经纪人循环他的预期的生意——为货物找船和为船找货物，通过他的联系，很多这些是再循环往复的。

管理船舶经纪人每天收到的大量的邮件本身就是个挑战。可以有简单的办法像过滤器。规则这类的可以最大限度的减少信息的流入。这可不是一个简单的任务因为考虑到每封邮件的信息都可能对船舶经纪人有用。它能反映出市场现在供需情况。活跃的过滤器经常将很多想要的信息直接送到垃圾箱。

在过去的日子里，船舶经纪人的接触范围很有限。每一个船舶经纪人会和他总联系的人有一些接触，这些联系主要都是通过电报完成的。电传比较贵并且用起来不是很友好（相对的），交流仅仅是核心内容。电话，一个如今广泛使用的联系方式非常贵不说，而且在长途中很不可靠。紧急与闪电电话不是能成小时打的。

此前提到，船舶经纪人非常关注市场动态。根据得到的信息为很多船东和承租人制定商业决策。

大的船舶中介已经建立了，用来分析研究结果。这些研究单位经常收集大范围的收集数据并且分析它们。分析报告会经常送到客户手里。波罗地海交易所和一些领先的船舶经纪人出版了很多信息册，他们还经常根据市场情况发布各种指数。

船舶经纪人同时会提供关于货物和船舶走势的信息。例如，如果对铁矿石需求增加，对谷物的船舶的量就会下降，那么谷物的运费价就会上升。我是应该长期租船呢还是只为我们的需求而短租一年呢？一个资深的船舶经纪人会在这种问题上给你建议。

在任何生意中，意见分歧都是无法避免的，尤其是在不同文化和各种突发不可预兆的条件下。即使每一个合同都提供了问题解决机制，但是合同的双方都希望中间人能预料到以后存在问题的地方并且采取正确的行动。他们同时希望船舶经纪人能帮助他们解决突发问题。船舶经纪人，与船东和承租人建立起了非常好的关系在遇到复杂问题时能找到合理的解决方法。商业谨慎将使他们意识到遇到问题采取法律行动是很劳民伤财的，双方都希望中间人能帮助解决这个问题而不愿去打官司。通常，合同双方只会在中间人无能为力时才采取诸如法律等的解决方法。

承租开始于当船东或者承租人把生意的具体细节给他的经纪人后经纪人的分析，经纪人负责估计可以达到的运费。经纪人除了报出运费价同时向船东介绍对于这个项目的一些影响因素。通过这些信息，船东同意交易并且让中间人操作船舶。

运输市场不是一个一成不变的市场；存在很多变数。有的时候供给和需求，包括市场活动者的行为都不是完全匹配。非常容易看到一些当别人巨大压

力下的时候他们已经市场的顶峰。

需要进行分析市场趋势的信息和数据都是各不相同的。除了供给和需求，市场的情况同样受到经济形势的影响，原油价格，战争，罢工，天气气候因素，收成好坏，政府政策等等这些因素都会有影响。亲自动手的中间人需要这些数据考虑面非常广，这样才能给客户有价值的信息。

拥有并且控制一条商船在国内国际跑贸易是一个非常发杂的过程，这个过程需要非常深厚的经验并且大量的资本（这样会导致很多不懂行的人无法进入这个行业）。你不能就是买一条船然后航行它几个月然后再把它卖掉。海运业是一个循环往复的行业。船的运转非常昂贵，运行一天就将消费5000至10000美元，如果不能明确目的，那么花费会更多。

在平常的生意中，S+P船舶经纪人非常了解市场，并且知道什么船舶是可以销售的和谁将会有兴趣购买他们。S+P经纪人提供后备船舶买家，安排查看船舶，在买家与卖家之间进行沟通谈判，力图达成交易，准备销售合同协调交易知道交船并且所有款项付齐。

我们预计每年世界范围内会成交1000艘大型船舶，而美国只能销售25-50艘（2.5%~5%）。在美国之外有100多家船舶中介公司，提供销售和购买服务。在美国，不应该对船舶中介人施加规定，不然的话，他们在与国外中介竞争的时候将会处于劣势。规定应该是全世界范围的，应用于所有国家的。我们预计95~97%的船舶买卖都是在美国之外发生的。如果一个船舶买家有两个选择：在国外买没有一些披露，或者是在国内买但是需要很多手续和文件并且还有法律规定，将会很明显这些寻求国外的买家。