Sea Transportation Services

What Sea Transportation Services does

Sea Transportation Services Inc., operating under the registered alias STS Group, is a Jacksonville, Florida-based privately held maritime transportation company founded in 1987 and incorporated in Delaware. The company provides contract carriage, common carriage, ship owning, ship chartering, and ship management services for waterborne cargo worldwide, with a specialization in project cargo, heavy lift, and specialized vessels including dry cargo ships, ice-strengthened multipurpose heavy lift vessels, roll-on/roll-off vessels, tankers, and ocean-going barges and tugs. Operations are executed through a network of six wholly-owned affiliated principals — Occidental Services Corporation and Occidental Chartering Inc. (contract carriers/bareboat operators), Total Ocean Marine Services Inc. (common carrier), Banyan Investment Group Ltd. (ship owner), Dontrex Shipping Company (bareboat operator), and Oxyship Limited (ship management) — which together have completed over 500 charter contracts involving vessels up to 70,000 deadweight tons.

The company serves government entities (military equipment, construction equipment, infrastructure projects for the governments of Morocco, Ethiopia, Algeria, Chile, Ghana, and Panama), oil and gas majors (Occidental Petroleum, PDVSA Services, Petroleos Mexicanos, Chevron, Halliburton), and industrial manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, Alcoa, Arcelor International, Bechtel), with named engagements spanning project cargo delivery, drilling rig transport, and specialized module movement. The business model is enterprise field sales, direct engagement, and quote-based per-contract pricing rather than disclosed rates; revenue mechanics are transaction-fee driven through charter contracts, bareboat and time charters, and ship management fees.

Despite a 35-year operating history and global reach across 18+ countries, STS Group operates with an unusually lean headcount of 1-10 employees, indicating that scale is delivered through the affiliated principal and vessel network rather than direct labor. The firm has no disclosed external funding, no AI/ML capabilities, no API or integration footprint, and minimal digital marketing presence, positioning it as a relationship-driven niche specialist in a segment of the ocean freight market where generalist container carriers do not compete.

Name

Sea Transportation Services

Legal name

Sea Transportation Services Inc.

Website

https://stsgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sea Transportation Services Inc. (STS Group) is a Jacksonville-based maritime firm that arranges contract carriage, ship owning, and chartering for project and heavy lift cargo worldwide, serving governments and multinational corporations through a network of six affiliated principals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Shipping and Cargo Transportation

NAICS

Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation (48311), Deep Sea Freight Transportation (483111), Water Transportation (483)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400), Deep Sea Foreign Transportation Of Freight (4412)

akta.pro primary industry

Breakbulk & Project Cargo Handling (Heavy Lift, Out-of-Gauge Handling) (TLAHALAH)

Keywords

• Maritime cargo transportation
• Project cargo shipping
• Heavy lift vessels
• Ship chartering services
• Ocean freight logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Jacksonville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Contract Carrier Services: Contract carriage operations for project and special heavy lift cargo on behalf of principals including Occidental Services Corporation and Occidental Chartering Inc. Engages in worldwide trading for governments and multinational corporations.
2. Ship Owning and Chartering: Managing vessel operations through Banyan Investment Group, Dontrex Shipping Company, and Oxyship Limited for short and long term contracts in liquid and dry cargo transport. Provides vessels under bareboat and time charters.
3. Ship Chartering Operations: Appears as charterer in over 500 charter contracts involving vessels up to 70,000 deadweight tons for trip and period employment from unrelated ship owners worldwide.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Sea Transportation Services (STS Group) provides worldwide waterborne cargo transportation through contract carrier operations, ship owning and management, and ship chartering services. The company specializes in project and heavy lift cargo for governments and multinational corporations, operating a diverse fleet including dry cargo ships, ice-strengthened multipurpose heavy lift vessels, roll-on roll-off vessels, tankers, and ocean-going barges and tugs.

Product overview

STS Group is a maritime transportation company that operates as a unified platform offering contract carrier operations, ship owning, and ship chartering services. The company, founded in 1987, provides waterborne cargo transportation through its network of principals including Occidental Services Corporation (Contract Carrier), Occidental Charting Inc. (Contract Carrier/Bareboat Ship Operator), Total Ocean Marine Services Inc. (Common Carrier), Banyan Investment Group Ltd. (Ship Owner), Dontrex Shipping Company (Bareboat Ship Operator), and Oxyship Limited (Ship Management). Their fleet includes dry cargo ships, self-sustaining general cargo vessels, ice strengthened multipurpose heavy lift vessels, roll on roll off vessels, tankers, and ocean going barges and tugs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 charter contracts completed

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Occidental Chartering Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContract Carrier / Bareboat Ship Operator. Part of the STS Group network, engaging in worldwide trading on project and special heavy lift cargo contract business for over 20 years.
• Occidental Services CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContract Carrier operating as a principal of STS Group. Engages in worldwide trading on project and special heavy lift cargo contract business.
• Total Ocean Marine Services Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommon Carrier operating as a principal of STS Group for waterborne cargo transportation.
• Banyan Investment Group Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShip Owner operating as a managing owner for STS Group. Operates vessels in short and long term contracts for liquid and dry cargo transport.
• Dontrex Shipping CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBareboat Ship Operator managing vessels for STS Group in various short and long term contracts for liquid and dry cargo transportation.
• Oxyship LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShip Management company operating as a principal of STS Group, providing management services for vessels engaged in various contracts.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Intermarine (BOA Group): U.S.-based project and breakbulk ocean carrier with a fleet of multipurpose/heavy-lift vessels. Overlaps directly with STS in serving Americas-headquartered project cargo customers.
• BBC Chartering: One of the world's largest operators of multipurpose and project/heavy-lift vessels. Directly comparable to STS in servicing oversized, breakbulk, and project cargo on global trades to similar government and industrial clients.
• Rickmers Group: Specializes in heavy-lift, project cargo, and breakbulk shipping, with a fleet profile similar to STS. Competes for the same oversized cargo tenders in energy and infrastructure markets.
• Spliethoff Group: Dutch shipping group operating a diversified fleet including multipurpose, heavy-lift, and Ro-Ro vessels serving project cargo and industrial clients globally. Competes for the same heavy-lift, project-cargo contracts as STS.
• dship Carriers (Carl Büttner): Operates a fleet of multipurpose heavy-lift vessels focused on project cargo worldwide. Competes for similar breakbulk/heavy-lift contracts in the same addressable market.
• AAL Shipping ( Schoeller Holdings ): Global project cargo and breakbulk carrier operating a large fleet of multipurpose heavy-lift vessels. Directly competes with STS on oversized cargo contracts across similar trade lanes.
• Hartmann Project Logistics: German-based specialist in project cargo, heavy lift forwarding and ocean chartering. Operates in the same niche (project/heavy-lift ocean transport) and addresses similar energy and government clients.

Broad incumbents

• COSCO Shipping Heavy Lift: Division of COSCO with significant heavy-lift and project-cargo capacity. Larger, broader incumbent addressing similar energy and infrastructure project cargo tenders; not niche-specialized like STS but a key competitor on larger tenders.

Others

• Columbia Shipmanagement: Independent ship management company providing technical management services. Comparable to the Oxyship Limited principal within STS's structure as an outsourced fleet management provider.
• Worldwide Project Consortium ( WWPC ): Global network of project-cargo forwarders and breakbulk carriers. Adjacent ecosystem organization that competes with STS for project-cargo brokered opportunities while also serving as a potential channel partner.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sea Transportation Services