Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services

What Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services does

Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services Inc (operating as PNW) is a privately held ship agency incorporated in British Columbia, Canada, and headquartered in North Vancouver. Founded in 1994, the company self-describes as the largest ship agency on Canada's west coast and operates from two offices — North Vancouver (headquarters, 157 Chadwick Ct) and Prince Rupert (344 2nd Avenue West) — coordinating vessel traffic and cargo handling across all tidewater ports in British Columbia. Its customer base consists of Canada's largest commercial shippers of raw materials, agricultural products, and manufactured goods, as well as vessel operators requiring agency services; notable engagements include multi-year collaboration with DOCKWISE on heavy-lift and semi-submersible vessel projects for yachts, naval vessels, ferries, and infrastructure components.

The company's service portfolio spans ship agency, cargo handling coordination, customs brokerage, and vessel traffic management across diverse cargo categories including grain, concentrates, logs, potash, project cargo, steel, sulphur, and yachts. Its operational footprint is built on a network of more than 18 terminal partnerships covering Vancouver, North Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Stewart, Nanaimo, Port Moody, Surrey, Delta, Squamish, and Howe Sound — including partnerships with Westshore Terminals, Richardson International, G3 Terminal, Pembina Vancouver Wharves, and Pacific Coast Terminals. The company provides 24/7 availability and markets its regulatory expertise in Canadian shipping and environmental rules as well as Port of Vancouver-specific requirements.

The business model is professional services-based, with revenue generated through ship agency fees and cargo handling coordination priced per engagement (no public pricing). The go-to-market is direct, sales-led B2B targeting enterprise commercial shippers and vessel operators. There is no productized technology, no proprietary software platform, no mobile app, no API, and no disclosed AI/ML capabilities — the company is fundamentally an operations- and relationships-driven intermediary between vessel operators and terminal operators.

Name

Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services

Legal name

Pacific Northwest Ship & Cargo Services Inc

Website

https://pnwship.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services is a privately held ship agency headquartered in North Vancouver, BC, operating as the largest ship agency on Canada's west coast. It coordinates vessel traffic and cargo handling across all British Columbia tidewater ports for enterprise commercial shippers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ship Agency and Maritime Logistics Services

NAICS

Marine Cargo Handling (488320), Navigational Services to Shipping (488330)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTLAHALAH

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

Transportation & Logistics/Ports, Terminals & Maritime Services/Port Equipment & Terminal Operations Services (Stevedoring, Cargo Handling, Gear Rental)

SECONDARYTLACABAF

Ocean Export Forwarding (Booking/VGM/SI/BL)

Transportation & Logistics/Freight Forwarding & Customs Brokerage/Ocean Freight Forwarding (FCL/LCL)

SECONDARYTLACABAE

Ocean Import Forwarding (Destination Handling/DO/ISF)

Transportation & Logistics/Freight Forwarding & Customs Brokerage/Ocean Freight Forwarding (FCL/LCL)

Keywords

• Ship agency services
• Cargo handling services
• Vessel traffic management
• Port logistics services
• Customs brokerage services

Headquarters

HQ city

North Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ship Agency and Cargo Services: Revenue generated through ship agency services, facilitating the transfer of cargo through Canadian ports. Services include customs brokerage, cargo handling coordination, and vessel traffic management across British Columbia tidewater ports.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services is a ship agency that represents commercial import and export interests by facilitating the transfer of essential cargo through Canadian ports to the Pacific. The company provides vessel traffic management, customs brokerage, and cargo handling coordination across all British Columbia tidewater ports, handling grains, concentrates, logs, potash, steel, sulphur, project cargo, and yacht transport for Canada's largest shippers of raw materials, agricultural products, and manufactured goods.

Product overview

Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services operates as a ship agency providing comprehensive vessel and cargo handling services across all British Columbia tidewater ports. The company serves as the largest ship agency on Canada's west coast, offering specialized cargo handling for various commodity types including grains, concentrates, logs, potash, steel, sulphur, and project cargo. The service portfolio includes both standard cargo handling and specialized services for breakbulk and special cargo such as yachts, infrastructure components (trains, highway sections), and naval vessels. The company manages operations through multiple terminals across the province.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ship Agency Services Comprehensive ship agency services for vessel traffic at all tidewater ports in British Columbia, acting as the commercial representative for import/export interests of large shippers; includes vessel traffic management, customs brokerage, and cargo handling coordination.
• Grain Cargo Handling Handling of grain cargo including wheat, barley, peas and other grain by-products at terminals such as Alliance Grain Terminal and Prince Rupert Grain for export through Canadian west coast ports.
• Concentrates Cargo Handling Handling of mineral concentrates cargo for transport through Canadian ports.
• Logs Cargo Handling Handling of log cargo for export through British Columbia ports.
• Potash Cargo Handling Handling of potash cargo for international export through Canadian ports.
• Project Cargo Handling Specialized handling of project cargo including oversized equipment, infrastructure components, and special cargo such as vessels and trains, often using semi-submersible heavy-lift vessels.
• Steel Cargo Handling Handling of steel products cargo for export through British Columbia ports.
• Sulphur Cargo Handling Handling of sulphur cargo for industrial export through Canadian ports.
• Yacht Transport Services Specialized yacht transport services including gathering yachts and transporting them on mother ships for delivery to owners on the west coast of Canada and Alaska.
• Terminal Operations Coordination Coordination of operations across multiple BC terminals including Vancouver, North Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Stewart, Nanaimo, Port Moody, Surrey, Delta, and Squamish for various cargo types, leveraging terminal partnerships with operators such as Cascadia, Pacific Elevators, G3 Terminal, Lynnterm, Pembina Vancouver Wharves, Richardson International, Neptune, Fraser Grain Terminal, Pacific Coast Terminals, Trigon Terminals, Prince Rupert Grain, Westshore Terminals, Squamish Terminals, Duke Point Deep Sea Terminal, Stewart Bulk Terminals, Fibreco, Howe Sound Pulp and Paper, and Lantic Sugar.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CascadiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership for grain and forest products handling at Vancouver facilities.
• Pacific ElevatorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for grain elevator services in Vancouver.
• G3 TerminalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with G3 for grain terminal operations in North Vancouver.
• LynntermcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership in North Vancouver for various cargo handling.
• Pembina Vancouver WharvescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for terminal operations and cargo handling at Vancouver facilities.
• Richardson InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Richardson International for grain handling services.
• NeptunecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership for cargo handling operations.
• Fraser Grain TerminalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrain terminal partnership in Surrey, BC for agricultural product handling.
• Pacific Coast TerminalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership in Port Moody for various cargo handling.
• Trigon TerminalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership in Prince Rupert for cargo operations.
• Prince Rupert GraincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrain terminal partnership in Prince Rupert for agricultural exports.
• Westshore TerminalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor terminal partnership in Delta for coal and other bulk cargo handling.
• Squamish TerminalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership in Squamish for various cargo handling.
• Duke Point Deep Sea TerminalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeep sea terminal partnership in Nanaimo for coastal cargo operations.
• Stewart Bulk TerminalsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerminal partnership in Stewart for bulk cargo handling.
• FibrecominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Fibreco in Howe Sound for forest products handling.
• Howe Sound Pulp and PaperminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership at Port Mellon for pulp and paper products.
• Lantic SugarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership at Nanaimo Assembly Wharf for sugar handling.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• V. Group (V.Ships): Global ship management and marine services group that includes port agency capabilities — comparable to PNW as a multi-service maritime support provider with vessel-side coordination expertise.
• Mercandia: International ship agency offering vessel husbandry and port services across multiple regions — directly comparable agency model and customer set (ship owners/operators and charterers).
• Norton Lilly International: North American ship agency and maritime logistics provider focused on vessel husbandry, port agency, and cargo coordination — direct peer in the same regional service category as PNW.
• GAC Group: Global ship agency providing vessel call coordination, husbandry, and cargo handling services across hundreds of ports worldwide — directly comparable service offering to PNW, albeit at much larger scale.
• Inchcape Shipping Services: Major global ship agency offering port agency, vessel husbandry, and marine services across key trade lanes — directly competes for the same vessel-call and cargo-handling coordination work PNW performs in BC.
• Wilhelmsen Ships Service: Global ship agency and maritime services provider with extensive port agency and husbandry operations — directly comparable offering to PNW across multiple commodities and vessel types.
• Pan Ocean Shipping Agencies: Ship agency providing vessel call coordination and cargo handling support — comparable service scope to PNW for bulk and breakbulk trades.

Broad incumbents

• C.H. Robinson: Global freight forwarder and 3PL with significant ocean freight, customs brokerage, and project cargo capabilities — adjacent incumbent whose North American ocean services overlap with PNW's import/export coordination work.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Global logistics integrator with extensive ocean freight forwarding, customs, and specialized project cargo forwarding capabilities — broader incumbent with overlap on PNW's customs brokerage and breakbulk coordination work.
• Maersk: Integrated ocean carrier and logistics provider with significant port-side and end-to-end cargo coordination capabilities — broad incumbent whose Vancouver port operations and logistics arm compete for the same shipper customers as PNW.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pacific-northwest-ship-and-cargo-services

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Pacific NorthWest Ship and Cargo Services