World Wide Shipping

What World Wide Shipping does

World Wide Shipping is a privately held boutique ship brokerage firm headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1978, the firm operates with a small team of around 9 employees and serves enterprise clients in the shipping industry through a deeply relationship-based model. The firm is owned by Ian Smortchevsky, who serves as Director and President, with Steve Williams joining as partner in 2019 and Hugo Brent FICS added as Chartering Manager in 2025.

The company's core offering is ship brokerage, facilitating the relationships between cargo owners and vessel operators through pre-fixture collaboration, negotiations, and post-fixture voyage tracking and settlement. Around this core, the firm has built four additional service lines: Consultancy for logistics strategy optimization, Laytime Specialists for demurrage claims computation and negotiation, Voyage Management for real-time monitoring and settlement, and Market Reporting through a weekly WWS Market Intelligence Report covering freight rates, FFA contracts, and bunker hedge pricing. The technology stack is not publicly disclosed; the firm emphasizes human expertise, sophisticated data tracking, and global connections rather than proprietary software.

The business model is transaction-fee based, with revenue generated through brokerage commissions on shipping fixtures. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and appears quote-based given the bespoke nature of the work. Geographic go-to-market is described as global through direct client engagement, with no partnership or intermediary channels. There are no publicly named customer logos, no disclosed funding rounds, no awards, and no patents or trademarks listed, consistent with the firm's positioning as a discreet, relationship-driven boutique.

Name

World Wide Shipping

Legal name

World Wide Shipping

Website

https://worldwidevan.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

World Wide Shipping is a privately held boutique ship brokerage firm based in North Vancouver, BC, that connects cargo owners with vessel operators through brokerage commissions, voyage management, laytime claims, consultancy, and weekly market intelligence for enterprise shipping clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Shipping Brokerage Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTLADAMAF

Ocean Freight Brokerage (FCL/LCL)

Transportation & Logistics/Freight Transportation (Air, Maritime, Rail, Trucking)/Freight Brokerage Services

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 brokerage services
• Maritime consultancy
• Laytime demurrage
• Voyage management
• Maritime market intelligence

Headquarters

HQ city

North Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ship Brokerage Services: Boutique brokerage services facilitating shipping relationships. Revenue generated through brokerage commissions on shipping transactions, including pre-fixture collaboration, negotiations, offer requests, post-fixture voyage tracking and settlement, and documentation services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

World Wide Shipping is a boutique ship brokerage firm that facilitates shipping relationships for cargo owners, charterers, and vessel owners worldwide. The firm offers an integrated suite of services including ship brokerage (pre-fixture collaboration, negotiations, post-fixture voyage tracking, and documentation), maritime consultancy, laytime and demurrage computation and settlement, real-time voyage management, and weekly market intelligence reporting on freight rates, FFA contracts, and bunker hedge pricing.

Product overview

World Wide Shipping operates as a boutique shipping brokerage firm offering a unified suite of integrated services. The core offerings include Ship Brokerage (providing market intelligence, negotiations, and documentation), Consultancy (logistics optimization and shipping strategies), Laytime Specialists (demurrage claims computation and settlement), Voyage Management (real-time tracking), and Market Reporting (weekly intelligence reports on freight rates and industry news). These services are designed to work together, with the brokerage serving as the primary customer-facing department while consultancy, laytime, and voyage management provide specialized supporting functions throughout the shipping process.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ship Brokerage Dedicated brokerage services providing market intelligence, pre-fixture collaboration, offer requests and negotiations, post-fixture voyage tracking, settlement calculations, and full documentation requirements including certificates of origin, bills of lading, commercial invoices, and insurance certificates for shipping industry clients.
• Consultancy Maritime consulting services that develop cost-effective solutions, optimize logistical procedures, and improve transportation and shipping strategies through close collaboration on unique client needs in the shipping industry.
• Laytime Specialists Specialized services for computing, negotiating, and settling laytime and demurrage claims, including elapsed time calculations, exclusions handling, and quick settlement to save clients time and money in shipping disputes.
• Voyage Management Real-time voyage monitoring with proactive engagement with vessel owners, providing accurate up-to-the-minute information throughout all stages of the voyage from inception to completion and settlement for shipping clients.
• Market Reporting Weekly WWS Market Intelligence Report covering freight rates, market commentary, FFA contract analysis, bunker hedge pricing for forecasting tools, trend analysis, and up-to-date industry news for shipping industry clients.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Howe Robinson Partners: Mid-sized shipbroker offering chartering, sale & purchase, and research services. Closely comparable to WWS in scale and relationship-driven boutique model, particularly on container and dry bulk chartering, making it one of the most direct peer firms.
• Poten & Partners: US-based shipbroker specializing in tankers and energy-related ocean transport. Comparable to WWS in the shipbrokerage function with a more focused niche on energy commodities; similar boutique-style client engagement and comparable scale relative to global incumbents.
• Maersk Broker: Shipbroker arm of the Maersk Group offering chartering, sale & purchase, and vessel operations services. Comparable to WWS in core ocean chartering brokerage; Maersk Broker has the scale advantage of being part of one of the world's largest shipping groups but operates the same fundamental brokerage model.
• Galbraith's: Independent shipbroker covering dry cargo, tankers, and sale & purchase. Comparable to WWS as a long-standing independent brokerage with a comparable mid-sized footprint and traditional relationship-based model serving charterers and shipowners.
• Eastaway Shipbrokers: Independent shipbroker specializing in chartering and sale & purchase. Closely comparable to WWS in scale, boutique positioning, and relationship-driven brokerage model — frequently competes for similar dry cargo and project cargo mandates.
• BRS Brokers (Barry Roglinde Salles): International shipbroker with a strong presence across dry cargo, tankers, and containers. Directly comparable to WWS in providing ocean chartering brokerage with global reach; BRS is one of the most frequently cited peers for boutique and mid-sized shipbrokers alike.

Broad incumbents

• Braemar ACM: Global shipbroker and maritime services provider covering tankers, dry cargo, and sale & purchase. Comparable to WWS as a shipbroker with both brokerage and broader advisory services; significantly larger scale and global footprint.
• Clarkson PLC: World's largest shipbroker and shipping services group, listed on the LSE. Directly comparable to WWS in offering ocean chartering brokerage, with a much broader portfolio (research, financial, ports) and global office network — Clarksons is the dominant incumbent against which a boutique like WWS competes for fixtures and clients.
• Fearnleys: Norwegian-headquartered global shipbroker with strong North American presence, covering sale & purchase, chartering, and research. Comparable to WWS in ocean chartering brokerage; Fearnleys competes for similar West Coast bulk and tanker mandates and represents a typical global incumbent benchmark.
• Simpson Spence Young (SSY): Large global shipbroker covering tankers, dry bulk, and offshore. Comparable to WWS in core ocean chartering brokerage services; SSY is a well-established mid-to-large incumbent with broader geographic reach and a similar relationship-driven model, competing directly for chartering mandates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/world-wide-shipping-chartering-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 World Wide Shipping