How Shipfixing works
Your company
- Sign up with your company email. Free addresses (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo …) are not accepted.
- Confirm the link we email to your company address; then your company can post and offer.
- Invite colleagues from Company > Add member. They need an address on the same company domain; a company has up to 5 people. The admin of the company decides about plans and payments.
- A company always has at least one admin. An admin cannot be removed; change the person to a member first, after another member has become an admin.
- Close company account (company menu, admins only) is possible when the company has no open postings, no open offers and no ships in its fleet. Postings, offers and payments stay on record; a paid plan is not renewed.
Without an account
- On the front page, fill in the search and press Search ships. We ask only for your company email: one tick confirms your request and the terms.
- Open the confirmation link we email you. We review your request, and once it is approved we search for suitable ships; offers from ship operators come directly to your email. No password is needed.
- Later you can add your company name and a password to follow your requests and offers on the dashboard.
Types of charter
- Voyage charter: the ship carries your cargo from the loading port to the discharging port; ship operators quote freight.
- Trip time charter: one trip from the delivery port to the redelivery port; ship operators quote a daily hire.
- Time charter: a period (months or years) with agreed delivery and redelivery; ship operators quote a daily hire.
- COA (contract of affreightment) is a separate service: contact Shipfixing.
Plans
- Basic (no cost): voyage charter for ships below 10,000 DWT. Silver (USD 199 a year): adds trip and time charter for ships below 10,000 DWT. Gold (USD 499 a year): ships of 10,000 – 39,999 DWT. Platinum (USD 999 a year): ships of 40,000 DWT and above.
- A plan belongs to the company, not to a person; a higher plan includes everything below it. See Plans and prices.
- If your company's plan does not cover a posting, the posting form tells you which plan is needed and the posting cannot be sent until the company has that plan. Choose it on the Plans page, then post.
Payments
- Payments are made by card on Stripe's secure page; Shipfixing does not see or keep your card details. Prices are in US dollars.
- Plans and ship fees renew every year by themselves. Manage billing (on your dashboard and in Company settings) lets the company admin change the card, download invoices and cancel; a cancelled plan stays open until the end of the paid year.
- You can move to a higher plan at any time; Stripe charges only the difference for the rest of the year. Every payment has a number (SF-PAY) and you get an email for it.
Posting a cargo
- Choose the type of charter, the type of ship and its capacity. The posting form tells you if the size or type needs a higher plan.
- After Submit we email a confirmation link to the company address. After you confirm it (within 24 hours) we review the posting, and once it is approved it becomes active. Then we scan for suitable ships and send it to their ship operators.
- Each company can make 20 postings a month; they renew on the first day of each month. A pack of 10 extra postings costs USD 49 (at most one a month) and does not expire. Editing a posting is always free.
Offers and negotiation
- Ship operators send offers with a ship, a freight or hire and an offer validity. You see them under Offers on your posting.
- Start negotiation with one ship operator at a time. When you start, your company name, personal name and email address are sent to the ship operator, which then writes to you by email; Shipfixing does not take part.
- You can also send a counteroffer on an offer. A counteroffer changes the price only (freight or hire); the ship, dates, ports and quantity stay as offered. It is valid for the time the sender chooses, from 15 minutes to 24 hours, and expires by itself. The ship operator can accept it and start the negotiation, counter the price again or decline it. Whoever starts a negotiation shares their company name, personal name and email address with the other company.
- Close the negotiation as Fixed or Failed. Fixed needs both sides: one of you marks it Fixed and the other confirms it; then the posting is closed. Either side can mark it Failed, which brings the posting back to Active.
Ships and offers
- A company admin adds ships in My fleet > Add ship. Each ship has a yearly ship member fee by its DWT: USD 49 (below 10,000 DWT), USD 99 (10,000 – 39,999 DWT), USD 149 (40,000 DWT and above). The fee is paid on the next page, and the ship joins your fleet when it is paid; then it can send offers. There is no separate company fee.
- When a posting is suitable for one of your ships, we email you with a "Make an offer" link.
- Removing a ship from your fleet stops the renewal of its fee.
Notifications
- The bell at the top shows what happened: new offers, confirmations, negotiations, payments. Every email carries a number (SF-P for postings, SF-O for offers, SF-PAY for payments) you can quote to us.
Common questions
I did not get the confirmation email.
Check the spam folder of your company address. From your dashboard, the posting's Actions menu has "Send confirmation email again". The link works for 24 hours.
How do you choose the ships?
We scan our fleet database for ships that are suitable for your posting and send it to their ship operators.
Can I change a posting after it is live?
Yes. Open the posting and choose Update posting. The type of charter, the ports, the laycan and the ship size stay as posted. Editing does not use a posting from your monthly allowance.
Why can I not post more today?
A company can make 20 postings a month, and there is also a daily limit. The message on the page tells you when the next one is possible.
The posting form says my plan does not cover it.
The size of the ship or the type of charter needs a higher plan. Choose it on the Plans page (Stripe charges only the difference for the rest of the year), then send the posting again.
How do I cancel a plan or a ship fee?
The company admin opens Manage billing and cancels. It stays open until the end of the paid year and does not renew. To stop a ship fee, you can also remove the ship from your fleet.
Can I get a refund?
Payments are not refundable as a rule. If something went wrong, write to us below with the SF-PAY number.
I wrote to you without an account. Why do I need to confirm?
So that we know the company email is really yours. Your message reaches us when you open the link we email you (within 24 hours).
Why am I asked to wait when I sign in?
After several wrong passwords in a row we ask for a quick check that you are a person (Google reCAPTCHA, invisible), and after five wrong tries sign-in pauses for 15 minutes. Wait, or use Forgot password on the sign-in page to choose a new one.
How do I stop the Shipfixing news emails?
Use the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any news email. Only the news stops. Emails about your postings, offers, negotiations, payments and account keep coming, because they are part of the service.
Where do I see my agreed deals?
Open Fixtures in the menu: it lists the deals that both sides marked Fixed, with the ship, route, dates and the agreed freight. Only the two companies of a deal can see it.
How do I add a colleague?
A company admin opens Company > Add member and invites the colleague's company email. The colleague signs up from the link in the email.
What do the plans cost?
See Plans and prices. Basic has no cost; Silver, Gold and Platinum are yearly plans for each company, by the size of the ship you ask for and the type of charter. Paid plans show a badge next to your company name.
Write to us
We answer by email, usually within one working day. You can also write to support@shipfixing.com.
