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Led by Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum
The foundation course of the maritime series, following the coverage of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers' Introduction to Shipping syllabus. Nine modules survey the whole commercial shipping industry — the geography of trade, why ships exist, what they carry and where, the vessels, the contracts and law of carriage, registration and classification, the practitioners, and basic accounting. Led by the Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum, with carriage law taught by Lord Mansfield, registration and classification by Samuel Plimsoll, and accounting by Penelope Smythe-Bottomley.
Led by Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum
The question
Where is the cargo, and where does it need to go? This module lays out the commercial geography that underlies all sea trade: the major economic regions and why goods originate in some and are consumed in others; what actually makes a port major; the canals and chokepoints — Suez, Panama, Malacca, Hormuz — and what happens to routes and freight rates when one closes; the oceans and the tides, currents, winds, and weather that shape a voyage; and the basics of latitude, longitude, and the Mercator projection by which the round world is fixed on a flat chart.
Outcome
You can reason from a blank map — placing the major trading regions, explaining why a cargo travels the route it does, and accounting for the canals, chokepoints, and physical forces that shape every voyage. (Commercial geography)
Sub-units
Led by Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum
The question
Why does shipping exist at all, and why does it behave the way it does? This module gives you the one idea the rest of maritime economics is built on. You work through absolute versus comparative advantage — why a country imports even what it could make itself — and then the central concept of derived demand: the demand for shipping comes entirely from the demand for the cargo carried, never from the ship itself. From that single fact follow the volatility and the cycles that make this industry what it is.
Outcome
You can explain why two parties both gain from trade, define derived demand, and use it to explain why freight markets swing more violently than the markets for the goods carried. (Derived demand)
Sub-units
Led by Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum
The question
What are the great trades of the world, and what divides them? You start with the fundamental split between the liner — fixed schedule, fixed route, many shippers — and the tramp, which goes wherever a single cargo calls it. You learn unitised versus break-bulk handling, the principal dry bulk trades (iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite) and their routes, and the liquid trades — crude oil distinguished from products, and the wider families of clean, dirty, chemical, gas, and vegetable-oil cargoes.
Outcome
You can take an unfamiliar cargo and place it — liner or tramp, dry or liquid, clean or dirty — and sketch a plausible trade route for it. (Cargoes and trade routes)
Sub-units
Led by Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum
The question
Why does each cargo get the ship it gets? This module treats ship types not as a list to memorise but as physical answers to the demands of particular cargoes. You cover the bulk carrier and its dry size classes (Handysize, Panamax, Capesize — named after the canals and capes that define them); the tanker family from Aframax to VLCC, plus product, chemical, and gas carriers; the container ship and TEU; and the principal specialised vessels. You are expected to illustrate answers with simple sketches.
Outcome
You can reason from cargo to vessel — naming a plausible ship type and size class for a given cargo and route — and produce a simple recognisable sketch of the main types. (Ship types)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
What contract governs a given cargo, and what is each piece of paper in law? Taught by Lord Mansfield, this module fixes the distinction the student must never blur: the charterparty — hiring a ship, in voyage or time form, with their different elements and cost allocation — used in the tramp and tanker trades; and the bill of lading of the liner trade, with its three functions you must be able to recite — receipt, evidence of contract, and document of title. You also learn which document prevails where both exist, and the core vocabulary of carriage.
Outcome
You can name the governing contract for a described carriage, distinguish a voyage from a time charter, and recite and explain the three functions of the bill of lading. (Contracts of carriage)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When goods arrive damaged, or do not arrive, who bears the loss and within what limits? Lord Mansfield takes you through the carrier's duty of care, the difference between contractual and tortious liability, and how international conventions come to govern carriage. You learn to place the major liability regimes — Hague/Hague-Visby, Hamburg, Rotterdam — their shared requirement of a seaworthy ship and their limits on carrier liability; the consequence of the bill of lading as a document of title for delivery; and the roles of marine insurance and the P&I clubs.
Outcome
You can frame a loss within the right legal regime, name the relevant duty and limit, and say where marine insurance or P&I cover would respond. (Law of carriage)
Sub-units
Led by Samuel Plimsoll Simulacrum
The question
Who vouches for a ship, and whose law does she carry? Taught by Samuel Plimsoll, this module sets out the apparatus that makes a ship fit and accountable: registration and the flag state; the difference between a national register, an open register, and a flag of convenience, with the arguments for and against; port state control as the backstop when flag-state enforcement is weak; and the classification societies that set the technical standards, survey the ship, and issue the class certificate without which she cannot be insured or traded.
Outcome
You can explain who has vouched for a ship's seaworthiness and her legal nationality, distinguish the registry types, and account for what happens when a ship falls below standard. (Registration and classification)
Sub-units
Led by Stopfordian Maritime Economics Simulacrum
The question
In any shipping deal, who carries the risk and who works for a commission? This module organises the whole cast around one distinction — principal versus intermediary. The principals act on their own account: shipowner, charterer, shipper, and the non-vessel-operating carrier. The intermediaries act for a fee: the chartering and sale-and-purchase brokers, the port agent and the liner agent and the difference between them, the ship manager, and the freight forwarder. You also learn that any intermediary function may be an independent firm or an in-house department.
Outcome
You can read a described deal and identify each party as principal or intermediary, stating what each does and what risk, if any, it carries. (The practitioners of shipping)
Sub-units
Led by Penelope Smythe-Bottomley Simulacrum
The question
Can you tell whether a shipping business is making money — and whether it is about to run out of it? You do not need to be an accountant, but you must be able to read the accounts. This module covers the fundamentals of bookkeeping and double-entry, what a profit and loss account and a balance sheet show, and the core terms you must not confuse — revenue, cost, profit, capital, cash flow, interest. Its central lesson is that a profitable business can still fail for want of cash. You finish with business entities and limited liability.
Outcome
You can open a simple set of shipping company figures and say whether the business is profitable, whether it is generating cash, and what limited liability means for those behind it. (Basic accounting)
Sub-units