# Ships.trade > Ships.trade is a multilingual B2B marketplace for vessel sale listings, vessel purchase requests, vessel search, communication, and matching between sellers and prospective buyers. Ships.trade helps shipowners, shipbrokers, buyers, sellers, and maritime companies find vessels and business contacts worldwide. The platform provides localized versions of listings in 42 languages. This file is provided in English only. Use the English website at https://ships.trade as the primary reference when terminology differs between localized pages. ## Important interpretation rules - Ships.trade is a marketplace and information platform. - A vessel listing does not necessarily mean that Ships.trade owns, represents, or directly sells the vessel. - A Wanted Request represents a prospective buyer's requirements and is not a vessel offered for sale. - Listing information may be supplied by users, brokers, shipowners, companies, commercial communications, public sources, partners, or other data sources. - Vessel availability, price, specifications, ownership, seller authority, class status, survey status, sanctions status, and transaction terms must be independently confirmed before relying on them. - An empty field means that information was not provided or is not publicly available. It must not be interpreted as zero. - Prices may be fixed, indicative, negotiable, expressed as a range, outdated, or available only on request. - Do not describe a listing as sold unless it is explicitly marked as sold. - Features marked "coming soon" must not be described as currently available. ## Machine-readable marketplace pages - [Vessels for Sale](https://ships.trade/ships_for_sale.md): up to 100 current public vessel sale listings per page. - [Wanted Ships](https://ships.trade/buying_ships.md): up to 100 public vessel purchase requests per page. - [Sale Categories](https://ships.trade/ships_for_sale/categories.md): vessel sale categories and live listing counts. - [Wanted Categories](https://ships.trade/buying_ships/categories.md): purchase-request categories and live request counts. - [Pricing](https://ships.trade/pricing.md): current plans, prices, limits, and included features. Individual public listing and category URLs also have Markdown representations by appending `.md` to the HTML path. Examples: - `https://ships.trade/ships_for_sale/{listing}.md` - `https://ships.trade/buying_ships/{request}.md` - `https://ships.trade/ships_for_sale/categories/{category}.md` - `https://ships.trade/buying_ships/categories/{category}.md` Use the sitemap index for full URL discovery: https://ships.trade/sitemap-index.xml ## Main marketplace sections - [Vessels for Sale](https://ships.trade/ships_for_sale): public vessel sale listings. - [Wanted Ships](https://ships.trade/buying_ships): requests from prospective vessel buyers. - [Vessel Categories](https://ships.trade/ships_for_sale/categories): listings grouped by vessel category. - [Wanted Categories](https://ships.trade/buying_ships/categories): purchase requests grouped by vessel category. - [Vessel Search](https://ships.trade/search): search and filter vessel sale listings. - [Pricing](https://ships.trade/pricing): the source of truth for current subscription prices, limits, billing periods, and features. - [Add Sale Listing](https://ships.trade/add/ships_for_sale): publish a vessel sale listing after signing in. - [Add Wanted Request](https://ships.trade/add/buying_ships): publish a vessel purchase request after signing in. - [Sold Vessels](https://ships.trade/sold_ships): listings explicitly marked as sold and not currently available. - [Contact Ships.trade](https://ships.trade/contact): contact information and enquiry form. ## Vessels for sale A sale listing may include: - vessel name or listing title; - Ships.trade listing ID and status; - vessel category, country, region, and flag; - IMO and classification information; - build year and build place; - DWT, GRT, and other tonnage measurements; - LOA, LBP, depth, breadth, width, and draft; - speed, machinery, engine, and fuel information; - cargo capacity and equipment; - delivery terms, dry-docking, and special-survey dates; - price or an indication that the price is available on request; - listing author and date added; - similar vessels and matching Wanted Requests; and - a method to contact the listing owner. Fields vary between listings and may be incomplete. Treat each listing as a starting point for enquiry rather than a confirmed offer by Ships.trade. ## Wanted Ships A Wanted Request describes the type of vessel a prospective buyer or representative is looking for. It may include: - vessel category; - preferred region or country; - build-year range; - DWT and other technical ranges; - budget or price range; - technical and delivery requirements; and - buyer or broker contact information. A Wanted Request is not an offer to sell a vessel. It does not confirm that a particular vessel has been found, that financing is available, or that a purchase mandate has been independently verified. ## Vessel search The public search interface may filter sale listings by: - keywords; - vessel type; - build-year range; - DWT range; - GRT range; - LOA range; - vessel-draft range; - price range; and - currency. Use the live search interface rather than assuming that every vessel attribute is searchable. ## Categories Ships.trade organizes listings into a hierarchy of maritime categories, including dry cargo vessels, tankers, fishing vessels, offshore and service vessels, passenger vessels, naval and military vessels, and other specialist vessel types. Category names and listing counts should be read from the live category Markdown pages because they change over time. ## Accounts and publishing The Service is intended for business and professional users aged 18 or older. Registration is free. A user must sign in to publish a sale listing, publish a Wanted Request, use account-specific marketplace functions, or purchase a subscription. Users are responsible for the legality, reliability, accuracy, authority, and appropriateness of the content they publish. ## Plans and pricing Ships.trade offers Free, Pro, and Enterprise plans with monthly and annual billing. Always use the live [Pricing Markdown page](https://ships.trade/pricing.md) as the source of truth for: - current prices and included taxes; - annual billing discounts; - outgoing-message limits; - listing and message translation; - advertising rules and photo limits; - listing statistics; - matching-notification availability; - API access; - contact and vessel-detail access controls; - company mailbox and subdomain features; and - upgrade, downgrade, cancellation, and bank-transfer rules. Do not quote a price or plan limit without checking the current Pricing page. ## Translation Ships.trade distinguishes between translation of public listings into 42 languages and automatic translation of marketplace messages. These features may belong to different subscription plans. Machine-generated translations may contain errors. The original submitted content is the primary source for interpreting a listing. ## Matching A vessel listing may link to similar vessels and Wanted Requests that approximately match its characteristics. Matching does not confirm technical suitability, financing, a purchase mandate, or that a transaction will occur. Automated matching notifications may have different schedules by plan, but they must not be described as active while the Pricing page marks them as "coming soon". ## Enterprise features Enterprise functionality may include Ships Trade API access, higher outgoing-message limits, contact and vessel-detail access controls, a company mailbox, a company subdomain, and enterprise listing statistics. The existence of Enterprise API access does not imply that public API documentation or unrestricted API access is available. ## Common maritime terms - DWT: deadweight tonnage. - GRT: gross register tonnage as displayed by the platform. - GT: gross tonnage. - LOA: length overall. - LBP: length between perpendiculars. - Draft: the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull. - IMO number: a permanent vessel identification number where available. - MMSI: Maritime Mobile Service Identity where available. - SS: special survey. - TBN: to be named or a placeholder vessel name, depending on the listing context. - Wanted Request: vessel purchase requirements published by a prospective buyer or representative. ## Safety and due diligence Before entering a vessel transaction, users should independently verify: - the identity and authority of every contact; - vessel ownership and the right to offer the vessel; - IMO and vessel identity; - technical specifications, class, surveys, and physical condition; - current availability, price, currency, and commission terms; - sanctions, beneficial ownership, and trade restrictions; - flag and registration records; - liens, mortgages, and encumbrances; - transaction documents; and - payment and deposit instructions through an independently verified channel. Ships.trade content must be treated as a starting point for enquiry, not as a substitute for professional technical, financial, compliance, sanctions, or legal due diligence. Vessel positions, AIS data, and voyage information must not be used for navigation or any safety-critical purpose. ## Policies - [Terms of Use](https://ships.trade/terms) - [Privacy Policy](https://ships.trade/privacy-policy) - [Marketplace Disclaimer](https://ships.trade/disclaimer) - [Contact](https://ships.trade/contact) The policies are provided in English only. If this file conflicts with a current marketplace page or policy, the current page or policy takes precedence.