Shipping management

The Glasgow area is a leading world centre for commercial shipping management. Ships carry 90 per cent of world trade and seaborne trade is forecast to almost double over the next 15 years. So shipping management is a career with excellent employment prospects. 

There are seven shipping management firms with headquarters in Glasgow, and one in Clydeside. Glasgow also has offices for many of the international shipping companies: Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA-CGM, MacAndrews and others. These firms employ officers and crew, run the ships on their routes and generally ensure that everything needed to keep a ship going and going well has been dealt with, legally, physically and economically. 

There are a number of different entry routes to a career in shipping management. Each route allows progression to become a Master/Captain or Chief Engineer of a ship. As a new entrant you can either apply to a shipping company or a shipping training group. The UK’s biggest cadet training and recruitment company, Clyde Marine, is based in Glasgow.

Read our case study on shipping management.

Key facts and figures

• Minimum entry qualifications for officer training are five Standard Grades, including Maths, Physics and English.
• Starting salaries upon qualification for junior officers are: £20,000 - £25,000.
• Degree courses are available at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies and Strathclyde University.

See weblinks for local employers.

For more information on shipping management, the following websites are useful:

MNTB - Merchant Navy Training Board

Marine Society & Sea Cadets - a web ship - experience life at sea without getting your feet wet!

Careers Scotland - for information on careers in the Merchant Navy