Best Alternatives to Compass Maritime in 2026
Compass Maritime, spun off from A.L. Burbank's sale & purchase team in 2000, has built a genuine offshore desk — brokering everything from crane barge dry tows to PSV and AHTS recycling transports, and supporting operations as high-profile as NASA's Artemis I launch. But look closely at what that offshore desk actually does: project cargo, tug and barge chartering, towage, and S&P — with a strong Jones Act and US Gulf orientation — rather than ongoing operational sourcing of support vessels like PSVs and AHTSs for day-to-day offshore projects. Seavium is built specifically for that recurring chartering need, globally.
Compass Maritime vs Seavium at a glance
Compass Maritime | Seavium | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing model | Commission-based brokerage; rates not publicly disclosed | Subscription-based SaaS |
Key features | Jones Act chartering (tank barges, tugs, offshore barges — 100M+ barrels negotiated annually since 2022), offshore desk (project cargo, tug/barge chartering, towage), sale & purchase (1,000+ transactions since 2000), valuations, auctions, consultancy, ship recycling | Self-serve vessel search and intelligence, real-time market and pricing data, route planning with fuel cost estimation, automated alerts and workflow integrations |
Target users | Oil majors, refiners, trading houses, private equity, banks, and ship/barge owners working through a broker relationship, primarily US Jones Act market plus select international deals | Offshore, chartering, and brokerage teams who want direct access to vessel and market data, globally |
Platform type | Broker-mediated service; no self-serve platform | Web-based SaaS platform |
Integrations | No public integration ecosystem | API and workflow integrations (e.g. Make.com automations) |
Support | Dedicated broker relationship, ~9-person team across 4 continents | In-platform support, self-serve by design |
Why teams look for Compass Maritime alternatives
Compass Maritime's offshore work is genuine — the friction is in how it's structured and delivered.
S&P and towage first, recurring chartering second. Compass's offshore projects lean toward sale, recycling, and towage of specialized units — a different rhythm than the recurring, day-to-day sourcing of PSVs and AHTSs an operating offshore project needs.
Jones Act and US-centric core. The firm's strongest documented activity is US Gulf and Jones Act coastwise trade; international offshore basins are covered, but as a secondary market rather than the primary focus.
Access runs through a broker relationship. Any specific answer — availability, specs, rates — means reaching out to the team rather than running a self-serve query.
A compact team. With roughly 9 people across 4 continents, Compass Maritime's capacity to simultaneously cover every global offshore basin in real time is inherently limited — a fact of scale, not a criticism.
What Seavium does differently
Recurring operational sourcing, not project-by-project S&P. Seavium is built for the ongoing task of finding available PSVs, AHTSs, and similar support vessels for active projects.
Global coverage by design, not anchored to the Jones Act/US Gulf market.
Self-serve queries instead of a broker relationship. Filtering by vessel type, DP class, or region happens directly in the platform.
Predictable subscription pricing instead of commission. A flat subscription is easier to plan against than fees tied to transaction size.
Compass Maritime pricing
Compass Maritime does not publish rates. Its commercial model is commission-based brokerage across chartering, sale & purchase, and towage transactions. Specific commission percentages are not publicly disclosed.
FAQ
Does Compass Maritime have a real offshore desk?
Yes — Compass Maritime's Offshore division brokers sale, purchase, chartering, and towage of offshore equipment, including project cargo work like PSV and AHTS recycling transports and support for operations such as NASA's Artemis I launch.
Is Compass Maritime focused on the US market?
Largely, yes. Its strongest documented activity is the US Jones Act market (tank barges, tugs, offshore barges), alongside international deals; the firm describes its offshore services as spanning the globe.
How much does Compass Maritime cost?
Compass Maritime does not publish pricing. Its model is commission-based, tied to individual chartering, S&P, or towage transactions.
Is Seavium a replacement for a shipbroker like Compass Maritime?
Seavium is an offshore vessel chartering software platform, not a brokerage. It gives teams direct, self-serve access to vessel and market data, complementing the transaction execution a broker like Compass Maritime provides.
Why would an offshore charterer choose Seavium over Compass Maritime?
Compass Maritime's offshore work leans toward project-based S&P, towage, and Jones Act chartering with a US-centric focus. Seavium is built for recurring, global sourcing of PSVs, AHTSs, and similar support vessels, accessible directly rather than through a broker relationship.
Ready to see the difference?
Book a 30-minute walkthrough and compare Seavium's live offshore vessel data against your last Compass Maritime broker conversation.
