Shipping agency licence, acting for ships and lines
A shipping agency licence in Dubai lets you act for ships and lines, with Dubai Maritime Authority permits behind every port call.
- Usual route
- Mainland or free zone
- Extra approval
- Maritime Authority
- Timeline
- Weeks
- AML
- Not a DNFBP activity
A shipping agency licence in Dubai lets a company act locally for shipping lines and ship owners, from DET or a free zone. The Dubai Maritime Authority regulates maritime activity across Dubai, free zones included, and the agent applies for the permits each ship's call needs. Manifests go to Dubai Customs. Forwarding cargo for exporters is a separate activity.
- Covers
- Acting for shipping lines and ship owners at Dubai's ports
- Not covered
- Forwarding cargo for exporters, running ships, chartering vessels
- Premises
- An office near the port; no warehouse needed
- Timeline
- Weeks, led by port registrations; the licence itself takes days
What a shipping agency licence covers
An agent works for the ship side of the trade. The cargo owner's side is a forwarder's work.
Covered
Not covered
- Covered by Freight forwarding
- Covered by Shipping lines and charters
- Covered by Ship chandling
- Covered by Warehousing
Tick what you plan to do. The result shows here.
We fix the wording before you apply. Send us your list on WhatsApp
Many agencies also forward freight for their own customers. We add forwarding to the licence when your first contracts include cargo owners.
Port-side free zone or mainland agency
The Dubai Maritime Authority's rules reach both routes. Your principals and where your clients sit point to the licence.
| If most of your clients are | Likely route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A foreign shipping line appointing a local agent | Free zone | A port-side free zone office suits line agency and its paperwork |
| Ship owners calling at Dubai's ports | Either route | Port agency runs from either route under the same maritime permits |
| Exporters and importers across the mainland | Mainland (DET) | Invoicing mainland shippers for freight points to a DET licence |
A free zone agency invoicing mainland shippers can add a DET branch licence or permit (Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025). Mainland income faces the QFZP qualifying test.
Several free zones license this activity; we match the zone to your visas, office and banking. Compare free zones
Three questions. The closest row is marked in the table above.
Your likely route shows here.
Shipping agency approvals in order
The licence comes first. The Dubai Maritime Authority then issues the approvals and per-call permits a maritime business needs, Dubai Customs takes the manifests, and crew movements run through immigration.
Before the licence
- Trade name and initial approvalDET or the free zone
The licence
- Licence with shipping agency activityDET or the free zone
After the licence
- Maritime approvals and call permitsDubai Maritime Authority
- Customs registration for manifestsDubai Customs
- Crew entry and exitGDRFA Dubai
- Corporate bank accountThe bank
We have the registrations ready before your principal's first ship.
What will your agency do for ships?
Tick the work you expect in your first year. The heaviest item shows how far the file reaches past the licence.
A line that later asks you to book its customers' cargo turns an agency into a forwarder too, so we plan both from the start.
Tick everything the agency will handle
| What you plan | Points to |
|---|---|
| a freight forwarding activity alongside the agency | |
| the shipping agency activity and a customs registration for manifests | |
| Dubai Maritime Authority permits for each call, plus crew movements through immigration | |
| Dubai Maritime Authority permits for each call, plus crew movements through immigration | |
| the Dubai Maritime Authority's oversight of wooden ships and their agents | |
| a charter activity, with maritime approval before the licence |
Tick a line to see where your plan points.
What the bank checks in an agency
Bank viewSpecialist appetite; principals' funds and vessel sanctions screening
Most of the money through an agency belongs to someone else. Freight is collected for the line, and owners abroad send funds to cover port costs for each call. Banks want those principals named and contracted. They screen every vessel and owner against sanctions lists, because shipping is a known route for evasion. We put the agency agreements, a sample call account and the principals' details into the file.
AMLNot a DNFBP activity; the bank's own customer checks still apply.
Where shipping agency setups stall
An agency licence doing forwarding work
Booking cargo for exporters is forwarding, a separate activity. An agent that starts invoicing shippers for freight on an agency-only licence is working outside it.
A free zone licence read as the end
The Dubai Maritime Authority regulates maritime activity across Dubai, free zones included. A free zone licence sets up the agency, and each ship's call still runs on the authority's permits.
Principals' money in a thin account
Large sums arrive for owners and lines and leave again within days. Without the agency agreements on file, the account looks like trade with no business behind it, and reviews follow.
Questions about a shipping agency licence
A question about your plan? Describe your shipping agency plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppHow much does a shipping agency licence cost in Dubai?
How to start a shipping agency business in Dubai?
What licence does a shipping company need in Dubai?
Can a free zone company run a shipping agency in Dubai?
Related pages
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ActivityWarehousing licence in DubaiA warehousing licence covers storing other people's goods, and food, cold chain or duty-suspended stock each add an approval.
IndustryImport and export business setup in DubaiAn import export license in Dubai is decided at the customs line: mainland or free zone, the customs code, re-export rules and the bank that clears you.
Agency, forwarding or both for your first principal? Your first appointment letter shows which
Fifteen minutes with a senior advisor on your principals, your shippers and the vessels you will handle. You leave with the activities, the route and the registrations in order.
On the call
- The activity wording that fits your plan
- The route, and the approvals in order
- A written quote before any work starts
