Bayes Business School, City St George's, University of London
MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance
London, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
12 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2027
TUITION FEES
GBP 32,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international students | UK/Home students: GBP 22,000
Key Summary
About: The MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance at Bayes Business School suits students who want careers in maritime trade, shipping finance and global markets. Delivered by the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, the programme mixes rigorous analysis with practical learning through simulations, guest speakers and industry-linked teaching.
Career Outcomes: The MSc builds skills, networks and practical experience for roles across shipping, commodities and financial services. Graduates work as Freight Analysts, Shipbrokers, Financial Analysts and Trading Graduates, and join employers in shipbroking, commodity trading, maritime logistics, ship finance, energy and banking, including M&A, sales & trading simulations.
Choose this MSc if you’re motivated by high-stakes, real-time decisions and you want to turn global markets, maritime trade and finance into your career. You’ll thrive here if you’re business-minded, collaborative and comfortable moving between rigorous analysis and practical, real-world application.
This course is taught through the internationally respected Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, a community that unites industry leaders, policymakers and academics. Expect an exceptionally connected peer group and alumni network across shipping, commodities, energy and finance.
Term 1
- Accounting and Finance
- Data Analytics for Energy, Shipping, Trade and Finance
- Shipping Economics
- International Commodity Trade
Term 2
- Corporate Finance
- Shipping Investment and Finance
- Financial Modelling and Business Analytics
- Chartering, Freight Trading and Sale & Purchase
Term 3
Option 1: elective study only by taking SMM198 Research Methods and Professional Skills* and five electives, 5 x 18 hours specialist electives of 10 credits each.
Option 2: study through a combination of a taught course and a general research project:
- SMM198 Research Methods and Professional Skills* plus 2 x 18 hours specialist electives of 10 credits; and
- One General Research Project of 30 credits and a maximum of 5,000 words.
Core
- Research Methods and Professional Skills*
- General Research Project
Opportunity to collaborate with the industry on your research project. Some of our students are given the opportunity to conduct their research projects in association with the Maritime Directorate of the UK Department for Transport (DfT) or as part of the Maritime Masters Programme of Maritime UK, the Research Support Programme of the Bank of England and in collaboration with Global Ship Lease and Veson Nautical. Upon completion, their findings are presented to senior policy makers and business leaders.
Indicative elective modules
- Fintech: Technologies and Disruptions**
- Big Data in Commercial Shipping and Trading
- Shipping Company Management
- Project Finance and Infrastructure Investment
- Introduction to Python
- Hedge Funds
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Innovation in Shipping
- Commodity Derivatives and Trading
- Shipping Risk Management
- Green Finance, Carbon Trading and Shipping Decarbonisation.
International electives
- Project Finance and Infrastructure Investment (taught in Madrid, Spain)
- Shipping Company Management (taught in Athens Greece).
Module industry prizes
*Michael Baker Prize – £4,000 cash prize to the winning group and £1,000 to the runners-up for the best Research Methods & Professional Skills Business Plan
**Captain Tasos Politis Prize – £1,000 to the winning team in the Fintech: Technologies & Disruptions elective. A shipowner, innovator, serial entrepreneur and Piraeus patriarch, Captain Tasos Politis was a close friend to Bayes Business School, mentor and sponsor to a number of ambitious students in the UK and Europe.
Please note that electives are subject to change and availability also depends on student’s participation.
- Bayes Business School is among the global elite of business schools that hold the gold standard of 'triple crown' accreditation from AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS
- 5th in the UK for business and management research. A total of 92 per cent of our research was rated as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) (The Research Excellence Framework 2021)
- 2nd best in London, 6th in the UK, 34th in Europe (Financial Times European Business School ranking 2025)
- 5th in the UK for Finance Research, 8th in the UK for Management (ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024)
- 1st in Europe for Actuarial Science research (UNL Business School Actuarial Science Rankings 2024)
Choose this MSc and you will graduate with the analytical toolkit, commercial acumen, and practical experience to contribute from day one in roles across shipping, trade, and finance.
Specifically, you will know how to:
- Master the economics of shipping and trade and apply them to vessel investment, chartering strategy, and market timing.
- Value and finance maritime assets, assess risk/return in debt and equity deals, and structure transactions used by banks, leasing houses, and shipowners.
- Trade physical commodities and derivatives, using market data to hedge exposures and design trading strategies.
- Turn data into decisions, with options to learn Python and work hands-on with big-data platforms used by charterers, brokers, and owners.
- Communicate with impact, producing board-level analysis, investment memos, and policy-grade research.
You will learn through highly interactive lectures led by distinguished academics, many of whom are active researchers with decades of expertise, as well as by leading industry practitioners who bring first-hand insights into the classroom.
The MSc Shipping, Trade and Finance equips you with the skills and connections for careers in shipping and financial services sectors globally.
Graduates have secured roles such as Freight Analyst, Commercial Operations Analyst, Trainee Shipbroker, Dry Bulk Panamax Broker, Financial Analyst, Project Manager, Credit Analyst, Assistant Commercial Manager, Sales & Purchase Broker, Associate Editor, Insurance Broker, Equity Research Analyst, ESG & Performance Coordinator, and Trading Graduate at employers including Argus Media, Braemar, BRS Shipbrokers, Clarksons, ExxonMobil, Fearnleys, Hamburg Commercial Bank, Howe Robinson Partners, Maritime & Merchant Bank, RWE, S&P Global, SSY, Total Energies, TP ICAP, and Trafigura.
Students benefit from alumni panels, industry and office visits, business simulations including M&A, sales & trading, investment management, and commodities, careers fairs, industry overviews, guest speakers, company presentations, and workshops.
Further opportunities to network and learn alongside like-minded peers are available through student-led business clubs such as the Shipping club and the Finance and Banking club.