What would a boarding agent for a ship agency do?

Question

Is it like a travel agent?

Answer 1

In short:  the person that helps the passengers get what they need and to help everything on the ship go smoothly.



I did a search and a lady used to do that on a ship, and she described it as:

Boarding agents were people who worked for shipping agencies that represented other companies that either owned ships or chartered them to carry cargo. Our primary responsibilities were to take care of the needs of our customer and the ships, such as arranging for provisions, bunkers (fuel), overseeing cargo loading or discharge, ships payroll, etc. We were also responsible for arranging for customs, immigration, and agriculture clearance when a vessel was arriving from a foreign port, or customs clearance when it arrived from a domestic port (which was called "coastwise").