NVOCC Bond And OTI Bonding Requirements

The Federal Maritime Commission requires Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTIs) to purchase a surety bond before a license can be issued.

This is often called an NVOCC bond or OFF bond. Read our article about the differences between a NVOCC vs Freight Forwarder and their licensing differences. Keep in mind, some NVOCCs also choose to get their Freight Broker license and Freight Broker bond.

This short video will explain this surety bond requirement including all of the different bond amounts for each type of OTI license. Below is the breakdown of the video if you want to skip around.

Video Timestamps:

• 00:21 - Video agenda
• 00:36 - Different types of OTIs
• 01:19 - What is a surety bond?
• 01:56 - NVOCC and OFF surety bond amounts
• 02:47 - Why does the FMC required these bonds?
• 03:32 - The NVOCC China bond rider
• 03:41 - The surety bond cost
• 03:45 - Surety bond pricing factors
• 03:57 - Surety bond pricing equation
• 04:12 - NVOCC surety bond price examples
• 04:46 - Why use a specialized surety agency