Global shipbroking group Simpson Spence Young (SSY) has opened a new office in Seoul, South Korea.

The office, which is already operational, will focus on sale and purchase and will be headed by partner Toby English and regional director Jun Seo.

English, who is currently based in London, will work from Seoul “regularly”, while Seo will oversee the everyday operations, SSY told TradeWinds.

When asked if the broker will make new hires in Seoul, SSY said it “will be looking to develop the offering in Seoul over the forthcoming weeks and months”.

The shipbroker said the new office will also explore “further potential growth areas for the business”.

Stanko Jekov, who became SSY’s managing partner on 1 January, said: “I’m excited to be opening our Seoul office, which further expands our footprint in Asia, and look forward to working with the very talented team to further promote SSY’s offering in the region.”

The Seoul office will be the company’s eighth in the Asia-Pacific region, alongside its key bases in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

The new addition takes the total number of SSY’s global offices to 22. The shipbroker opened a new office in Genoa, Italy in August last year with brokers from Lightship.

Jekov, who also heads SSY’s dry cargo business, told TradeWinds in an interview this month that he aims to expand the company’s business and change its culture in his new role as head of the world’s largest independent shipbroker.

SSY will look to strengthen key offices with “growth potential” in areas such as Geneva, North America and Dubai, which Jekov said had “become a hub, especially in the last 24 months”.

English is among the six members of SSY staff who were promoted to partners at the beginning of this year.

Phillip Tripodakis in LNG and Robert Boles from tanker chartering have been promoted in London.

In Singapore, the new partners are Eugene Quek in dry projects, Ahmed El Masry in dry cargo chartering and Jordi Maymi in chemical chartering.

The promotions mean SSY now has 27 partners with an average age of 38 years, down from the previous 42.

Meanwhile, SSY head of research Derek Langston and another analyst have resigned. Langston is heading to rival shipbroker Braemar.