nop you don't need to have ships to trade with other player, only the one sending needs to have one.
The exchange is where you build ships!
EgonSpengler you are the main resource for boat so well, it would be nice if you could provide people with enough Cedar for a boat(think it is 26 or something). What would be nice is if you send cedar to people that needs it (of course after having boats yourself) and then people can make a boat and pay you back with whatever resources they have.
I have enough cedar for two boats so I don't need at the moment