Shipping & Maritime Investing Industry Analysis

1. The Market — Size, Segments, and Fleet

The Six Major Shipping Segments

1. Dry Bulk (41% of cargo shipping revenue)

Transports iron ore, coal, grain, fertilizers, bauxite, and minor bulks. Vessel classes: Capesize (180,000+ DWT), Panamax (65,000–85,000 DWT), Supramax (50,000–65,000 DWT), Handysize (25,000–40,000 DWT). Heavily tied to Chinese infrastructure and commodity demand. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is the benchmark. Current BDI: ~2,019 points (Feb 2026). Capesize daily earnings: ~$27,676/day. Panamax: ~$11,391/day. Supramax: ~$14,687/day. Handysize: ~$13,112/day.

2. Tankers (crude oil & product)

Crude tankers (VLCC, Suezmax, Aframax) and product tankers (MR, LR1, LR2) carry petroleum products globally. Driven by OPEC production, refinery locations, ton-mile demand, and geopolitical disruptions (sanctions, Red Sea rerouting). VLCC all-in breakeven rate: $22,000–$25,000/day. Baltic Clean Tanker Index and Baltic Dirty Tanker Index are benchmarks. Tanker orderbook remains historically low relative to fleet, a bullish structural factor.

3. Container Shipping (34.9% market share by vessel type)

Liner shipping carrying manufactured goods in standardized containers. Dominated by alliances: MSC (~7.1M TEU), Maersk (~4.6M TEU), CMA CGM, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, ONE. Spot rates tracked by Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) and Drewry World Container Index. Currently facing structural oversupply with 31–35% orderbook-to-fleet ratio. Over 1.5M TEU scheduled for delivery in 2026, 3.0M TEU in 2027.

4. LNG Carriers

Specialized cryogenic vessels transporting liquefied natural gas. Fleet growing rapidly as Qatar expansion program orders 40+ carriers. Major publicly traded operators: FLEX LNG (FLNG), CoolCo (CLCO, now private after EPS acquisition). Long-term charter contracts (10–25 years) provide earnings visibility unusual in shipping.

5. Car Carriers (RoRo / PCC)

Pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) transport automobiles globally. Experiencing a golden age due to Chinese EV exports and global car production decoupling from consumption locations. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is the dominant publicly traded player. Charter rates at multi-decade highs. Limited orderbook relative to demand growth.

6. Offshore / Specialized

Platform supply vessels (PSVs), anchor handling tugs (AHTS), subsea construction vessels, and wind farm installation vessels. Tied to oil & gas capex cycles and growing offshore wind investment. Tidewater, DOF, and Solstad are key listed operators.

2. Publicly Traded Shipping Companies & ETFs

There are approximately 100–150 publicly traded shipping companies worldwide, with around 50–70 listed on US exchanges (NYSE and NASDAQ). The Marine Shipping sector tracked by Yahoo Finance includes 39 US-listed stocks with a combined market cap of ~$43B. Including non-US listed companies (Oslo, Athens, Singapore, Tokyo), the total publicly traded shipping universe is significantly larger.

Major Shipping Companies by Segment

Non-US Listed Giants

Shipping ETFs

Key insight: The shipping sector is remarkably small relative to its economic importance. The entire US-listed marine shipping sector has a combined market cap of only ~$43B — less than a single mid-cap tech company. Even including non-US companies, the total publicly traded shipping universe is perhaps $200–300B. This small size means low analyst coverage, low institutional ownership, and enormous information asymmetry.

3. The Information Asymmetry Problem

Shipping is one of the most information-asymmetric sectors in public equity markets. The data that drives ship valuations, charter rates, and earnings is locked behind expensive institutional paywalls that cost $10,000–$50,000+ per year. This creates a massive gap between what institutional and retail investors can access.

What Institutional Investors Have

• Real-time charter rate data — Daily fixture reports showing what charterers are paying for specific vessel types on specific routes. From Clarksons ($20,000–$40,000/year) or Baltic Exchange (membership + data fees of £3,000–10,000+/year).
• Vessel-level valuation data — VesselsValue or Clarksons provide real-time market valuations for every ship in the global fleet, including newbuild, 5-year, and scrap values. Subscriptions run $15,000–$40,000+/year.
• Orderbook data — Exactly which ships are being built, at which yards, for delivery when, at what price. Clarksons World Fleet Register is the gold standard.
• Scrapping and demolition data — Weekly scrap prices per light displacement ton (LDT) by destination (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey). Current rates: Wet $415–425/LDT, Dry $395–405/LDT, Container $425–435/LDT.
• Port congestion data — Real-time vessel waiting times across 600+ ports worldwide. From Kpler, Signal Ocean, or MarineTraffic enterprise tiers.
• Freight futures (FFA) data — Forward Freight Agreements showing market expectations for future charter rates. Institutional accounts required; minimum trading lines of $5–10M for OTC access.
• Ton-mile demand models — Proprietary models combining trade flow data, AIS tracking, and port statistics to forecast vessel demand. From Clarksons, Signal Ocean, or Kpler.
• Dedicated analyst coverage — Stifel (Ben Nolan), Jefferies, Evercore ISI, and a handful of other banks provide detailed shipping equity research to institutional clients.

What Retail Investors Have

• Quarterly earnings reports — Shipped 60–90 days after the quarter ends. By the time you read them, rates have often moved significantly.
• Company-reported TCE rates — Only reported quarterly, often covering fixtures booked weeks or months earlier. Not real-time.
• Headline Baltic Dry Index — Free on TradingEconomics, but the BDI is a composite — you cannot see the underlying route-level data without a Baltic Exchange subscription.
• Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) — Container spot rate data is free at the headline level, but granular trade-lane data requires a paid subscription.
• Ship & Bunker — Free bunker fuel price indications, which is helpful since fuel is up to 60% of voyage costs.
• MarineTraffic / VesselFinder — Free vessel tracking (terrestrial AIS), but satellite AIS for open-ocean tracking requires premium subscriptions ($10–$67/year for basic plans).
• Seeking Alpha / general financial media — J Mintzmyer’s Value Investor’s Edge and ShipBrief are the only dedicated shipping investment research services accessible to retail investors.

The core problem: A retail investor trying to value a dry bulk shipping company needs to know current charter rates, vessel values, the orderbook, scrapping trends, and port congestion — and almost none of this data is freely available. They are essentially trading blind against institutions that have real-time Bloomberg/Clarksons terminals. This is the single biggest opportunity for a bootstrapper in this space.

4. Data Sources & Pricing Services (The Walled Garden)

These are the institutional-grade data services that form the backbone of shipping investment analysis. None are designed for or priced for retail investors.

Key insight: The combined cost of a “full picture” data stack for a shipping investor — Clarksons + Baltic Exchange + VesselsValue + a vessel tracking service — easily exceeds $60,000–100,000/year. This is why retail investors operate with a fraction of the information institutions have. This cost barrier is the single biggest business opportunity for a bootstrapper.

5. Free & Affordable Data Sources

These are the data sources available to retail investors at free or low cost. Collectively, they provide a partial but useful picture.

6. Shipping Analysts & Research

The Retail Investor’s Analyst: J Mintzmyer

J Mintzmyer, PhD (Harvard Kennedy School) is the single most important analyst for retail shipping investors. He founded Value Investor’s Edge (VIE) in May 2015 on Seeking Alpha’s Marketplace platform, which has become the premier retail-accessible shipping research service. His long-only shipping model portfolios have delivered a 43% IRR over the past 9 years (approximately 12x cumulative), dramatically outperforming the S&P 500’s 14% IRR.

Value Investor’s Edge (Seeking Alpha Marketplace)

Full-service research platform covering shipping and energy infrastructure. Exclusive analytic reports, model portfolios, earnings coverage, macro outlooks, and an active investor community. Pricing: ~$499/year (promotional) to ~$2,000+/year depending on tier. Annualized cost works out to ~$3/report.

ShipBrief (shipbrief.com)

Created by J Mintzmyer and James Catlin. Offers market overviews, key news, macro outlooks, and select company-specific analysis. Covers dry bulk, tanker (crude + product), containership, LNG, and LPG segments. VIE Lite tier offers a more affordable entry point with top picks and earnings coverage. The explicit mission is to fill the gap that shipbrokers’ industry updates leave — none of them tell investors how to actually capitalize on the data.

Institutional Research Analysts

Key insight: Only 5–8 sell-side analysts worldwide actively cover the US-listed shipping sector. Many small and mid-cap shipping stocks have zero or one analyst covering them. This thin coverage is both a problem (price discovery is poor) and an opportunity (information advantage for anyone who does the work).

7. News & Media Platforms

8. Newsletters, Podcasts & YouTube

Newsletters

ShipBrief (shipbrief.com)

By J Mintzmyer and James Catlin. The only dedicated shipping investment newsletter for retail investors. Market overview, macro outlook, company analysis across all segments. VIE Lite offers affordable tier. The gold standard for retail shipping research.

Cavalier Shipping (Substack)

Shipping markets newsletter and podcast by James Lightbourn. Covers shipping investments, market analysis, and industry developments. Growing Substack presence in the shipping niche.

Ship Value (Substack)

By Jurica Kenda. Industry perspectives in a direct, unfiltered tone. Focuses on shipping valuation and market analysis.

Breakwave Advisors Bi-Weekly Dry Bulk Report

Published by John Kartsonas (creator of BDRY and BWET ETFs). Covers dry bulk freight markets, FFA analysis, and market outlook. Available on breakwaveadvisors.com. Free.

HindeSight Investment Education Newsletter

Covers shipping as part of broader commodity and investment analysis. Podcast version available. Published monthly.

LNG Shipping Stocks (lngshippingstocks.com)

Dedicated to tracking the UP World LNG Shipping Index and LNG shipping sector news. Niche but valuable for the growing LNG carrier investment thesis.

Podcasts

TradeWinds Wavelength

Craig Eason discusses shipping markets and regulations. Produced by TradeWinds, the leading shipping news publication. Free access via podcast platforms.

Vonheim Podcast

Christopher Vonheim interviews guests about business and ocean industries investing. Covers shipping investments, maritime careers, and industry trends. Available on major podcast platforms.

Last Dinosaur

Hosted by maritime professional Chris Aversano. Covers technological changes in shipping, industry evolution, and digital transformation in maritime.

The Investors Podcast — Shipping Episode with J Mintzmyer

Notable episode in the Millennial Investing series featuring J Mintzmyer discussing deep value investing in shipping. Good introduction to the thesis for new shipping investors.

YouTube

What’s Going On With Shipping? (Sal Mercogliano)

The most successful maritime YouTube channel. Run by Dr. Sal Mercogliano (PhD in Military and Naval History, former Merchant Marine officer, professor at SUNY Maritime Academy and Campbell University). Started March 2021 during the Ever Given Suez Canal blockage. Now: 500+ videos, 13.6 million views, 100,000+ subscribers. Covers everything from port politics to supply chain disruptions. Not investment-focused but provides essential industry context.

gCaptain YouTube

Video content from gCaptain covering maritime news, vessel incidents, and industry developments.

Capital Link Shipping Webinars

Free webinar recordings from Capital Link shipping forums featuring CEOs and industry executives. Available on YouTube and Capital Link’s website. Excellent for hearing directly from company management.

Key insight: The shipping investment newsletter/podcast space is shockingly empty compared to other investment niches. Mining stocks have dozens of newsletters and podcasts. Shipping has essentially Mintzmyer/ShipBrief and a handful of Substacks. This is a massive content gap.

9. Conferences & Events

Key insight: Capital Link events are the most important for retail shipping investors. They are free to attend, feature company management presentations, and are the closest thing to mining’s PDAC or VRIC for the shipping sector. Marine Money Week is essential for understanding the finance side.

10. The 9 Key Metrics Retail Investors Need

Understanding shipping stocks requires tracking a unique set of metrics that are completely different from typical equity analysis.

1. Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) Rate
   The most important metric. Calculated as: (Voyage Revenue − Voyage Expenses) / Round-Trip Days. TCE normalizes earnings across different voyage lengths and routes, making companies comparable. Reported quarterly by public companies. Current benchmarks: Capesize ~$27,700/day, Panamax ~$11,400/day, VLCC ~$30,000–50,000/day (volatile), MR Tanker ~$15,000–25,000/day.
   Data gap for retail: Real-time TCE is not available. Companies report quarterly, 60–90 days after period end.
2. Vessel Values (Newbuild, 5-Year, Scrap)
   Every ship has three values: what it costs to build new, what a 5-year-old vessel trades for in the secondhand market, and what it’s worth as scrap steel. These determine Net Asset Value (NAV) — the most important shipping stock valuation metric. Calculated as: (Fleet Market Value + Other Assets − Total Debt). A company trading below NAV is “selling its ships cheaply.”
   Data gap for retail: VesselsValue and Clarksons provide this data at $10,000–40,000+/year. Retail investors must reverse-engineer from S&P transaction reports or rely on quarterly company disclosures.
3. Orderbook-to-Fleet Ratio
   The ratio of ships currently on order (being built) to the existing fleet. A high ratio signals future supply growth and rate pressure. A low ratio signals supply tightness and potential rate increases. Current container ratio: 31–35% (bearish). Historical precedent: similar levels in 2004–2009 led to prolonged oversupply. Tanker orderbook: historically low (bullish).
   Data gap for retail: Free orderbook data exists at the aggregate level (Splash247, Hellenic Shipping News report on it). Vessel-level detail requires Clarksons or Alphaliner.
4. Fleet Age & Scrapping
   Older ships are less fuel-efficient, face stricter emissions regulations (CII, EU ETS), and are more likely to be scrapped. Scrapping removes supply and supports rates. Current scrap prices: $395–435/LDT depending on vessel type. 2025 scrapping hit a twenty-year low, creating a “recycling overhang” of 1.8M TEU of older vessels.
   Data gap for retail: VesselsValue publishes free demolition reports. Go-Shipping publishes weekly scrap prices. But fleet-age breakdowns by segment require Clarksons.
5. Port Congestion & Ton-Mile Demand
   Port congestion effectively reduces available vessel supply (ships waiting to unload are not earning revenue on new cargoes). Ton-mile demand measures not just cargo volume but distance traveled — rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez Canal massively increases ton-mile demand even with flat cargo volumes.
   Data gap for retail: Some free port congestion data from GoComet and Portcast. But real-time, comprehensive data requires Kpler or Signal Ocean at enterprise pricing.
6. Freight Futures (FFAs)
   Forward Freight Agreements are financial derivatives that allow hedging and speculation on future freight rates. They show market expectations for future charter rates. Traded on EEX, SGX, and CME. Cash-settled, no physical delivery.
   Data gap for retail: Direct FFA trading requires institutional accounts (minimum $5–10M credit lines for OTC). BDRY and BWET ETFs provide indirect exposure. FFA price data requires Baltic Exchange subscription.
7. Bunker Fuel Costs
   The largest variable cost in shipping operations, comprising up to 60% of total voyage expenses. Key benchmarks: VLSFO (Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil) averaging $580–650/metric ton in Singapore, Rotterdam, and Houston. EU ETS and IMO CII regulations now make emissions a direct cost factor.
   Data available for retail: Ship & Bunker provides free daily bunker price indications worldwide. This is one metric where retail investors have good access.
8. OPEX Per Vessel Per Day
   Operating expenses include crew wages (20–30% of OPEX), insurance ($20,000–100,000/year per vessel), maintenance ($1,500–3,000/month per vessel), stores/spares, and management fees. Drewry benchmark: $7,474 average daily OPEX (2022), with inflation pushing this higher. This sets the floor below which a vessel cannot operate without cash losses.
   Data gap for retail: Companies report OPEX in quarterly earnings. Drewry’s Ship Operating Costs report is the benchmark but costs £2,000+. Cross-company comparison is the challenge.
9. Breakeven Rates
   The daily charter rate at which a vessel covers all costs (OPEX + debt service + G&A). This is the ultimate “margin of safety” metric. A company earning above breakeven is profitable; below, it burns cash. Example: a VLCC with $22,000–25,000/day all-in breakeven earning $45,000/day is generating $20,000+/day in free cash flow. Companies with lower breakeven rates can survive downturns that destroy higher-cost competitors.
   Data availability: Best disclosed metric. Many companies (especially Star Bulk, Scorpio, Genco) publish breakeven rates in quarterly presentations. This is where retail investors have the most parity with institutions.

11. The 12 Pain Points Shipping Investors Suffer

Every pain point is a business opportunity. Here is what shipping investors struggle with:

1. Data is locked behind $20,000–50,000/year paywalls — The fundamental data needed to value shipping stocks (charter rates, vessel values, orderbook) is produced by Clarksons, Baltic Exchange, and VesselsValue, all priced for institutional clients. No retail-accessible alternative exists. Opportunity: aggregated data dashboard at $20–50/month.
2. No dedicated shipping stock screener — Finviz, Koyfin, and TIKR allow general stock screening but have no shipping-specific metrics (TCE rates, NAV discount, orderbook exposure, fleet age, breakeven rates). Opportunity: build the “Finviz for shipping stocks.”
3. Quarterly reporting lag — Charter rates move daily but companies report quarterly with a 60–90 day delay. By the time a retail investor sees Q4 TCE data, it is February and rates may have moved significantly. Opportunity: near-real-time rate tracking with company-specific implications.
4. No centralized fleet data — Finding a simple answer to “how many Capesize vessels does Star Bulk have on charter above $20,000/day?” requires digging through earnings presentations, fleet lists, and charter party data. Opportunity: structured fleet database for every publicly traded shipping company.
5. Net Asset Value (NAV) is impossible to calculate without VesselsValue — NAV is the most important valuation metric in shipping, but it requires current vessel values that cost $15,000–40,000+/year to access. Opportunity: NAV estimate tracker using S&P transaction proxies and company disclosures.
6. Shipping cycles are confusing — The shipping cycle is driven by supply/demand dynamics that operate on multi-year timescales. New investors struggle to understand where in the cycle each segment sits. Opportunity: visual cycle trackers and educational content.
7. Too many segments, too different from each other — Dry bulk, tanker, container, LNG, car carrier, and offshore each have completely different supply/demand dynamics, rate benchmarks, and risk profiles. One “shipping” thesis does not fit all. Opportunity: segment-specific research and alerts.
8. Greek/Norwegian family-controlled companies are opaque — Many shipping companies are controlled by Greek or Norwegian shipping dynasties (Fredriksen, Angelicoussis, Frangou, Marinakis, Tsakos). Governance can be poor, related-party transactions are common, and management interests may not align with minority shareholders. Opportunity: governance ratings and insider transaction tracking.
9. Dividend policies are volatile — Shipping companies frequently pay massive dividends in boom years and cut to zero in bust years. ZIM paid a 14.6% yield recently, but dividends swing wildly with rates. Opportunity: dividend sustainability analysis based on rate outlook and breakeven.
10. No community — Unlike mining stocks (CEO.ca, Reddit mining communities) or tech stocks (Reddit, Twitter FinTwit), there is no dedicated community for shipping investors. StockTwits has thin shipping threads. The VIE community on Seeking Alpha is the closest thing that exists. Opportunity: build the CEO.ca or Discord for shipping investors.
11. Regulation complexity — IMO 2020 sulfur cap, CII (Carbon Intensity Indicator), EU ETS, EEXI, FuelEU Maritime, ballast water regulations, and sanctions compliance all affect vessel economics in ways that are hard for retail investors to model. Opportunity: regulatory impact calculator and compliance tracker.
12. Almost no educational content — While Sal Mercogliano’s YouTube channel covers shipping broadly, there is virtually no content dedicated to teaching retail investors how to analyze shipping stocks. No courses, no comprehensive guides, no structured curriculum. Opportunity: shipping investing courses, playbooks, and educational content.

12. Existing Platforms & Tools for Shipping Investors

Key insight: There is literally no dedicated shipping stock data platform for retail investors. The tools that exist are either institutional-grade (Clarksons, VesselsValue, Signal Ocean at $20K+/year), analyst-driven newsletters (VIE, ShipBrief), or general-purpose financial tools (TIKR, Koyfin) that have no shipping-specific features. The “Finviz for shipping” does not exist.

13. 15 Market Gaps & Opportunities

1. Shipping Stock Screener / Data Dashboard ($20–50/month)
   Build the missing “Finviz for shipping.” Aggregate TCE rates, NAV estimates, fleet data, breakeven rates, dividend yields, charter coverage, orderbook exposure, and fleet age for every publicly traded shipping company. Update weekly from earnings reports, company filings, and free data sources. 50–70 US-listed stocks, perhaps 100–150 globally. This is the single biggest gap.
   Revenue potential: 1,000–5,000 subscribers at $30/month = $360K–$1.8M ARR.
2. Weekly Shipping Rates Newsletter (Free + $15–30/month premium)
   Curate the week’s most important rate movements, fleet transactions, and orderbook changes into a digestible format for retail investors. Free tier drives audience; premium adds company-specific analysis and trade ideas. Think “The Daily Shot” but for shipping.
   Revenue potential: 10,000+ free subscribers, 500–2,000 paid at $20/month = $120K–$480K ARR.
3. NAV Tracker for Shipping Stocks
   Build an automated Net Asset Value estimator for every publicly traded shipping company. Use S&P transaction data, company disclosures, and regression models to estimate current vessel values without a VesselsValue subscription. Update weekly. Show NAV discount/premium for every stock.
   This single feature would be worth the price of a subscription for many shipping investors.
4. Shipping Rate Alert Service
   Push notifications when charter rates cross key thresholds (BDI above 2,500, Capesize below $15,000/day, VLCC above $50,000/day). Pair with stock-specific implications (“Star Bulk breakeven is $14,500/day — Capesize rates just fell below that level”).
   Could be a feature within a broader platform or a standalone freemium product.
5. Shipping Investing Course ($200–500)
   No comprehensive course exists teaching retail investors how to analyze shipping stocks. Topics: shipping cycles, how to read a fleet list, TCE calculation, NAV analysis, orderbook analysis, charter party basics, FFA markets, regulatory impact, and segment-specific analysis.
   Revenue potential: 500–2,000 students at $300 = $150K–$600K.
6. Shipping Investor Community (Discord / Circle)
   Build the CEO.ca or StockTwits for shipping investors. Channels by segment (dry bulk, tanker, container, LNG), real-time fixture discussion, earnings analysis, fleet transaction alerts. Pair with weekly AMAs featuring industry professionals.
   Revenue potential: 500–2,000 members at $20–50/month = $120K–$1.2M ARR.
7. Shipping Cycle Visualization Tool
   Interactive visualization showing where each shipping segment sits in its cycle based on orderbook-to-fleet ratio, fleet age, rate trends, and scrapping activity. Updated monthly. Think “shipping market clock.”
   Great lead magnet and differentiation feature. Can be free to drive newsletter signups.
8. Shipping Company Earnings Dashboard
   Structured database of every US-listed shipping company’s quarterly earnings: TCE rates by vessel class, fleet utilization, OPEX per day, charter coverage (% of days booked for next quarter/year), debt repayment schedule, dividend policy. All from public filings, structured for comparison.
   Massive data entry effort initially but creates a defensible moat once built.
9. Shipping-Focused Financial Podcast
   Weekly podcast specifically focused on shipping as an investment sector. Interview company CEOs, shipbrokers, maritime economists, and portfolio managers. Sal Mercogliano covers the industry; nobody covers it as an investment.
   Revenue via sponsorship from shipping companies, brokers, and IR firms. 500+ companies need to reach investors.
10. “Shipping in 5 Minutes” Daily Brief
    Ultra-short daily email: today’s BDI, key tanker/container rate moves, notable fixtures, fleet transactions, and one actionable insight. Under 500 words. Designed for busy investors who want the signal without the noise.
    Free tier for audience building. Can convert to premium for deeper analysis.
11. Regulatory Impact Calculator
    Tool that models the financial impact of IMO CII, EU ETS, EEXI, and FuelEU Maritime on specific vessel types and ages. Shows which companies have the most regulatory risk based on fleet age and fuel efficiency.
    Unique value prop. No retail-accessible tool exists for this.
12. AI-Powered Earnings Call Analyzer
    Use LLMs to parse shipping company earnings calls and extract key metrics: forward TCE guidance, fleet changes, charter coverage updates, management sentiment on rates. Structured output for comparison across companies.
    Technical but achievable. Immediate value to any shipping investor.
13. Shipping Company IR Aggregator
    Single page that aggregates all shipping company investor presentations, fleet status reports, and press releases in one place. Currently requires visiting 30+ individual IR websites. Simple but valuable time-saver.
    Low-effort, high-value. Perfect complementary feature for a newsletter or community.
14. Secondhand Ship Transaction Tracker
    Track every S&P (sale and purchase) transaction reported in shipping media. Price, vessel age, type, buyer, seller. Build a free proxy for VesselsValue’s valuation data over time.
    Data collection is manual (from TradeWinds, Lloyd’s List, Hellenic Shipping News) but creates a valuable dataset.
15. Shipping ETF / Sector Report (Annual)
    Comprehensive annual or quarterly report on the publicly traded shipping sector: performance, valuations, rate outlook, top picks. Modeled on banking or REIT sector reports. Sell at $200–500/copy or bundle with other products.
    Low-frequency, high-value product. Establishes authority.

14. Newsletter Playbook

The Opportunity

Mining stocks have 20+ paid newsletters. Shipping stocks have essentially one (ShipBrief/VIE). The audience is there — 50–70 US-listed shipping companies, $43B+ combined market cap, high-yield dividends attracting income investors, and volatile cycles attracting traders. The newsletter gap is enormous.

Format: “The Shipping Dispatch”

Free tier (weekly, Sunday evening)

• Week’s BDI, tanker index, and container rate movements in a clean table
• Notable S&P transactions and newbuilding orders
• Key earnings and company news
• One deep-dive paragraph on the week’s most important theme
• Under 1,000 words. Takes 3 minutes to read.

Premium tier ($20–30/month via Substack or Beehiiv)

• Mid-week deep-dive on one company or segment (2,000–3,000 words)
• NAV estimates for top 20 shipping stocks (updated monthly)
• Charter rate tracker with company-specific breakeven analysis
• Model portfolio with position sizing and risk management
• Earnings preview/review for every US-listed shipping company

Audience Building

1. Twitter/X — Shipping FinTwit exists but is small. Post daily rate charts, fleet transaction summaries, and cycle analysis. Tag companies ($ZIM, $SBLK, $FRO, $STNG). Build authority through consistent, high-quality posts.
2. Seeking Alpha free articles — Publish 1–2 free shipping stock analyses per month on Seeking Alpha. Drives traffic to your newsletter. Seeking Alpha has large retail investor readership.
3. Capital Link webinars — Attend and write up summaries. Content that creates itself from management presentations.
4. SEO — Target “best shipping stocks,” “how to invest in shipping,” “Baltic Dry Index explained,” “ZIM stock analysis,” “dry bulk shipping investing.” Extremely low competition compared to tech or crypto.
5. YouTube companion — Weekly 10-minute market update video. Nobody is doing this for shipping investing. Sal Mercogliano covers industry; nobody covers investing.

Revenue Model

15. Data Platform & Screener Playbook

The Product: “ShipScreen” (Finviz for Shipping)

A web application that aggregates, structures, and presents shipping-specific investment data for retail investors at 1/100th the cost of institutional platforms.

Core Features (MVP)

1. Company Dashboard — For each of the ~70 US-listed shipping companies: fleet composition (# of vessels by class), latest TCE rates, OPEX per day, breakeven rate, charter coverage (% booked), dividend yield and history, debt-to-equity, NAV estimate, and P/NAV ratio. All from public filings.
2. Rate Tracker — Daily BDI (with sub-indices), FBX container rates, and weekly tanker rate benchmarks in clean, interactive charts. Link rate levels to company breakevens (“At current Capesize rates, 8 of 12 dry bulk companies are above breakeven”).
3. Fleet Database — Every vessel owned by every publicly traded shipping company. Vessel name, IMO number, type, DWT, year built, and current charter status (if disclosed). Built from earnings presentations and fleet lists.
4. Screener — Filter by: segment, P/NAV, dividend yield, fleet age, charter coverage, debt ratio, breakeven rate, and market cap. The core differentiation over Finviz/Koyfin.
5. Earnings Calendar — When every shipping company reports, with links to transcripts and presentations.

Data Sources (All Legal, Free or Low-Cost)

• SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q, 6-K, 20-F) — TCE rates, fleet data, charter coverage, financials
• Company IR pages — Fleet lists, earnings presentations, press releases
• Freightos Baltic Index — Free headline container rates
• Baltic Dry Index — Free headline dry bulk rates
• Ship & Bunker — Free bunker fuel prices
• VesselsValue free reports — Monthly market snapshots and demolition data
• Hellenic Shipping News — Free fixture and transaction data
• Go-Shipping.net — Weekly demolition/scrap prices
• MarineTraffic free tier — Basic vessel tracking

Technical Stack

• Simple web app (Next.js or plain HTML + API)
• Database (PostgreSQL) for structured company/fleet/rate data
• Manual data entry initially (70 companies, quarterly updates = manageable)
• LLM-assisted parsing of earnings transcripts and filings to reduce manual work over time
• Charts via Chart.js or similar
• Stripe for payments

Revenue Model

Defensibility: The moat is structured data from unstructured sources. Once you have manually extracted and normalized fleet data, charter coverage, and TCE rates from 70+ companies across 20+ quarters, that dataset is extremely valuable and hard to replicate. LLM-assisted parsing makes the ongoing data collection scalable.

16. Community Platform Playbook

The Gap

Mining investors have CEO.ca, Reddit communities, and multiple Discord servers. Tech investors have Reddit, StockTwits, and Twitter communities. Shipping investors have... essentially the VIE chat room on Seeking Alpha and scattered StockTwits threads. The community gap is massive.

Platform: Discord or Circle

Free tier channels

• #general — Broad shipping discussion
• #dry-bulk — BDI, Capesize/Panamax discussion
• #tankers — Crude and product tanker rates and stocks
• #containers — Container rates, liner stocks, FBX discussion
• #lng-gas — LNG carrier and gas shipping
• #rate-alerts — Bot posts daily BDI, tanker, and container rate updates
• #earnings — Discussion during earnings season

Premium tier ($30–50/month)

• #research — In-depth company analysis and trade ideas
• #model-portfolio — Tracked positions with entry/exit levels
• #ask-the-analyst — Weekly AMA with shipping industry professionals
• #data-room — Shared spreadsheets, fleet databases, and NAV models
• Monthly webinar with guest speakers (shipbrokers, fund managers, company executives)

Building the Community

1. Start with a free Twitter/X presence posting daily shipping data
2. Launch free Discord with rate alert bots
3. Host weekly voice chats during earnings season
4. Invite J Mintzmyer or John Kartsonas for AMAs to attract initial members
5. Partner with Capital Link to cross-promote forum content
6. Convert engaged free members to premium tier

17. Content & SEO Playbook

The SEO Opportunity

Shipping investment content has extremely low competition compared to tech stocks, crypto, or even mining. Search volume is moderate but highly targeted, and the audience has high willingness to pay.

Keyword Targets

YouTube Strategy

The investment-focused shipping YouTube niche is essentially empty. Sal Mercogliano has 100,000+ subscribers covering the industry, but nobody covers shipping as an investment. A weekly 10–15 minute “Shipping Investor Update” covering rate movements, earnings, and company news would be unique.

• Format: Screencast with rate charts, fleet data, and company presentations
• Frequency: Weekly (Sunday evening or Monday morning)
• Length: 10–15 minutes
• Monetization: YouTube ads + newsletter promotion + sponsored segments from shipping IR firms
• Target: 5,000–20,000 subscribers in Year 1 (niche but highly engaged)

18. Macro Trends Reshaping Shipping

1. Decarbonization regulations (IMO 2023/CII, EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime) — Ships must now reduce carbon intensity or face speed restrictions, trading limitations, or carbon costs. EU ETS adds $30–100+ per ton of CO2 emitted for voyages touching EU ports. Older, less efficient ships face accelerated obsolescence. This effectively shrinks supply and benefits owners of modern fleets. Creates winners (modern fleet operators) and losers (old fleet operators).
2. Red Sea / Houthi disruptions — Rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope adds 10–14 days to Asia-Europe voyages, massively increasing ton-mile demand and effectively tightening vessel supply. This boosted tanker and container rates in 2024–2025 and could persist as a structural factor.
3. Container oversupply wave (2026–2028) — The 31–35% orderbook-to-fleet ratio in containers means massive newbuilding deliveries over the next 2–3 years. Without equivalent scrapping, container rates face structural downward pressure. This creates a bearish backdrop for container stocks but a potential opportunity for contrarian entry points.
4. Tanker structural tightness — In contrast to containers, the tanker orderbook is historically low. Combined with refinery displacement (new Middle East and Asian refineries shift trade flows), aging fleet, and sanctions-related dark fleet usage, the tanker market has structural support for elevated rates.
5. AI-driven efficiency and data analytics — Signal Ocean, Kpler, and others are using AI to process AIS data, email fixtures, and market signals. This is making institutional investors even more data-rich, widening the gap with retail investors who lack access to these tools.
6. Alternative fuels and dual-fuel vessels — LNG, methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen as ship fuels are being adopted. Dual-fuel newbuilds command premium charter rates. This creates a two-tier fleet market: modern eco-friendly vessels vs. aging conventional tonnage.
7. Chinese trade policy and tariff risks — US-China trade tensions, tariffs, and potential shipping-related levies (like proposed fees on Chinese-built vessels) add uncertainty but also create opportunity for those who understand the trade flow implications.
8. Consolidation in shipping — Frontline merged with Euronav. Star Bulk merged with Eagle Bulk. CoolCo went private. The trend toward larger, more diversified shipping platforms continues, reducing the number of publicly traded companies but increasing the size and liquidity of survivors.

19. Verdict & Best Bets

Why Shipping is a Perfect Bootstrapper Market

1. Massive information asymmetry = massive opportunity — The gap between institutional and retail data access is wider in shipping than almost any other public equity sector. Closing even 20% of this gap creates enormous value.
2. Wealthy, motivated audience with high willingness to pay — Shipping investors tend to be experienced, income-oriented investors comfortable with $200–500/year subscriptions for quality research.
3. Near-zero competition — One dedicated shipping newsletter (ShipBrief/VIE), zero shipping stock screeners, zero shipping investor communities, zero shipping investment YouTube channels. The entire field is wide open.
4. Rich content opportunities — 6+ segments, 70+ companies, daily rate movements, quarterly earnings, constant fleet transactions, regulatory changes, and geopolitical events provide unlimited content material.
5. Multiple monetization paths — Newsletter, data platform, community, course, sponsored content, annual reports, API access. The same dataset and audience supports 3–5 revenue streams.
6. Free data is sufficient for an MVP — Company filings, BDI/FBX free data, Ship & Bunker, Hellenic Shipping News, and VesselsValue free reports provide enough raw material to build a valuable product without any institutional data subscriptions.

Top 3 Best Bets (Ranked)

1. #1: Shipping Data Newsletter + Rate Tracker Website
   Start with a free weekly newsletter (Substack/Beehiiv) covering rate movements, fleet transactions, and one deep-dive. Build a simple website with daily rate charts (BDI, FBX, tanker indices) and company-level data tables. Upgrade to premium newsletter ($25/month) as audience grows. The website becomes the data platform over time.
   Path to $100K ARR: 5,000 free subscribers, 400 paid at $25/month. Achievable in 12–18 months with consistent content.
2. #2: Shipping Stock Screener / Data Platform (SaaS)
   Build the “Finviz for shipping” with shipping-specific screening metrics (TCE, NAV, breakeven, fleet age, orderbook). Start with 20–30 US-listed companies, expand to full universe. Freemium model with Pro tier at $30–50/month. Pair with newsletter for content marketing.
   Path to $200K ARR: 500 Pro subscribers at $35/month. Requires more technical effort but has higher ceiling and stronger moat.
3. #3: Shipping Investor Community + Educational Content
   Build a Discord/Circle community with free and premium tiers. Pair with a YouTube channel (weekly shipping investor update) and an online course ($300) teaching shipping stock analysis. The community provides retention; the content provides acquisition.
   Path to $100K ARR: 300 premium community members at $35/month + 200 course sales at $300/year.

The Ideal Founder Profile

The best person to build in this space has: (1) genuine interest in shipping and maritime industries, (2) comfort with financial analysis and stock valuation, (3) ability to read SEC filings and earnings presentations, (4) basic web development skills or willingness to use no-code tools, and (5) willingness to do manual data collection and entry for the first 6–12 months before automating. No shipping industry background required — the audience is retail investors, not shipowners. An outsider’s perspective on making opaque data accessible is actually an advantage.

The 90-Day Launch Plan

1. Week 1–2: Set up Twitter/X account. Start posting daily BDI and rate charts with commentary. Follow every US-listed shipping company, J Mintzmyer, John Kartsonas, Sal Mercogliano, and shipping journalists.
2. Week 3–4: Launch free Substack newsletter. First issue: “The State of Shipping in Q1 2026” overview of all segments. Promote on Twitter, Seeking Alpha comments, and Reddit investing communities.
3. Week 5–8: Publish deep-dive analysis on 2–3 shipping companies. Build initial fleet and TCE database in a spreadsheet. Post results as shareable data tables on Twitter.
4. Week 9–10: Launch simple rate tracker website (daily BDI, FBX, tanker rates + company breakeven comparisons). Free to access, drives newsletter signups.
5. Week 11–12: Launch premium newsletter tier ($25/month). Offer first 50 subscribers a founding member discount ($200/year locked in). Include NAV estimates and model portfolio.
6. Week 13+: Consistent weekly publishing cadence. One free issue + one premium issue per week. Begin building toward screening features on the website. Expand data coverage to all US-listed companies.

Bottom line: Shipping is a $600B+ industry where 80% of world trade moves by sea, yet retail investors have worse data access than in almost any other public equity sector. The competitive landscape for serving these investors is nearly empty. A bootstrapper with consistent effort, quality content, and a willingness to do the manual data work can build a highly profitable media and data business in a niche that is too small for venture-backed startups to target but more than large enough for a bootstrapped operation to thrive.