This startup speeds up global ship chartering

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Ling Yang spent over two decades across the e-commerce and AI sectors. He previously served as CEO of a marine shipping platform that scaled to US$2 billion in revenue.

He noticed commercial shipping still relied on scattered emails and manual broker networks. This prompted him to launch ShipLinker to build a dedicated AI decision layer.

😟 Problem

Maritime chartering remains heavily manual and reliant on broker networks. Finding a suitable vessel or cargo can take brokers three to seven days, while traditional co-broking fees can reach 3.75% of freight costs.

SME charterers and shipowners face limited market coverage while dealing with slow workflows and repeated brokerage fees.

💡 Solution

ShipLinker operates an AI-driven decision intelligence and automation agent for global shipowners and charterers. The platform acts as a closed network to prevent information leakage.

The platform offers several capabilities:

• Data ingestion. Analyzes live AIS data, freight indices, and cargo signals across 200,000 vessels and 9,000 ports.
• Smart matching. Evaluates vessel size, routing, and availability confidence to identify commercially workable matches.
• Workflow automation. Allows users to review pre-qualified matches, send targeted invitations, and manage offers in one place.

Image credit: ShipLinker

📊 Market size

The startup estimates a US$3 billion total addressable market. Its initial serviceable opportunity sits at US$367 million. This first phase targets AI-powered chartering for dry bulk and general cargo.

🤝 Team

• Ling Yang. Founder and CEO. He brings 20 years of experience across e-commerce and AI and previously scaled a marine shipping platform to US$2 billion in revenue.

🚀 Traction

• Reached US$40,000 monthly recurring revenue as of June 2026.
• Acquired 22 paying customers from a pool of 70 registered clients.
• Processed more than 600 chartering transactions and enquiries.
• Launched AI Matching Agent 3.0, improving matching accuracy by approximately 50%.
• Expanding operations across Singapore, India, China, the UAE, and Turkey.

🏆 Competition

💰 Financials

🚩 Risks