What Shippax does

Shippax is a privately-held Swedish information services company founded in 1966 and headquartered in Halmstad. It operates as a specialized publisher and database provider for the ferry, cruise, ro-ro and high-speed shipping markets — a niche vertical it claims to serve as the world's only source for globally collected ferry traffic statistics. Its audience comprises ferry operators, shipowners, port authorities, naval architects, equipment suppliers, and other maritime decision-makers, with readership skewed to senior commercial roles (45% general managers; 68% involved in purchasing decisions).

The company's core technology asset is the Shippax Database, an online repository of 50+ years of accumulated ship information covering 7,300+ active ships, 3,100 GA-plans (readable and printable in PDF), and 16,000 financial transactions including historical contract prices, S&P prices, and TC rates. This database is complemented by a portfolio of publications: the monthly Shippax Info magazine, the annual Shippax Guide ship register (established 1975), Shippax Designs newbuildings annual (1980), and Shippax Market statistics annual (1998). The company also organizes the annual Shippax Ferry Conference (since 2003, typically 450-500 delegates), offers custom consulting services (feasibility studies, vessel valuations, traffic development analyses), and publishes specialized titles such as the Swedish-language history book 'Passagerare till sjöss'.

Shippax monetizes primarily through recurring subscriptions to its publications and database access (single-user and site licenses), conference delegate attendance, advertising across its publications/website/newsletter (300,000+ annual website visits), and professional services consulting. Distribution is global via its own webshop and direct sales. The firm operates with 1-10 employees, has no external funding, no disclosed M&A activity, and no parent company. There is no public API, SDK, or documented AI/ML capability.

Name

Shippax

Legal name

Shippax

Website

https://shippax.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Shippax is a Swedish information services company that publishes vessel data, statistics, and industry news for the global ferry, cruise, ro-ro, and high-speed shipping sectors, serving operators, port authorities, naval architects, and maritime suppliers via subscriptions, a proprietary database, and an annual conference.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Industry Information Services

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

RoPax Ferry Operators (Passenger + Vehicle) (THAEAGAC)

Keywords

• Maritime industry publications
• Ferry market data
• Shipping industry intelligence
• Vessel register database
• Maritime traffic statistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Halmstad

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Publication Subscriptions: Shippax publishes multiple subscription-based publications including Shippax Info (monthly magazine with online access), Shippax Guide (annual ship register), Shippax Designs (annual newbuilding overview), and Shippax Market (annual market statistics). Subscriptions can be physical, online-only, or PDF versions.
2. Shippax Database Access: Online database providing access to ship information, GA-plans, photos, and financial transactions. Available for single user or site license. All information can be exported for personalized reports.
3. Shippax Ferry Conference: Annual onboard ferry conference held since 2003, attracting 450-500 delegates from the ferry industry worldwide. Revenue from delegate attendance.
4. Consulting Services: Custom consulting services including feasibility studies, factual background research, traffic development studies, tonnage evaluation, acquisitions, market intelligence, vessel valuations, and custom statistics & traffic flow analysis.
5. Advertising: Advertising opportunities across all publications, website, and newsletter. With 3000+ readers per publication, 10,000+ active contacts, and significant website traffic (300,000+ visits, 700,000+ page views per year), they offer banner advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Shippax is a maritime information services company that publishes subscription-based industry publications (Shippax Info monthly magazine and annual Shippax Guide, Designs, and Market reports) and operates the Shippax Database—an online resource containing over 7,300 active ships, 3,100 GA-plans, and 16,000 financial transactions covering the global ferry, cruise, ro-ro, and high-speed vessel markets. The company also organizes the annual Shippax Ferry Conference and provides bespoke maritime consulting services.

Product overview

Shippax offers a comprehensive suite of products and services for the ferry, cruise, ro-ro, and high-speed shipping industries. The core offering consists of the Shippax Database, an online resource containing over 7,300 active ships, 3,100 GA-plans, and 16,000 financial transactions. This database is complemented by a portfolio of annual and monthly publications including Shippax Guide (annual ship register established 1975), Shippax Designs (annual newbuildings and conversions publication established 1980), Shippax Market (annual statistics and market reports established 1998), and Shippax Info (monthly magazine with online access). The company also organizes the annual Shippax Ferry Conference since 2003, provides consulting services including valuations and market intelligence, and publishes specialized titles like the Swedish ferry history book 'Passagerare till sjöss'.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Shippax Info: Monthly magazine with unique statistical information, news, themes, fleet changes, order books, current projects.
• Shippax Guide
• Shippax Designs
• Shippax Market
• Shippax Database
• Shippax Ferry Conference

Products and services

• Shippax Database Online database containing more than 7,300 active ships, 3,100 GA-plans and 16,000 financial transactions, with vessel listings, photos, GA-plans readable/printable in PDF format, and chronological financial transaction history (contract prices, S&P prices, TC rates). Targeted at maritime professionals worldwide.
• Shippax Info Monthly subscription magazine providing unique ferry traffic statistics, industry news, fleet changes, order books, and current project updates for the ferry, cruise, ro-ro, and high-speed markets. Available with online access subscription.
• Shippax Guide Annual extensive ship register publication with details, sales, orders, renamings, and information on all ferries, cruise liners and ro-ro vessels currently in service worldwide. Established 1975. Priced at SEK 995 per copy.
• Shippax Designs Annual publication presenting all ferries, cruise liners, and ro-ro vessels completed or converted worldwide during the previous 12 months, covering technical and design aspects. Established 1980.
• Shippax Market Annual publication filled with detailed volume statistics and market reports including ferry, cruise, ro-ro, and high-speed market outlooks. Established 1998. Latest edition priced at USD 503 / EUR 459.
• Shippax Ferry Conference Annual onboard conference for the ferry industry organized since 2003, typically attended by 450-500 delegates from around the world.
• Maritime Consulting Services Expert team provides feasibility studies, factual background research, traffic development studies, tonnage evaluation, acquisitions support, market intelligence, vessel valuation documents, and custom statistics & traffic flow analysis for maritime industry clients.
• Ferry Statistics Traffic flow statistics and ferry-related data available for purchase, representing the world's only source for globally collected ferry traffic statistics.
• Passagerare till sjöss (Swedish Ferry History Book) A 440-page book about Swedish ferry shipping since the early 1900s, published in Swedish with over a thousand photos and illustrations. Priced at SEK 300 / USD 34 / EUR 31.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000+ readers per publication with 95% filing publications for future reference
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• VesselsValue: Specialist maritime data platform owned by Oakley Capital providing vessel valuations, AIS-based tracking, and freight market analytics. Directly competitive with Shippax's GA-plan and ship-data offering but delivered through a self-service digital product rather than curated publications.
• Kpler: Data and analytics platform providing real-time AIS-derived shipping intelligence, vessel tracking, and trade-flow analytics. Represents the digital-native, API-first evolution of the B2B maritime information business that Shippax's print-led, human-curated model must contend with.

Direct peers

• Ferry Shipping News: Specialist publication covering the ferry and ro-ro industry worldwide. Overlaps with Shippax on the same downstream audience of ferry operators, ports, and shipbuilders, and competes for advertising and subscriber dollars within the same narrow niche.
• Riviera Maritime Media: UK-based B2B maritime media company publishing magazines, digital content, and running events (including European Offshore Week and conference series) for commercial shipping, offshore, and workboat markets. Closely matches Shippax's print-plus-database-plus-events model in an adjacent maritime vertical with comparable subscriber economics.
• Cruise Industry News: Subscription-based trade publication and database covering the global cruise industry, including fleet data, newbuildings, financials, and an annual conference. Directly overlaps Shippax on cruise ship intelligence, data subscriptions, and conference revenue within the same passenger-shipping vertical.
• WorkBoat: US trade title and event series for the workboat, tugboat, towboat, and passenger-vessel operator community. Direct peer in the print + events + online B2B maritime media model targeting marine operators, port authorities, and shipyards.
• MarineLink (Maritime Reporter): Long-running US-based maritime trade media group publishing Maritime Reporter and related titles for commercial shipping, naval, offshore, and ferry/passenger markets. Comparable B2B maritime media business with similar advertising-driven, multi-title economics.
• Baird Maritime: Australian-founded publisher of maritime trade magazines (WorkBoat, Maritime Traffic, Ausmarine, Big Boats, etc.) covering commercial shipping, workboats, offshore, and naval. Closely comparable print-led, multi-title B2B maritime media business serving overlapping buyer segments.

Broad incumbents

• S&P Global Commodity Insights (Maritime & Trade): Major global information services and analytics provider covering maritime shipping, trade flows, and commodities. Overlaps with Shippax on shipping market intelligence but at much greater scale and breadth, with integrated analytics platforms and APIs.
• Clarksons Research: Maritime data, research, and analytics arm of Clarkson PLC — the world's largest shipbroker. Same B2B shipping-information-and-data business model as Shippax but vastly broader scope (global fleet, trade flows, offshore) and significantly larger scale and customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shippax
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzADr0dkmUqxUMlo0-gpZ_g/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/ShipPax-Information/171281966238128
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shippax-ab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shippax