Do you build software specifically for ocean freight and forwarding, or just general logistics?

Both, but the maritime work is scoped to how ocean freight actually operates: forwarding operations (quotes, bookings, shipment files, and documents like the bill of lading and commercial invoice), container and vessel milestone visibility, customs and duty workflows, and demurrage and detention control. General warehouse, fleet, and last-mile work lives under our logistics practice, and we cross-link the two when a project spans both.

Can you integrate with ocean carriers, port systems, and AIS vessel data?

Yes. Carrier bookings and milestone events, EDI trading-partner feeds (X12 and EDIFACT), port and terminal systems, and AIS vessel-position data are all standard integration targets. We scope each integration during discovery and prototype the highest-risk one in the first sprint, because carrier and port integrations are the most common cause of timeline slips on maritime projects.

How do you handle customs and trade documentation?

We build the document and data workflow, bill of lading, commercial invoice, packing list, and certificate of origin, and connect it to your licensed customs broker or the filing system you already use. We build the software that produces and routes the documents and tracks status. We do not act as a customs broker or provide trade-compliance advice; your broker or compliance team owns the filing itself.

Can you build demurrage and detention tracking that actually prevents fees?

Yes. The system tracks each container's free-time clock from gate-out or discharge, alerts your team before free time expires, and keeps the timeline evidence you need to dispute an incorrect charge. The value is in catching the clock before the fee lands, not reconciling it after, so alerting and ownership are designed in from the start.

Should we build custom or stay on an off-the-shelf forwarding or TMS platform?

Stay on the platform when your operation fits its data model and per-shipment fees stay reasonable. Build custom when the platform forces workarounds for how you actually move freight, when per-shipment and integration surcharges eat margin, or when you need workflows the vendor does not support. The build usually pays back when subscription plus integration fees cross roughly $40k to $60k per year.

How long does a maritime software project take, and what does it cost?

A focused single-system build, a forwarding operations tool, a container visibility portal, or a demurrage tracker, ships in 10 to 16 weeks. A multi-mode forwarding platform with carrier, EDI, and ERP integration runs 4 to 6 months. Costs start around $40k for a focused build and run to $160k+ for a platform with deep integrations. Fixed cost, agreed after a discovery phase that scopes the integrations.

Do you work with freight forwarders and NVOCCs, or only large carriers?

Mostly forwarders, NVOCCs, and cargo owners who have outgrown spreadsheets and generic tools but do not have an internal engineering team. We also build operational software for smaller carriers and port and terminal operators. The common thread is a real operation with real volume and margin pressure, not a pre-revenue idea.

Can you integrate with our existing ERP or accounting system?

Yes. The forwarding or operations software usually needs to stay connected to an ERP (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) or accounting system (Xero, QuickBooks) so finance keeps one system of record. We scope the integration during discovery and build to the interface the ERP exposes, rather than replacing it.

Who owns the code and data at the end?

You do. Every engagement ends with full source code ownership, your data in systems you control, and a handover so your team or ours can maintain it. There is no per-seat lock-in on the software we build for you.

Maritime and Shipping Software Development

Ocean freight runs on documents, milestones, and free-time clocks. When those live in spreadsheets and email, containers go dark, demurrage stacks up, and margin leaks a few dollars per shipment. We build the systems that hold it together.

Freight forwarding, container visibility, and port operations software built for how ocean freight actually moves
Carrier, EDI, and port integrations scoped as the highest-risk dependency, not an afterthought
Customs, documentation, and demurrage workflows that cut manual effort and avoidable fees
100+ products shipped, including a multi-carrier shipping platform connecting 70+ countries

What you can count on

Retention

3+ years

Average client relationship across active accounts

First milestone

Week 3

Working prototype in front of real users

Pricing

Fixed price

Scope and cost agreed before work starts

Team

No handoffs

The senior engineers who scope the build also ship it

4.9

on Clutch

See our work

The problem

Sound familiar?

Forwarding operations spread across spreadsheets, email, and a carrier portal, so every booking gets re-keyed and no two people see the same shipment status?
Demurrage and detention fees showing up on the invoice because nobody was tracking free time on the container while it sat at the terminal?

Short answer

RaftLabs builds custom maritime and shipping software for freight forwarders, carriers, port operators, and cargo owners, covering forwarding operations, container and vessel visibility, customs and documentation, and demurrage control. We build on multi-carrier shipping platform experience, including one that connects 70+ countries and four global carriers in a single workflow. Most builds ship in 12 to 20 weeks at a fixed cost, with full source code ownership.

01 Diagnosis

Problems we solve in maritime and shipping software

01
Problem
Your forwarding operation runs on spreadsheets and email
Solution
A shipment file lives in one spreadsheet, the booking confirmation in an inbox, the documents in a shared drive, and the status in a carrier portal nobody keeps open. Every handoff re-keys data that already exists somewhere, and two people looking at the same shipment often see two different answers. The cost is not just wasted hours. It is the missed cut-off, the wrong container number on a bill of lading, and the customer who calls because they cannot get a straight status. A forwarding operations system that holds the quote, booking, documents, and milestones in one file, with one version of the truth, removes the re-keying and the drift.
02
Problem
Containers go dark between the terminal and the door
Solution
Ocean visibility breaks at the seams between parties. The carrier knows when the box is discharged, the terminal knows when it leaves the gate, the trucker knows when it is delivered, and none of that reaches one screen without work. When your team cannot answer "where is my container" without three phone calls, the customer stops trusting the status and starts calling for everything. Milestone tracking that pulls carrier, terminal, and inland events into one timeline, with exception alerts when a box misses a planned date, turns status from a phone tree into a page you can look at.
03
Problem
Demurrage and detention fees arrive as a surprise
Solution
Free time is a clock that starts the moment a container is discharged or leaves the gate, and the fee for blowing past it is discovered, too often, on the invoice weeks later. By then the money is gone and the dispute is hard to win because nobody kept the timeline. A system that tracks each container's free-time clock, warns your team before it expires, and holds the gate and discharge timestamps as dispute evidence moves the fight from after the fee to before it, which is the only place it can actually be won.
04
Problem
Off-the-shelf platforms don't fit how you move freight
Solution
Generic forwarding and TMS platforms assume a standard shape: standard modes, standard documents, standard billing. Real operations are not standard. You carry a mode or a lane the platform handles badly, a customer who needs a document format the vendor does not support, or a billing rule that does not fit the template. So your team works around the software, and the per-shipment and integration fees keep climbing anyway. Custom software fits the operation instead of the other way around, and the build pays back once the subscription and surcharge line crosses what an owned system costs to run.

02 What we build

What we build for maritime and shipping

Freight forwarding operations
The operational core for a forwarder or NVOCC: quotes, bookings, shipment files, and the documents that move with them, bill of lading, commercial invoice, packing list, and certificate of origin. Versioned documents, one shipment file, and a status every role can see. Built to fit your modes and lanes, not a generic template.
Container and shipment visibility
Milestone tracking that pulls carrier, terminal, and inland events into a single timeline, planned versus actual dates, and exception alerts when a shipment misses a date. A customer-facing portal so shippers can self-serve status instead of calling your desk.
Port and terminal operations
Operational software for ports and terminals: berth, yard, and gate scheduling, container and equipment moves, and the reporting that keeps the operation and its customers aligned. Built to sit alongside the terminal and port community systems you already run.
Vessel and fleet management
Vessel schedules and voyage data, maintenance and inspection records, and crew or bunker tracking for operators who run their own tonnage. AIS vessel-position data brought in where it helps the operation, not just the dashboard.
Customs and documentation
The document and data workflow behind a customs entry, generation, versioning, and routing, connected to your licensed broker or filing system. Duty and landed-cost calculations where the operation needs them. We build the software; your broker owns the filing.
Demurrage and detention control
Free-time tracking from gate-out or discharge, alerts before the clock expires, and the timestamp evidence to dispute an incorrect charge. Built to prevent fees, not just reconcile them after they land.

03 How we work

How we build maritime software

01
Discovery and integration scoping
Two to three weeks mapping how your operation actually runs: the modes and lanes you carry, the documents that move with a shipment, and every system the software has to talk to, carriers, EDI trading partners, port systems, and your ERP or accounting. This step surfaces the integration requirements that cause rework when they are discovered mid-build.
02
Architecture and data model
We design the data model around shipments, containers, and documents, the objects your operation actually works in, and the integration layer for carrier and EDI feeds. The highest-risk integration, usually a carrier or port connection, is prototyped in the first sprint because it is the most common cause of a timeline slip.
03
Build in two-week sprints
You review working software every two weeks, not wireframes. Each sprint ships a usable slice: the shipment file, then documents, then visibility, then the demurrage clock. Scope is fixed and priced before the build, so the number does not move unless you change what you are building.
04
Integration testing and launch
We test every integration against real trading-partner and carrier data, not just a sandbox, because EDI and carrier feeds fail in ways a sandbox never shows. You get a documented, tested system, your data in your control, and a handover so your team or ours can run it.

Trusted by

04 Track record

What we've shipped in shipping and logistics

Countries reached on a multi-carrier shipping platform we shipped: 70+

Shipments processed in year one on that platform: 2,000+

Customers migrated to it with zero downtime: 200+

Fixed-cost rebuild, scoped up front: 14 wk

05 Case studies

Case studies

A multi-carrier shipping platform processing 2,000+ shipments across 70+ countries in year one

70+: Countries served in year one
200+: Customers migrated with zero downtime
14 wk: Fixed-cost rebuild

Read case study

06 Client voices

What our clients say

Three-year average engagement. Founders and operators describing the work in their own words. No marketing varnish.

Gil Nugraha

Indonesia

Founder at UrShipper

I definitely recommend RaftLabs, especially to solo founders like me. Their clear communication and detailed discussions have always helped me make better decisions.

01 / 02

07 Why us

Why choose us?

01
We've seen your problem before
Across dozens of industries and 100+ products, we recognise your situation fast, then frame the fix around your margin and your operations, not a generic template.
02
We own the number, not the ticket
We measure success the way you do: hours saved, revenue earned, margin recovered. We stay through launch and growth, so the result is ours to own.
03
Serious businesses trust us
Vodafone, T-Mobile, Cisco, Energia, Aldi, Nike. Building since 2015, 100+ products in production. Serious businesses keep coming back because we stay accountable long after launch.

08 Questions

Frequently asked questions

: It is the software that runs ocean freight and the businesses around it: freight forwarding and NVOCC operations, container and vessel visibility, port and terminal operations, customs and documentation workflows, and demurrage and detention control. It overlaps with general logistics software (warehouse, fleet, last-mile), but the maritime work is scoped to ocean freight specifically, and we cross-link to our logistics practice when a project spans both.
: Yes. Carrier bookings and milestone events, EDI feeds in X12 and EDIFACT, port and terminal systems, and AIS vessel data are standard integration targets. Each is scoped during discovery, and the highest-risk one is prototyped in the first sprint. Integration work is usually the largest single variable in a maritime build, so we treat it as the primary risk from day one.
: A focused single-system build (a forwarding operations tool, a container visibility portal, or a demurrage tracker) typically costs $40,000 to $90,000. A multi-mode forwarding platform with carrier, EDI, and ERP integration runs $90,000 to $160,000. Port and terminal operations builds reach higher. Fixed cost is agreed after a discovery phase that scopes the integrations, because integrations drive most of the variance.
: No. We often build alongside a platform you keep, adding the workflow it handles badly, connecting the systems it does not, or replacing only the part that is costing you. If a full replacement is the right call, we scope it honestly, but the default is to fit what you already run rather than force a rip-and-replace.
: By putting the integration risk first. Carrier, EDI, and port integrations are where maritime projects slip, so we prototype the riskiest one in the first sprint, test against real trading-partner data rather than a sandbox, and fix the scope and price before the build starts. You review working software every two weeks, so surprises surface early while they are still cheap to fix.

Related shipping and logistics software

Shipping and logistics resources

Talk to us about your maritime software project.

Tell us how you move freight, which systems you run, and where the operation is leaking time or margin. We'll tell you how we'd approach it.

Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
All conversations are NDA-protected.

Stay on topic