VesselBot and PortXchange join the Certified Application Provider (CAP) program after innovation potential is singled out in the ‘Decarbonising Shipping’ initiative.
Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, is elevating two digital start-ups identified by venture developer Rainmaking as offering special promise for the maritime industry to Certified Applications Provider status, effectively fast-tracking their market entry.
The solutions, offered by VesselBot and PortXchange, have been accentuated by Rainmaking’s Trade & Transport Impact (TTI) ‘Decarbonising Shipping’ initiative, which seeks to harness the power of start-ups and advanced technologies to meet UN targets on greenhouse gas emissions.
VesselBot’s ‘Voyage TCE Optimization Decision Support System’ software uses advanced AI models that draw on both market and vessel data to support operational decision-making and increase voyage profitability. In addition to providing speed and routing optimization based on weather conditions, the solution offers bunker procurement recommendations using real-time data and measures time charter equivalent (TCE) performance at prevailing higher rates.
PortXchange Synchronizer is a digital collaboration platform for sharing real-time operational data from all local parties involved in a port call, standardizing it, and creating a ‘single point of truth’ for shipping lines, carriers, agents, terminals, and port authorities to monitor all activities before and during the call. This data can be used to optimize port call efficiency to reduce CO2 emissions. Starting at the Port of Rotterdam, the Synchronizer platform is now used in ports across Europe, the UK, and the US.
In signing up as CAP participants, the companies join a fast-growing group of digital innovators providing dedicated applications for Inmarsat’s IoT platform for Fleet Xpress: Fleet Data. The platform collects data from onboard sensors, pre-processes it, and uploads it to a central cloud-based database equipped with an Application Process Interface (API) that is accessible by an owner’s software or third-party applications.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Inmarsat and utilize their APIs to obtain High-Frequency Operational and Technical data seamlessly and efficiently for our customers,” says Komodromos Constantine, CEO, and Co-Founder, VesselBot. “This will bring significant financial benefits, both in respect to TCE increases and connectivity cost reductions, as well as substantial environmental benefits in lieu of GHG emissions reduction.”
Captain Abhishek Nair, Director of Business Development, PortXchange, comments: “With Inmarsat, we have a great partner in establishing the ship-shore operational data sharing a link. The IoT data gathered from Fleet Data can be used to optimize voyages and facilitate Just-In-Time arrivals. We also want to explore multi-party collaborations with Inmarsat and other application providers on the CAP network to add greater value to users in the maritime industry.”
“We believe these solutions will find ready audiences in the shipping market because both use digital innovation to meet the key industry challenge of decarbonization,” says Marco Cristoforo Camporeale, Head of Digital Solutions, Inmarsat Maritime. “We are very proud that our CAP program continues to provide the ecosystem for digital problem solvers to bring their solutions to market quickly and seamlessly.”
