Technology start-up Sofar Ocean, which recently announced a $39 million Series B funding round, has joined the ABS My Digital Fleet Alliance Program to link its ocean data system with the ABS My Digital Fleet platform.
Sofar Ocean operates an ‘ocean intelligence platform’ informed by a sensor network of coastal and open ocean drifting IoT sensors, known as Spotter buoys, covering all five of the world’s oceans. It provides dynamic route guidance, evaluating over 100 million routing options daily based on weather forecast data, charter party requirements, and decarbonisation goals.
“At Sofar we aim to deliver large-scale ocean data to accelerate climate insights,” said Sofar CEO, Tim Janssen.
“Ocean intelligence, powered by our global sensor network, is essential to reduce weather and climate uncertainty. This is especially valuable to the shipping industry, which is currently facing a perfect storm of carbon, climate, and Covid.”
Following the agreement of this new partnership, Sofar Ocean will integrate with ABS My Digital Fleet to deliver voyage planning insights tailored for each vessel and journey directly to users of the ABS platform.
“With the addition of Sofar Ocean’s capabilities to ABS My Digital Fleet, we are bringing voyage insights that enable the flexibility to optimise for what is most important for each voyage, delivering the optimal route that supports charterers and ship managers in their daily operational decision-making towards meeting decarbonisation goals,” said Smarty Mathew John, ABS Vice President, Digital Solutions.
“The actionable insights available include the optimal sea route, the optimal speed and heading, and estimated arrival time for each vessel considering weather, vessel performance, bunkers, and other charter terms to maximise the time charter earnings for each voyage.”
