Spire Maritime is a service provider for the maritime industry providing Maritime AIS, vessel tracking data, real-time and predictive visibility of vessel ETAs to the industry..
Spire’s latest offering Vessel to Port ETA is powered by an extensive historical AIS database and delivered through their easy-to-use GraphQL API..
Below is some background on how this offering will assist the industry in reliably predicting vessel arrivals..
Background
Liner Service is a service that operates on a schedule with a fixed port rotation, fixed frequency (weekly, fortnightly, monthly) with published dates, and sometimes named day of calls at the advertised ports..
Liner shipping is not restricted just to container vessels but also applies to other types of cargo/vessels like RoRo, Bulk and Break Bulk cargo..
While the schedules circulated by the shipping lines to the customers or displayed on their websites show the ETA and ETD of the vessels at the various ports of call, there are still several unknown and unseen circumstances that restrict customers from finding information relating to their shipments and the vessels that carry it..
In many cases, slot operators or NVOCCs offering services to customers on a liner service may not have actual and real-time visibility of the vessel and its schedules as they may not own and/or operate the vessels on the service..
These vessels may be owned or operated by someone else, or the shipping line may have a slot agreement with the lead carrier and may not have the required visibility at all times..
What is predictive visibility in Maritime and how does it work
Real-time visibility in maritime is the ability of a system to provide data and information on the whereabouts of a vessel at any given time.. This is especially important when combating/anticipating bad weather, pirate attacks, congested ports etc..
Real-time visibility helps in fleet management, coastal surveillance by authorities, and other vessel tracking operation as consistent real-time updates can assist organisations to save time, increase transparency and make shipping more secure..
Predictive visibility allows users to go one step ahead and reliably predict ETAs and the routes that a vessel takes.. This is a critical component in providing value for customers in the maritime value chain..
Vessel to Port ETA
Spire Maritime’s Vessel to Port ETA assists users in providing predictive visibility of vessels’ ETA using Machine Learning which calculates and predicts ETAs more accurately in comparison to manually input ETAs..
In this age of schedule unreliability, users have the option to view the most probable next port destination based on historical data and the vessel’s current voyage making it ideal for visual analysis..
Spire’s extensive historical AIS database incorporated into the Vessel to Port ETA software allows carriers to
- reduce waiting times in ports and optimize costs and use of resources
- optimize vessel loading and unloading processes in ports
- improve cooperation between partners in the logistics chain
- monitor vessels, fleets, charters, and competitors’ operations
For customers who have adopted the digital journey, the Vessel to Port ETA is delivered through an easy-to-use GraphQL API or in formats such as GeoJSON or WKT.. The API response includes flexible and granular data like distance to the port, voyage duration, port center point, UN Location Code, or port name..
