Global data, analytics and technology company DTN has launched a first-to-market WeatherFactor API to help freight traders improve pre-voyage planning and better anticipate voyage duration risks.
Further expanding its suite of marine data APIs for the shipping industry, the DTN WeatherFactor API blends multiple data sets to make a variety of voyage simulations possible, supporting increased cargo bid accuracy and more reliable cost margin expectations.
Jarco van den Brink, DTN marine product manager, said, “Integrated and timely insights are critical for cargo bids because weather is the biggest uncontrollable factor in the equation. Even incremental changes in wind or currents can have a large impact on voyage costs and over time those changes can significantly alter key assumptions about route and port conditions. We designed the WeatherFactor API to bring more timely data into consideration and give freight traders a higher level of confidence in the accuracy of their voyage cost calculations.”
DTN customer data suggests that additional, unplanned time at sea can cost up to US$20,000 per day, per vessel. Using WeatherFactor API as part of a voyage management system or other pre-voyage planning platform offers traders access to vessel digital twin technology with 20 years of verified historical weather and ocean data that is continuously updated to minimize voyage duration risk. Tapping into more precise assessments, freight traders can quickly create and proactively evaluate multiple scenarios before making a bid.
“Using data science and APIs allows operators to avoid using guestimates or fixed look-up tables,” added van den Brink. “It is a much more accurate and reliable way to assess voyage duration risk factors and how weather impacts the overall vessel performance during the time of year, a critical factor in calculating profitable bids.”
The new WeatherFactor API can create vessel-specific simulations for any given route using an ensemble of proprietary data, modeling and machine learning. The API blends and seamlessly delivers insights not only on voyage duration, but also weather impacts, fuel consumption, carbon emissions and other bid profitability indicators.