We have recently announced a new service for creating and monitoring geofences to receive alerts based on entry and exit events for vessels of interest. This exciting tool opens new possibilities for maritime organizations to glean valuable, timely information with much greater ease. In this blog post, we’ll explore how bulk shipping and commodity trading companies can benefit from geofence alerts.
What is geofencing?
A geofence is a virtual geographic boundary mapped around a physical location that enables software to trigger a response when a position from a GPS or RFID, for example, enters or leaves a particular area. In the maritime industry, geofencing is enabled by Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from vessels as this dataset maps the positions of vessels.
To get the most out of geofence alerts enabled by AIS data from vessels, it’s important to follow some best practices. To set up effective geofences for your organization, you will want to ensure that they are tailored to your specific needs. This means considering +factors such as the size and shape of the geofenced area, the type of vessels being monitored, and the desired frequency of alerts. Let us explore some use cases for geofence alerts and how they can help companies improve operational efficiency and supply chain visibility.
Use cases for geofence alerts for bulk shipping companies
Bulk shipping companies can use geofence alerts to monitor vessel movements and improve operational efficiency. For example, a bulk shipping company could create a geofence around a port and receive an alert when a vessel enters or exits the port. This information can be used to optimize vessel schedules and reduce turnaround times. Geofence alerts can also be used to monitor cargo movements and ensure that bulk goods, such as tanker or dry bulk products, are loaded or discharged on time. By using geofence alerts, bulk shipping companies can automatize monitoring of a particular area for a predefined fleet or by specific vessels. This frees up continuous and tedious monitoring of maps and vessel positions.
Use cases for geofence alerts for commodity traders
Commodity traders can also benefit from geofence alerts that are enabled by AIS data from vessels. Geofence alerts can be used to monitor the movements of commodities and improve supply chain visibility. For example, a commodity trader could create a geofence around a port or a terminal and receive an alert when a bulk cargo arrives or leaves the location. This information can be used to optimize inventory levels and ensure that goods are delivered on time. Geofence alerts can also be used to monitor the movements of commodities in transit and provide real-time visibility into the supply chain. By using geofence alerts, commodity traders can improve their supply chain visibility and reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions.
The Veson Geofence Service
With its 2021 acquisition of Oceanbolt, Veson is uniquely positioned to deliver best-in-class geofence alerting by leveraging Oceanbolt’s AIS processing engine. Veson’s Geofencing Service allows users to create geofences, or leverage Oceanbolt’s global geofence collection of ports, anchorages, terminals, and shipyards, to generate events for a specific fleet or a selection of vessel characteristics.
Geofence alerts can be seamlessly managed from a modern frontend, as seen below.
The geofence alerts can be delivered to any incoming webhook framework, such as Microsoft Teams or Slack, where clients can tailor specifically which team member will receive which alerts.
For a complete walkthrough of setting up webhooks and geofence alerts, we created a short demo on YouTube.
How can you get access?
If you are interested in trying out Veson’s Geofence alerts, reach out to one of our experts by requesting a demo or sign yourself up for a 3-week non-obligatory free trail of the Oceanbolt Intelligence Platform.
Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones
Ayodele Fashakin