LONDON, UK AND BOSTON, MA, – 1 SEPTEMBER 2022 – Marcura, maritime solutions provider and developer of PortLog, the port time optimization platform, and Veson Nautical (“Veson”), the market leader in developing, implementing, and supporting the solutions that propel maritime commerce, have today announced an exciting product integration. The integration between the two systems can help ship owners, operators and charterers more accurately plan and execute their port calls, in order to manage risk and improve operational, cost and environmental efficiencies within the port stay part of a commercial voyage charter.

Via the Veson Partner Network, PortLog will be integrated into the heart of the Veson IMOS Platform (VIP), giving VIP users access to PortLog’s extensive data on port costs and port call times to unlock new opportunities and value. The integration will enable dry bulk customers to enhance pre-fixture workflows within the VIP Voyage Estimator, enabling more accurate estimates of the time and cost of the port call component of a voyage, as well as estimates of the potential impact of unpaid time in port.

Port time and demurrage are inherently difficult to predict and manage, yet these factors have a significant impact on freight rates, voyage results and emissions. The difference between the estimated and actual time spent in port can make the difference between a profitable voyage or a loss-making one. Vessel owners and charterers have been forced to make assumptions in their voyage calculations, and rely on vague estimates and crude cost buffers to account for critical factors which may influence each terminal’s performance, unpaid time risks, and costs.

Vessels spend up to half their time in ports, however this part of the voyage has – until PortLog – seen very little digital tooling. This was the impetus for PortLog, which has since become the port parallel to weather routing. Users of PortLog have experienced established success with optimizing their sea passage by leveraging the solution’s high volumes of standardized statements-of-fact (SoF), vessel, weather and AIS data feeding digital models.

PortLog draws on extensive transactional data with over 20.5 million harmonized time events and multiple layers of Master Data. This enables chartering and operations departments to:

• Estimate the total cost of a port call
• Estimate the financial risks related to turnaround time, unplanned downtime, weather impact, and berth level restrictions
• Predict the relevant calling terminal within a port with more accuracy than ever before
• Assess the risks and opportunities related to the demurrage and dispatch impact before a fixture is agreed upon

PortLog data can now be directly and seamlessly embedded into users’ daily workflow in VIP, providing users with context-relevant alerts and information at a terminal level for chartering, operations and claims handlers.

Jens Poulsen, Group CEO,  Marcura, commented:

“We are excited to be working with Veson Nautical as a Platform Partner to open up a whole range of digital solutions that, until now, have been impossible to imagine. I am confident this integration will bring significant benefits to our joint customers.

“Marcura has supported port operations for more than 20 years. Our customers expect us to provide better and better digital data from all the inherently analogue information that is the reality of port operations to this day. Eight years ago, we started on a digitalization journey with PortLog that has enabled our customers to avoid the dilemma of this analogue drag. The missing piece in the digital landscape for shipping is really managing the activities, costs and risks during port stays. With digital twins of charterparties and port documents, the financial performance of a terminal call becomes manageable in a completely new way.

“This integration brings this digital data directly to where our clients can utilize it to great effect – in the Veson IMOS Platform.”

Josh Luby, Group Product Manager, Veson, commented:

“We are happy to be working with PortLog to extend the value of our pre-fixture offerings and unlock greater efficiencies and benefits for our shared client community. This collaboration will allow PortLog to integrate their data for port turnaround times directly into our platform, giving users more tools to help plan and execute a port call with greater accuracy. When estimating time spent in ports and the associated costs of port calls, clients can streamline the process and gain access to the data they need to make informed decisions.”

John Veson, CEO, Veson Nautical, commented:

“Forming strategic partnerships with fellow innovators in the industry, like PortLog, is central to our vision of propelling maritime commerce. Through a range of standard tools that our partners can add value to, our clients are able to take advantage of best of breed market intelligence to make better decisions, all within the context of a single platform.”