OneOcean, the leading software provider for the global maritime industry, has acquired Shipping Guides Ltd, the pre-eminent provider of data and information on ports globally. The Guide to Port Entryintelligence will be integrated into the OneOcean platforms, further enhancing OneOcean’s voyage planning capability.

Guide to Port Entry data has been built up over the last 50 years and is globally recognised as the favoured source of static and dynamic data for almost 15,000 ports worldwide. Today, it is trusted by over 10,000 maritime stakeholders who interface with it via a range of web-based solutions and APIs.

This acquisition further enhances OneOcean’s voyage planning capability, allowing our customers to make better decisions and to save both money and time. The proprietary data includes pre-arrival information and intelligent geographical polygons for all port areas, including port limits, anchorages, pilot areas and environmental information. This data complements the voyage planning and decision-making workflow, particularly in the areas of port congestion, environmental monitoring and global information on shipping activities.

“There is much debate and discussion about the best methods of optimisation in the maritime industry,” commented Martin Taylor, CEO of OneOcean. “At OneOcean, we believe having the best data to start the analysis is an essential first step to power the algorithms and give the best quality outputs. The Guide to Port Entry data will sit alongside our already comprehensive information on compliance, navigation and environmental factors to provide our customers with the best tools to enable decision making.”

Feargal Hogan, Technology Director responsible for Guide to Port Entry adds, “I am really excited by this acquisition. OneOcean will help us move further forward in providing the infrastructure and expertise for our customers to use our data through the considerable OneOcean digital footprint. The quality and capability of the data will now be even more accessible within the sector and we look forward to building further on the next level of intelligence and integration.”