METIS Cyberspace Technology SA has signed an agreement with global data and analytics expert Spire Global covering the provision of highly accurate weather-forecasting services to enhance the existing weather-related functionality available to the METIS data acquisition and analytics platform.

Through a combination of terrestrial and satellite data, Spire provides unparalleled insight into weather patterns at each layer of the Earth’s atmosphere and across its surface – even in remote parts of the ocean where the elements are notoriously difficult to predict. It becomes the fourth weather provider to contribute to the METIS cloud-based platform.

“A crucial part of our strategy is to establish an open platform on which our solutions interconnect with those of third-party providers to offer added value to customers,” says Andreas Symeonidis, Marketing Manager, METIS Cyberspace Technology. “As the latest example of this approach, our collaboration with Spire gives us full global coverage of weather conditions with no blind spots, allowing us to account for all eventualities and deliver our most precise weather-based services yet.”

METIS will receive a 10-day forecast covering the entire global grid, with an update frequency of one to six hours. The data package will include atmospheric data such as temperature and wind speed; maritime data, meaning sea currents and basic wave heights; and wave-specific data comprising detailed insights on waves and swell. Based on this information, the Athens-based company will improve its weather-routing and speed-profiling capabilities as well as its ability to provide proactive weather alerts. Customers will therefore benefit from safer and more efficient navigation – and, by optimising speed, can be assured of timely arrival in port while reducing fuel-oil consumption and emissions.

“The interaction between our platform and Spire’s is extremely fast and efficient, which means we can reduce the time it takes to complete each request and perform complex analyses involving multiple routes,” continues Symeonidis. “This flexibility will enable us to finetune our existing services and – even more importantly – develop new and highly specialised ones.”

The METIS platform’s newly enhanced weather services are the latest addition to a constantly expanding portfolio of solutions designed to address specific challenges within the maritime industry and support smart, safe and sustainable operations. Earlier this year, the data analytics specialist launched the Predictive AER Emissions INDEX, the first solution of its kind in the industry, to help shipowners keep pace with the annual efficiency ratio (AER) and related regulations.