Technology company ZeroNorth has unveiled its new Vessel Selection decision-making support service for charterers, which is powered by industry-leading analytics and data within the ZeroNorth Platform.

The new service enables charterers to improve fuel consumption predictions by simulating various operating conditions for the vessels they are considering chartering. They can then select the right vessel for the specific route and conditions, and negotiate more precise performance guarantees with owners to reduce the likelihood of cost overruns.

The fuel consumption estimates historically used for making pre-chartering decisions are often based on limited operational data, such as selected speeds and good weather, rather than the dynamic range of situations faced at sea. This creates a challenge for charterers wanting to identify the best-suited vessel for particular journeys.

Moreover, calculating fuel performance for vessels being taken on short-term charters is a well-known challenge for charterers, as they may struggle to tap into a wealth of data that can inform their decision-making. The Vessel Selection service sets out to solve this as well by enabling more accurate predictions of vessel performance, based on historic data and machine learning.

Aided by sophisticated algorithms, Vessel Selection taps into the ZeroNorth platform – which hosts millions of data points that create the industry’s most informed data ecosystem – to connect data, evaluate recommendations, and consider commercial outcomes together with emissions reduction potential. For the first time, the same data set can inform both pre-chartering and operational decisions.

The Vessel Selection service is intuitive, fast, and accurate, and is based on a large set of public and proprietary data sources including weather data, vessel characteristics, and operational and historical performance data. It includes a cutting-edge fuel model powered by machine learning that enables charterers to simulate a vessel’s fuel consumption, Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) ranking, and CO2 emissions.

This new functionality offers both operators and charterers greater transparency and greater mutual trust, powering up decision-making for profit and planet.

Commenting on the launch of the new service, Pelle Sommansson, Chief Product Officer at ZeroNorth, said: “The maturity of the data landscape across the shipping industry now makes it possible for us to predict vessel performance more accurately in pre-chartering decisions. The technology exists to support more accurate and dynamic fuel consumption predictions and enable charterers to make better chartering choices.

“The new service is powered by our industry-leading data ecosystem, combined with advanced fuel modelling and data analytics capabilities, enabling us to assess and predict operational performance much more accurately.

“This provides charterers with an unparalleled level of insight, and the power to make substantial progress towards their sustainability and optimisation objectives. As part of our mission to make global trade green, we’ll continue to work to design the data and AI-enabled products that will help all companies in the maritime supply chain to make better decisions for profit and planet.”

Vessel Selection is integrated into the ZeroNorth platform, which incorporates a range of voyage, vessel, bunker, CII, and emissions optimisation services.