Sofar Ocean launches Wayfinder Voyage Simulator, a first-of-its-kind voyage planning tool

Sofar Ocean, the leading ocean intelligence platform, announces the launch of Wayfinder Voyage Simulator, a first-of-its-kind voyage planning tool that improves fleet efficiency and profitability.

The tool, which is part of Sofar’s broader Wayfinder Platform, enables operators, commercial teams, and chartering desks to instantly generate and evaluate unlimited voyage scenarios. Each scenario is based on:

• Sofar’s highly accurate marine weather forecasts, which leverage observations from the largest private network of real-time ocean sensors and outperform traditional models by up to 50%

• Vessel-specific performance models that update daily based on actual operations

• The latest market conditions — daily hire rates, fuel costs, and more

By building voyage plans based on actual conditions — not theoretical assumptions — Wayfinder Voyage Simulator maximizes visibility over a voyage’s potential time, fuel, emissions, and cost outcomes, bolstering commercial decisionmaking.

“Voyage planning tools have not kept pace with the speed and complexity of modern shipping markets,” said Dennis Rong, Head of Product at Sofar. “We saw an opportunity to change this dynamic; not just by improving existing workflows, but by bringing real-time ocean intelligence to the forefront of voyage planning and simulation.”

The pain points of traditional voyage planning are well-documented. Maritime decision makers spend hours on manual fact-finding and calculations, relying on outdated speed-fuel curves and arbitrary weather factors to generate a “best guess” voyage plan. This wastes time and money, and puts shoreside teams at a competitive disadvantage as markets inevitably move and weather shifts.

Wayfinder Voyage Simulator transforms voyage planning from multiple hours of spreadsheet guesswork into just seconds of intelligent analysis. Operators, commercial teams, and chartering desks follow a refreshingly straightforward process:

• Select a vessel

• Upload a route or choose ports

• Adjust inputs (e.g. departure time, RPM, RTA, etc.)

º Create a simulation to evaluate arrival time and real-time voyage economics — time, fuel, emissions, cost, etc.

● Repeat and compare — create unlimited simulations across voyages and vessels

By streamlining voyage planning, Wayfinder Voyage Simulator empowers shoreside teams to answer complex questions at unprecedented speeds:

● Can I make this laycan? Input your required arrival time and know instantly if it's achievable given real-time weather and your required speed and fuel consumption.

● Which vessel should take this cargo? Quickly compare multiple vessels for the same voyage. Determine which ship will arrive on time and deliver the best profit margin based on daily hire rates, fuel consumption, and weather.

● What’s our weather impact? Understand exactly how weather will affect your vessel’s speed and fuel performance. Sofar’s highly accurate forecasts are always more precise than generic 10-15% weather factors.

Wayfinder Voyage Simulator adds to the expanding suite of solutions within Sofar’s broader Wayfinder Platform. It is the ideal complement to Wayfinder’s industry-leading Voyage Optimization tool, which is trusted by global carriers like MOL Group and Berge Bulk, as well as the U.S. Navy. In 2024, Wayfinder Voyage Optimization delivered customers 5.5% average fuel savings across key global routes.

“Wayfinder Voyage Simulator and Voyage Optimization go hand-in-hand,” said Rong. “Together with Wayfinder Voyage Reporting, they unlock end-to-end voyage intelligence that makes real-time planning, routing, and documentation a reality for maritime shipping."