Mastering maritime complexity with APIs

Data underpins the success of today’s maritime industry, where operational efficiency—the cornerstone of profitability and competitiveness—is increasingly dependent on effective data management. Decisions across all aspects of fleet operations depend on accurate, timely, and actionable information. From planning navigation to ensuring regulatory compliance and managing environmental operations, data serves as the critical backbone of modern maritime operations.

However, while the necessary data often exists, it is frequently fragmented across multiple sources and platforms. This fragmentation creates barriers to timely access, increases the complexity of decision-making, and raises the risk of errors. Without consolidated and intelligent data integration, companies face delays, inefficiencies, and compliance risks that undermine their operational goals.

A unified, fully integrated approach to data is essential for speeding up decision-making, reducing the potential for errors, and improving overall fleet performance. This need extends beyond established shipping companies to maritime start-ups, which require accessible and cost-effective data solutions to develop innovative systems that meet the demands of today’s industry.

OneOcean offers three APIs as part of our Voyage Planning and Management solution to deliver streamlined, actionable insights into ports, environmental compliance, and navigation. Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

The Ports API provides comprehensive, frequently updated datasets on port terminal locations, berth details, port capacity information, and regulatory updates, maintained by a dedicated team of former mariners. Covering more than 14,000 facilities worldwide—including more than 10,500 terminals and more than 32,500 individual berths—the API ensures reliable access to critical information. Over 150 ports are regularly checked for updates every month, offering unparalleled data accuracy and timeliness.

The versatility of the Ports API makes it an invaluable tool for both startups developing innovative maritime solutions and established shipping companies managing large-scale operations.

Port data for Startups

Startups in the maritime industry often face challenges sourcing the foundational data needed to address their customers’ specific needs. These challenges include accessing accurate information on terminal and berth locations, port dimensions, cargo handling capabilities, and the types and volumes of vessels that ports can accommodate. Traditionally, this data must be gathered from multiple providers and platforms, increasing costs, complexity, and development timelines.

The Ports API addresses these obstacles by consolidating all this critical information into a comprehensive, reliable data source. Startups can easily integrate rich datasets into their systems and develop, competitive, innovative tools tailored to the specific needs of their customers, for tasks such as port congestion analytics, cargo tracking, and compliance monitoring. By removing the inefficiencies of fragmented data sourcing, the Ports API enables startups to focus on building innovative, customer-centric solutions faster and more effectively.

Port data for established companies

For established and larger companies, extensive and accurate port data is essential for efficient operational planning. Again, the typical challenge here involves relying on multiple providers, leading to data fragmentation, operational inefficiencies, delays and complications, all of which ultimately hinder effective decision-making.

The Ports API solves this by integrating all necessary datasets into existing platforms, breaking down data silos and providing a unified view of operations. This streamlined approach eliminates the need for second-screen usage, speeds up workflows, and provides clarity throughout the planning process.

Additionally, sourcing and operationalising high-value port boundaries and geometries can be challenging, yet these elements are crucial for operational planning and cost savings. Without accurate and actionable information, shipping companies may miss significant opportunities, such as conducting cost-saving ship-to-ship transfers outside port limits to reduce tax burden or optimise operations.

The use of fragmented systems can lead to data silos, where critical information is trapped within individual departments or platforms. This prevents a cohesive view of operations. The Ports API allows shipping companies to integrate necessary datasets into their existing platforms, providing a unified view of all they need to know about their destination ports. This speeds up workflows and improves efficiency throughout the planning process.

Knowing port-specific regulatory data is another critical requirement. The Ports API provides detailed, up-to-date regulatory data, including information on environmental restrictions and permissible operations within port limits. This minimises the risk of non-compliance, protecting companies from penalties and legal issues while optimising port operations. For startups, the API allows them to provide a more robust and reliable solution without the burden of manually managing regulatory updates.

The maritime sector’s rapidly evolving local, regional, and global environmental regulatory requirements demand up-to-date detailed data for operators to remain compliant. Managing the complexity of information on environmental zones, waste management protocols, and sustainability standards across various regions into existing systems is challenging and resource intensive. The risk of non-compliance is always present due to the reliance on scattered and out of date sources, increasing the potential for fines and operational disruptions.

The Environmental API offers easy access to real-time environmental data for over 78,000 environmentally sensitive zones across 182 nations. Designed for seamless integration, the API enables companies can stay on top of evolving regulations, plan for compliant waste management, and make data-driven decisions to reduce environmental impact. The API allows companies to access precise and verified environmental data based on location, vessel, or route.

The Navigation API provides comprehensive and centralised access to planned routes for all vessels in the fleet, as well as retrospective insights for optimising passage plans.

Access to accurate, and up-to-date navigation data is critical for efficient and compliant passage planning. Without integrated navigation insights, companies may struggle with passage planning inefficiencies, route deviations, and the inability to perform meaningful retrospective analyses. Without consolidated route information, opportunities to optimise vessel performance are also likely to be missed.

With the Navigation API, shoreside teams gain complete visibility into active passage plans, allowing for streamlined planning, timely adjustments, and overall improvements in efficiency. Furthermore, it allows easy access to historical planned route data, which helps users to refine future planning decisions.

Built for seamless integration with the existing OneOcean platform infrastructure, the Navigation API requires no additional hardware or software beyond OneOcean. It is also independent from the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) vendor used onboard, ensuring flexibility and compatibility across diverse systems.

The ability to access and integrate data from multiple sources offers a significant opportunity to enhance efficiency and streamline workflows.

By enabling seamless connectivity and real-time data exchange, OneOcean’s APIs empower companies to unlock insights, inform higher quality decision-making, and optimise operational performance across their fleets. APIs also make it easier to integrate and take into account previously overlooked data, ensuring no valuable information is left unused. This contributes not only to smoother operations but also to higher-quality outcomes that align with the specific needs of each organisation.

With this flexibility, users can tailor integrations to their unique operational requirements, unlocking the potential of multiple datasets to develop cost-effective solutions. By consolidating input through APIs, companies can avoid relying on multiple providers or dedicating extensive time and resources to manual processes. Furthermore, the information provided is verified by our dedicated team of maritime experts, ensuring its accuracy, reliability, and alignment with the latest industry standards and regulations.

By simplifying compliance and supporting higher quality decision-making, these APIs help to future-proof operations and, above all, help companies remain competitive in today’s complex regulatory landscape. Whether your focus is ports, environmental compliance, or navigation, our intelligent data solutions offer the flexibility and reliability you need to succeed.