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Live from SMM Hamburg

StormGeo buys Nautisk to offer integrated voyage planning services

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Nautisk ceo Thomas Fjeld
Bergen-based weather intelligence and decision support services provider StormGeo announced at SMM that it has agreed to buy fellow Norwegian maritime charts supplier Nautisk from NHST Media Group for an undisclosed sum. 

The combination will create what the companies describe as “the first, fully-integrated navigational planning solution in the market.” 

“This new, all-in-one platform will allow StormGeo and Nautisk customers to optimize routing, obtain appropriate charts, and create a voyage plan without switching between disparate systems,” said StormGeo ceo Per-Olof Schroeder. “Integrating navigational information with weather intelligence and proprietary route optimization algorithms will enhance quality and offer significant usability and cost benefits to customers.” 

Nautisk ceo Thomas Fjeld told Seatrade Maritime News that he felt voyage optimization was more critical than ever for the shipping industry with the prospect of more expense fuels post 2020, as well as other factors such as the greater incidence of severe weather.

Seatrade Maritime News is reporting live from SMM 2018

Vessels using the new service will be able to decide to change route while underway based on a real-time assessment of conditions and different route options, he added.

Nautisk is an established business since 1896, while StormGeo is a much younger company, originally spun off from a Norwegian television weather service. It took a big step up in 2014 with the acquisition of Applied Weather Technology (AWT) of the US, whose former offices in Silicon Valley remain one of StormGeo’s main operational bases employing a workforce of around 100 people.