Navtor and AWT Pulling Together

Norway’s e-navigation developer Navtor has signed an agreement with the USA-headquartered maritime weather routing specialist Applied Weather Technology (AWT) that will see the two companies integrating their services to offer route planning and decision making tools.

As a result of the deal, AWT’s routing and optimisation systems will now be offered on Navtor’s recently launched NavStation software.

Navtor says that NavStation operates as the world’s first “digital chart table,” gathering and overlaying all the data maritime navigators require – including ENCs, digital publications, and other services like piracy updates – on a single screen for the very first time.

The product is available as standalone software for standard computers and touch devices, or with an optional, OEM developed and supplied 46-inch “gigapad” touch device for use on the bridge.

AWT’s Optimization Routing Service will now be offered as a “layer” within NavStation, giving users around-the-clock weather routing information and analysis, with optimal planning capabilities.

AWT communicates the latest data from its onshore base in compressed, economical formats, minimising communication costs. AWT says that this gives navigators the freedom to constantly update routes, maximising safety and accurate scheduling, while keeping fuel use and emissions to a minimum.

“This heralds another significant e-navigation breakthrough,” said Tor Svanes, Navtor CEO.

“AWT leads the market in gathering and analysing meteorological data to provide its customers with optimised route planning, efficient operations and better profit margins, while minimizing the environmental impact of shipping.

By integrating their software and expertise into our own products, we can further refine the service we offer to navigators to reach a new e-navigation reality. It’s an exciting development, not only for us and AWT, but also for the industry.”

The companies claim that AWT’s service will provide subscribing NavStation users with dynamically optimised routes based on the latest weather and ocean data, while the optimisation feature helps plan the most efficient routes possible to manage voyage costs.

The package can be added to the standard NavStation “base layer,” alongside additional, optional layers such as tidal information, iceberg updates and all Admiralty digital products and publications.