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Case - May 29, 2017

Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping Management

Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping

For Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping Management Co Ltd., one of the leading dry bulk shipping owner-operators in China, advanced weather routing is vital to ensuring the optimum performance of their fleet.

The Challenge

One of the foremost dry bulk owners in China, Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping Management Co Ltd. owns 13 dry bulk vessels, with a fleet consisting of Handymax, Post-Panamax, and Capesize vessels. Shanghai Run Yuan charters vessels, and their fleet embarks on voyages worldwide.

In order to ensure the safety and efficiency of its fleet, the company needed advanced weather forecasting that could predict heavy weather. In addition, the company was looking for a reliable means to provide ship captains with timely alerts about potential dangers to vessels and cargo during a voyage, such as rogue waves or pirate activity.

In order to ensure the safety and efficiency of its fleet, the company needed advanced weather forecasting that could predict heavy weather. [...] The company also had a crucial need for operational data for each of its ships. 

Shanghai Run Yuan needed to supplement the weather reporting onboard ships with advanced analytics that could help them and their customers evaluate fleet performance.

Considerations

Shanghai Run Yuan were looking for a tool that would help them to quickly access critical information to save resources, ensure safety, and allow them to make informed, actionable decisions.

To ensure the proactive management of their fleet during voyages, they wanted to be able to evaluate actual vessel performance. They needed to take into consideration the reliability of their projected ETA based on the stability of the forecast, and to evaluate the speed and consumption levels of each vessel in comparison with benchmarks. The company also sought a way to quickly determine which vessels were in need of attention, so that they could efficiently prioritize their needs.

Why Choose StormGeo?

Since the company began working with StormGeo’s BonVoyage System (BVS), coupled with the FleetDSS Performance tool, StormGeo has both significantly reduced weather risks and provided reliable decision support for the Shanghai Run Yuan fleet.

StormGeo’s onboard BVS is a graphical voyage optimization system that provides around-the-clock weather information and enables the ship’s captain to easily view and assess potential problem areas ahead of time.

“BVS is extremely beneficial for captains,” said Capt. Truman Wang, Marine Superintendent at Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping Management Co Ltd. “Captains are mostly concerned about piracy and bad weather. If they realize that there is pirate activity, they can prevent the vessel from sailing near port or berthing.” BVS provides up-to-date information on pirate attack locations. “If the captain takes the vessel into the middle of a hurricane, they feel hopeless and cannot do anything. So if we notice bad weather ahead, we can remind captains in advance.”

StormGeo’s Fleet Decision Support System (FleetDSS) is a customizable fleet management system that helps operators visualize their entire fleet and performance at one time, with an interactive dashboard that gives customized alerts so that operators can prioritize vessels most in need of their attention, and act quickly. “Bad weather may lead to cargo loss, vessel damage, and finally insurance issues. If we notice a 10m or above wave ahead, we can ask the captain to request for drifting to both ensure safety and minimize cargo loss.”

Benefits

StormGeo’s advanced weather routing and decision support have been invaluable for Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping Management Co Ltd., significantly reducing costs, improving safety, and enhancing management’s capacity to make and act on informed decisions.

Working with StormGeo has minimized costs. In the case of critical weather conditions, the captain and management can monitor the weather forecast and make a request in advance to the charterer on drifting to ensure safety.

“This also avoids insurance issues from cargo loss, and insurance costs can go up to millions of USD,” said Capt. Wang.

As well as weather forecasting, StormGeo also maximizes route efficiency. “FleetDSS allows us to have better control on vessel performance. In the past, we were losing around 200,000 USD per year on disputes. Since working with StormGeo last year we lost only 30,000 USD, and no loses so far this year.”

StormGeo helps Shanghai Run Yuan Shipping Management Co Ltd. to proactively monitor their fleet’s performance, and to predict and adapt to severe motions in heavy weather, calculating for the safest and most efficient voyage.

“In the case of a hurricane, when we know its direction and how strong it is, we can decide how to deviate from the initial route. This happens frequently, and both captains and management are satisfied that StormGeo’s BonVoyage System can ensure safety.”

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