Wayfinder

How Wayfinder outperforms traditional weather routing & voyage optimization providers

Sofar Ocean

How Wayfinder outperforms traditional weather routing & voyage optimization providers

Traditional voyage optimization and weather routing providers share the same blind spot: insufficient weather intelligence.

Providers like ZeroNorth, StormGEO, DeepSea AI, WNI, and WRI all use the same public or third-party weather models to power their route guidance. These models do not include real-time marine weather observations made along a vessel’s route, a critical gap that weakens traditional providers’ guidance.

Sofar Ocean’s Wayfinder is different. It uses the world’s most accurate, real-time marine weather to provide dynamic voyage optimization that maximizes:

Safety
Efficiency
Profitability

Unlike traditional providers, Wayfinder focuses on more than just mitigating weather risk. The platform’s daily RPM and route guidance accounts for changes in market, weather, and vessel performance, capturing upside gains throughout a voyage. Leading carriers like MOL Group, Berge Bulk, and Star Bulk trust Wayfinder to save time, fuel, and emissions, and accelerate long-term decarbonization strategies.

How does Wayfinder deliver the most accurate marine weather?

Wayfinder’s weather advantage is powered by the world’s largest private network of real-time ocean sensors. This network makes more than 1.5 million observations of wave spectra, barometric pressure, and other variables each day, and produces forecasts that are up to 50% more accurate than the next best option. This gives captains and operators unprecedented visibility into real-time conditions along a vessel’s route, improving safety and saving time, fuel, and emissions. Dorian LPG leveraged Wayfinder's superior marine weather intelligence to save an average of 9% on fuel per voyage in 2024.

Compare: Wayfinder vs. Traditional Platforms

Wayfinder Comparison Table

Capability	Wayfinder Dynamic Voyage Optimization ✅	Typical Voyage Optimization Solutions ⚠	Typical Weather Routing Solutions ❌
Transparent Fuel & Emissions Savings	✅ Proven 4-8% fuel & emissions savings with transparent reporting	❌ Legacy optimization strategies leave savings on the table. Selective reporting lacks transparency.	❌ Not designed for speed & fuel optimization, primarily focused on safety
Access to Real-Time Marine Weather Data	✅ 1.5 million daily observations from the world’s largest private network of real-time ocean sensors	❌ Rely on public & third-party sources that lack real-time data	❌ Rely on public & third-party sources that lack real-time data
Marine Weather Forecast Accuracy	✅ Up to 50% more accurate than the next best option	❌ Not best-in-class, fully dependent on public & third-party sources	❌ Not best-in-class, fully dependent on public & third-party sources
Real-time Vessel Performance Modeling (VPM)	✅ Continuously calibrated with real-time weather, market, and vessel performance data	❌ Rely on estimated or static models without real-time marine weather	❌ Do not incorporate VPMs
Dynamic Voyage Optimization	✅ Daily RPM & route guidance updated using real-time weather, market, and vessel performance data; delivers upside gains and mitigates weather risk	⚠ Only provide speed guidance, leaving Captains to set RPM; recommendations not based on real-time marine weather	❌ Static route guidance, only updated to avoid adverse weather
Safety and Seakeeping	✅ Real-time observations along a vessel’s route power highly accurate forecasts, extreme storm warnings, and seakeeping alerts	⚠ Lack of real-time observations decreases forecast accuracy & creates blind spots for vessels	⚠ Lack of real-time observations decreases forecast accuracy & creates blind spots for vessels
Optimization of New Decarbonization Tech	✅ Measures and optimizes the performance of new decarbonization tech, such as wind propulsion	⚠ Cannot fully optimize performance of new decarbonization tech due to lack of real-time marine weather	❌ Not designed for optimization, primarily focused on safety

How Wayfinder outperforms traditional weather routing & voyage optimization providers

How Wayfinder outperforms traditional weather routing & voyage optimization providers