Sofar Ocean today unveiled Wayfinder Explore, a suite of tools for fleets that manage voyage optimization themselves. Masters and shore teams get access to the same weather and vessel data that powers routes generated by Sofar’s own routing experts. Initial fleet trials are scheduled to begin in Q4.

Voyage routing may be handled by specialist providers or in-house teams. Wayfinder Explore gives operators that keep routing decisions in-house the tools to optimize, edit, and compare voyages themselves.

When a voyage plan changes, fleets need to know what each option costs in fuel and time before they commit. Explore gives these teams that information by putting Wayfinder's optimization and simulation tools in their hands. Captains and routers can optimize a route in one click, edit any waypoint or engine input like RPM or power, compare options side by side, share them between ship and shore, and review every decision after the fact. Fuel, time, and cost update with every change.

What makes self-service optimization possible

An optimization platform only works if the captain trusts it. Wayfinder Explore runs on Wayfinder Core, the same foundation behind every route Sofar's own routing team delivers.

Explore's routes are built on Sofar's industry-leading wave forecasts. Those forecasts draw on direct measurements from Sofar's global Spotter network, which Sofar owns and operates. It is the world's largest private network of ocean sensors, with coverage across the open ocean where most voyages are spent. Peer-reviewed research shows these observations improve forecast accuracy by up to 50% in all sea states. Each ship also has its own vessel performance model that retrains on noon reports and daily weather and predicts fuel use within 2% and speed within 0.5 knots for most vessels.

Testing routing decisions before committing

With Wayfinder Explore, captains and routers can move any waypoint or change RPM on any segment. Explore re-simulates the voyage after every edit and shows the cost, fuel, and time impact before the team commits. One-click optimization generates a fuel-minimizing route that meets the required time of arrival and respects the vessel's safety limits. Teams can optimize speed alone or speed and route together, and lock any section that shouldn't change. Any route can be shared by link, from the captain to the routing desk to operations, so everyone works from the same route, weather, and economics. Explore also keeps a full history of every decision, recording the forecast, vessel model, options considered, and route activated, so shore teams can see what changed, who changed it, and why.

"Masters and shore teams want autonomy over their routing decisions, and they want to see what each one costs," said Dennis Rong, Head of Product at Sofar Ocean. "Having routed thousands of vessels, we know a route is only as good as the weather and vessel data behind it. Wayfinder Explore gives those teams the same foundation our own routers use every day."