Marine Solver is powered by original economic-mathematical optimization models developed specifically for commercial maritime planning. The models evaluate interacting decisions such as cargo selection, vessel assignment, voyage sequencing, fleet utilization, timing, costs, profitability, emissions and regulatory exposure within one decision space.

Marine Solver is not a navigation tool or a simple voyage calculator. It works at the pre-fixture decision level, where the task is to evaluate feasible alternatives, compare their consequences and identify stronger commercial strategies before commitments are made.

Marine Solver supports four planning modes for different commercial tasks: Sole Cargo for full-load voyage and vessel assignment decisions, Part Cargo for parcel and multi-cargo combinations, COA for contractual lifting programs with optional spot opportunities, and Trader Fleet for fleet-level coverage of larger transportation programs.

The modes share the same decision philosophy but apply different model structures and constraints. This allows users to move from a single employment decision to complex cargo combinations, contract coverage and fleet deployment without reducing different planning problems to one generic model.

Sole Cargo evaluates full-load employment opportunities across available vessels and cargoes. The model combines vessel open position and date, cargo terms, LayCan, sailing and port time, fuel consumption, voyage expenses, canal costs, emissions, EU ETS exposure and other active commercial constraints.

The optimizer can search for the strongest assignments and voyage chains under the selected objective, including minimum cost, maximum profit, minimum non-productive time or minimum emissions. Results show not only whether an employment is feasible, but how competing alternatives differ in commercial, operational and environmental terms.

Part Cargo is designed for cases where several cargoes, parcels or onboard commitments must be planned together on one vessel. The model can account for different loading and discharge ports, cargo compatibility, fixed or excluded assignments, onboard cargo, capacity limits and loading or discharging logic, including parallel operations where they are applicable.

For general cargo, Marine Solver uses a dedicated pre-fixture allocation model based on weight, volume, floor area, cargo dimensions, unit characteristics, packing efficiency, compatibility and vessel space hierarchy. It supports commercial space-utilization decisions without pretending to replace detailed 2D or 3D stowage engineering.

The COA mode is built for planning contractual lifting programs across available vessels and time. It evaluates how a sequence of liftings can be covered while accounting for vessel availability, timing, LayCan, commercial assumptions, voyage economics and the interaction between consecutive employments.

Optional spot cargoes can be considered together with contractual liftings, allowing users to test how market opportunities affect contract coverage, vessel utilization and the overall economic result. The output is a set of alternative execution scenarios rather than a single isolated voyage calculation.

Trader Fleet addresses fleet-level cargo coverage problems where several vessels and a larger transportation program must be evaluated together. The optimizer determines which cargoes can be covered, which vessels should perform them, how voyage chains develop and which opportunities remain uncovered under the selected planning assumptions.

The mode is designed to reveal the system effect of fleet decisions. A locally attractive cargo or vessel assignment can change the quality of later choices, so the model evaluates the transportation program as a connected planning problem rather than as a sequence of independent voyage estimates.

Large transportation programs often begin as expected trade flows rather than a final list of nominated cargoes. Flow-Based Cargo Generation lets users define flows by loading and discharge locations, expected volumes, shipment-size ranges, timing assumptions and commercial parameters.

Marine Solver converts these assumptions into cargo programs that can be used directly by the optimization models. This creates a practical bridge between market or planning expectations and detailed fleet-allocation analysis inside the same environment.

Marine Solver is built around practical feasibility rather than an unconstrained mathematical optimum. Depending on the planning mode, users can work with vessel open positions and dates, planning horizon, LayCan windows, Queue or Berth LayCan check mode, LayCan deviations, Safety Buffer, cargo-vessel compatibility, fixed assignments, exclusions, vessel filling limits, freight terms, port waiting and Turn Time.

Route and regulatory assumptions can also affect feasibility and economics, including canal use, SECA/ECA exposure, EU-related voyage exposure and other available route restrictions. The user defines the relevant limits, and the optimizer searches only inside the resulting decision space.

Marine Solver does not reduce a complex planning problem to one unexplained answer. Optimization runs can produce several alternative scenarios so users can compare different vessel assignments, cargo combinations, voyage chains and objective outcomes within the same task.

Scenario comparison makes trade-offs visible across cost, profit, time, emissions and other calculated indicators. It also gives the user a practical basis for testing how sensitive the preferred decision is before accepting it as the commercial plan.

Optimization answers the question “What is the strongest plan under the current assumptions?” Marine Solver then provides two complementary Decision Analysis tools for testing how robust that answer is: Fixed-Plan What-if Analysis and Plan Stability Analysis.

Fixed-Plan What-if Analysis keeps the selected solver-generated scenario unchanged and recalculates it under different assumptions. The optimizer is not rerun, so vessel assignments, cargo selections and voyage sequence remain fixed. Users can test changes in relevant market, operating and vessel-performance inputs and see how the same plan changes in cost, profit, time, emissions, regulatory indicators and feasibility.

Plan Stability Analysis asks a different question: if the planning assumptions or routing conditions change, would the optimizer still choose the same plan? Marine Solver reruns the optimization for one or two alternative States, compares each new optimum with the Reference solution, identifies structural changes in vessel allocation, cargo selection or voyage sequence, and compares the resulting plan-performance indicators.

Together, the two analyses separate two important forms of uncertainty: how a chosen plan performs when conditions change and whether the chosen plan itself remains optimal when the planning problem changes. This gives the user a practical way to distinguish a plan that merely looks optimal under one set of assumptions from a decision that remains structurally robust across alternative planning States.

Marine Solver evaluates vessel employment in sequence rather than looking only at the economics of one isolated cargo. Open position, ballast movement, future availability, cargo sequence and the consequences of the current assignment for the next employment can all affect the quality of a solution.

In fleet coverage tasks, the same logic supports positioning and repositioning analysis. When cargoes remain uncovered, the results help show where and when additional vessel availability would be required to improve coverage of the transportation program.

Marine Solver incorporates route-dependent commercial effects directly into voyage and fleet calculations. The platform can identify relevant SECA/ECA exposure, EU ETS voyage exposure and major canal passages so these elements are reflected inside the optimization rather than added manually after a solution is found.

Fuel assumptions can differ between regular and low-sulphur operating areas, while EU allowance price, canal expenses, port costs and sailing costs are evaluated together with the rest of the scenario economics. This makes regulatory and route exposure part of the commercial decision itself.

Environmental performance is calculated inside the same planning framework as time and commercial performance. Marine Solver evaluates voyage or voyage-chain CO₂ emissions and can use emissions as an optimization objective when the user wants to search for lower-emission alternatives.

The platform also calculates IMO CII (AER) indicators and can compare projected performance with an active CII target where this constraint is used. This allows users to see the environmental consequence of a commercial decision before the plan is fixed.

Marine Solver integrates FuelEU Maritime metrics into pre-fixture voyage and Voyage Chain analysis. The platform calculates applicable energy, well-to-tank and tank-to-wake greenhouse-gas components, resulting well-to-wake intensity, target intensity and compliance balance for the analyzed plan.

FuelEU Maritime results are evaluated together with CO₂ emissions, EU ETS exposure, SECA/ECA assumptions and CII/AER performance. Where relevant, the system can also show the indicative commercial effect of a FuelEU deficit, allowing regulatory exposure to be reviewed together with the economics of the same scenario.

Different planning questions require different definitions of a strong solution. Marine Solver supports several optimization objectives, including minimum cost, maximum profit, minimum non-productive time and minimum emissions, depending on the selected task type.

The same vessels and cargoes can lead to materially different assignments and voyage chains when the objective changes. Comparing these outcomes helps users understand the trade-off between direct economics, fleet utilization, time exposure and environmental performance instead of treating one objective as universally correct.

Optimization results are presented as structured decision outputs rather than raw solver data. Users can review vessel and cargo assignments, voyage chains, operation timelines, scenario rankings, cost and profit breakdowns, time structure, emissions, CII, FuelEU Maritime and other task-specific indicators.

Scenario comparisons, charts, detailed tables and constraint diagnostics support analytical review, while Excel export and structured PDF reports make it easier to share the reasoning and consequences behind a decision with colleagues, management or clients.