Recognizable Business Situations Marine Solver Covers

Marine Solver is designed for the real commercial situations where vessels, cargoes, ports, laycans, routes, costs, emissions and contractual constraints change together.

In practice, fleet planning is rarely a clean one-vessel / one-cargo exercise. A chartering or operations team may have several vessels, several cargo opportunities, some mandatory commitments, uncertain laycans, changing bunker prices, environmental constraints, alternative discharge ports, or a need to reposition vessels for future work.

Marine Solver helps transform these changing market conditions into structured decision scenarios. It does not simply calculate one voyage. It allows users to explore a decision space, test alternatives, compare scenarios, and understand why one plan is stronger than another.

Below are recognizable business situations where Marine Solver can be applied.

1. Fleet Deployment

1.1. Several vessels and a pool of own cargoes

A company may have several vessels and a portfolio of cargoes that must be transported within a certain period. The question is not only whether one vessel can perform one cargo, but how to allocate the entire cargo pool across the fleet.

Marine Solver helps compare possible vessel-cargo combinations and identify the scenario that gives the best result across cost, time, profit, emissions and operational feasibility.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have several vessels and several cargoes that need to be moved. You need to decide which vessel should take which cargo, not by intuition, but by comparing full voyage economics, ballast, waiting time, laycan feasibility and future vessel positioning.

1.2. More vessels than cargoes

Sometimes the fleet is larger than the available cargo pool. Several vessels may be open in the same region, but only a limited number of attractive cargoes are available. The challenge is to decide which vessels should be fixed and which should remain open, wait for better opportunities, or be repositioned.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have five open vessels and only two or three suitable cargoes. Marine Solver helps identify which vessels should take the available cargoes and which vessels should not be committed to weak or inefficient employment.

1.3. More cargoes than vessels

In other situations, the market offers more cargoes than the fleet can perform. The task is not to take the first attractive cargo, but to select the cargoes that create the best overall fleet result. Marine Solver can compare many cargo options against vessel availability, open positions, laycans, route costs, emissions and future exit points.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have two vessels and ten possible cargoes. You need to select the cargoes that give the best commercial and operational outcome, not only the cargoes that look attractive at first glance.

1.4. Equal number of vessels and cargoes, but unequal efficiency

Even when the number of vessels and cargoes appears balanced, the combinations are not equal. Different open ports, speeds, bunker consumption, costs, laycans and future positions can produce very different outcomes.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have three vessels and three cargoes. On the surface, the task looks simple. But each possible allocation creates a different cost structure, route, waiting time and future position. Marine Solver helps find the strongest allocation.

1.5. Fleet planning within a time horizon

A company may need to plan fleet employment over a defined period: for example, the next two weeks, one month, or quarter. Marine Solver can work within a planning horizon and identify feasible scenarios within that time window.

Practical formulation: Imagine you need to build a working plan for your fleet for the next 30 or 60 days. Marine Solver helps test which vessels and cargoes can be combined into a realistic and optimized plan.

1.6. Building a fleet plan for a trader with own cargo flows

For traders, the task often combines cargo ownership, transportation planning and vessel employment. The company may have stable cargo flows, own or controlled vessels, and a need to organize transport efficiently across regions. Marine Solver can support this type of planning by connecting cargo flows, vessel availability and route economics.

Practical formulation: Imagine you are a trader with regular cargo flows and several vessels available for transport. You need not only to move cargoes, but to organize a transport plan that reduces empty legs, improves fleet utilization and supports the commercial flow of goods.

2. Cargo Selection

2.1. One vessel looking for the best cargo

A vessel may be open at a certain port and date, while the market offers many possible cargoes. The task is to identify which cargo is actually best for that vessel. Marine Solver evaluates the cargo not only by freight attractiveness, but by the full voyage chain: ballast, loading and discharge ports, laycan, route, costs, emissions and future position.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have one open vessel and a list of market cargoes. Marine Solver helps determine which cargo gives the best total result for that vessel.

2.2. Selecting not just the next cargo, but the best chain

Sometimes the right decision is not the most profitable next cargo, but the cargo that creates the best following position. Marine Solver can support chain-based thinking by evaluating how one decision affects the next stage of vessel employment.

Practical formulation: Imagine one cargo gives a strong result today, but leaves the vessel in a weak region. Another cargo gives a slightly lower immediate result, but positions the vessel better for the next fixture. Marine Solver helps compare both options.

2.3. Vessel opening in a weak region

A vessel may open in a region with limited cargo opportunities. In this case, the task is to find cargo employment that improves the vessel’s commercial position.

Practical formulation: Imagine your vessel opens in a region where there are few attractive follow-up cargoes. Marine Solver helps identify which cargo can move the vessel into a stronger market position.

2.4. A new cargo appears in the market

Market conditions change constantly. A new cargo may appear after the plan has already been built. The question is whether this cargo changes the optimal decision. Marine Solver allows the user to add the new cargo to the pool and quickly recalculate scenarios.

Practical formulation: Imagine you already have a working plan, and a new cargo appears. Marine Solver helps check whether this cargo is attractive enough to change the current plan.

2.5. A cargo disappears from the market

The opposite situation is equally common. A cargo that was included in the pool may no longer be available because another party has taken it or the cargo owner has withdrawn it. Marine Solver allows the user to remove the cargo and generate a new plan without rebuilding the analysis manually.

Practical formulation: Imagine you built a plan around several cargo opportunities, but one of them is no longer available. Marine Solver helps remove it from the pool and immediately see the next-best plan.

3. Vessel Selection

3.1. One cargo looking for the best vessel

A company may have one specific cargo and several vessels that could potentially perform it. The vessels may differ by open position, speed, consumption, cost, size, CII baseline and future availability. Marine Solver helps compare which vessel is best suited for this cargo.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have one important cargo and several available vessels. Marine Solver helps identify which vessel can perform it with the best total result.

3.2. Selecting a vessel under tight laycan

A cargo may have a narrow laycan window. The best vessel is not necessarily the cheapest one, but the vessel that can realistically reach the loading port in time.

Practical formulation: Imagine the cargo is attractive, but the laycan is tight. Marine Solver helps check which vessel can arrive in time and how much operational buffer remains.

3.3. Selecting a vessel under emissions or compliance pressure

Different vessels may produce different emissions and regulatory costs on the same route. A technically feasible vessel may not be the best choice once ETS, SECA or CII considerations are included.

Practical formulation: Imagine several vessels can perform the cargo, but one produces a better result once fuel consumption, emissions and compliance costs are included. Marine Solver helps identify this difference before the fixture decision.

3.4. Selecting a vessel with future positioning in mind

The best vessel for the current cargo may not be the best vessel for the fleet plan as a whole. Future position matters.

Practical formulation: Imagine one vessel performs the cargo cheaply but ends in the wrong region. Another vessel produces a slightly different immediate result but supports the next step of the fleet plan. Marine Solver helps evaluate this trade-off.

4. Mandatory Cargo and Contract Protection

4.1. One mandatory cargo and several optional cargoes

A company may have one cargo that must be performed, while other cargoes are optional. This situation can be modeled by marking the mandatory cargo as required. Marine Solver then searches for scenarios that preserve the mandatory commitment while optimizing the remaining choices.

Practical formulation: Imagine one cargo is already committed and cannot be missed. Marine Solver helps build the best plan around that cargo without breaking the obligation.

4.2. Several mandatory cargoes

Sometimes there are two or more cargoes that must be performed. They may have different laycans, routes and operational requirements. Marine Solver can help determine whether they can be performed by one vessel, should be split across vessels, or create conflicts.

Practical formulation: Imagine two cargoes are mandatory, but their dates and routes may conflict. Marine Solver helps check whether they can be combined into one feasible plan.

4.3. Protecting a mandatory contract from tempting market cargoes

A new spot cargo may look attractive, but accepting it could endanger an already committed cargo.

Practical formulation: Imagine a new market cargo appears with an attractive rate, but it may interfere with a mandatory contract. Marine Solver helps test whether taking it improves the plan or creates unacceptable risk.

4.4. One vessel with a mandatory cargo, another vessel flexible

In fleet planning, one vessel may already be tied to a mandatory cargo, while another remains open. The task is to optimize both together.

Practical formulation: Imagine one vessel must perform a fixed cargo, while another vessel is still free. Marine Solver helps build the best combined plan for both vessels.

5. Cargo Logic: AND / OR / MUST / Vessel Include / Exclude

5.1. Alternative discharge ports

A cargo owner may allow several possible discharge ports. The commercial request is one opportunity, but operationally it creates several alternatives. Marine Solver can represent such alternatives and select the best option.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo can be discharged at one of five possible ports. Marine Solver helps identify which discharge option gives the best result for the vessel or fleet.

5.2. Alternative cargoes from one client

A client may offer several cargo options but expect the owner to select only one. These cargoes should not all be selected together.

Practical formulation: Imagine one client offers several alternative cargo stems. Marine Solver helps choose the best one without treating them as independent cargoes.

5.3. Linked cargoes that must be selected together

Some cargoes are commercially or operationally linked. They only make sense as a package.

Practical formulation: Imagine two cargoes are part of one commercial package. Marine Solver can treat them as linked, so they are selected together or not selected at all.

5.4. One contract split into several cargo lines

A single commercial deal may appear as several rows because of different parcels, ports or cargo specifications.

Practical formulation: Imagine one contract is represented by several cargo lines. Marine Solver helps treat these lines as one connected business decision.

5.5. Excluding specific vessels from specific cargoes

Some vessels should not carry certain cargoes. For example, a vessel may be grain-clean and should not be assigned to coal, or a cargo may require a vessel with specific technical characteristics. Marine Solver can exclude this combination from the decision space.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo should not be carried by a particular vessel because of cargo history, hold condition, vessel class, charterer preference or operational restrictions.

5.6. Including only specific vessels for specific cargoes

In other cases, a cargo may only be suitable for a limited number of vessels.

Practical formulation: Imagine only one vessel in the fleet can perform a cargo because of draft, gear, dimensions or commercial agreement. Marine Solver can restrict the cargo to that vessel or vessel group.

6. Laycan Strategy

6.1. Cargoes with strict laycan

Many market cargoes come with a defined laycan. The vessel must arrive within the window or the scenario becomes risky or infeasible.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo has a strict laycan and the vessel is not yet close to the loading port. Marine Solver helps check whether the cargo is realistically feasible.

6.2. Negotiable laycan

In real negotiations, laycan may sometimes be moved. A few days of flexibility can change the decision. Marine Solver allows users to test laycan deviations and understand how they affect feasibility and economics.

Practical formulation: Imagine the stated laycan is not ideal, but the charterer may accept a small shift. Marine Solver helps test whether this flexibility creates a better scenario.

6.3. Comparing strict laycan and flexible laycan

A planner may want to see whether the best solution changes if laycan flexibility is allowed.

Practical formulation: Imagine the strict laycan gives only weak options, but a two-day extension creates much better scenarios. Marine Solver helps quantify the value of that flexibility.

6.4. Cargoes without laycan

Some cargoes do not have a fixed laycan. In practice, cargo descriptions may sound like “vessel’s date” or leave timing to the shipowner’s availability. This is a real planning case, not missing data. The cargo is flexible by nature.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo owner does not specify a strict laycan and leaves timing to vessel availability. Marine Solver can still include this cargo in the planning space and build a feasible schedule around it.

6.5. Internal cargoes with operational availability dates

Own cargoes may depend on production schedules, stock readiness or terminal availability rather than market laycan.

Practical formulation: Imagine your own cargo will be ready after a certain production date. Marine Solver helps connect cargo readiness, vessel availability and the most efficient voyage plan.

6.6. Mixed laycan quality

Some cargoes may have strict laycan, some flexible laycan, and some no laycan at all. This is common in mixed internal and market planning.

Practical formulation: Imagine your cargo pool contains a mix of firm market cargoes, flexible internal cargoes and cargoes without exact dates. Marine Solver helps build a plan without forcing all cargoes into one artificial date logic.

7. Positioning and Exit Point

7.1. Planning with or without exit point

A voyage can be evaluated as a standalone fixture or as part of a wider fleet positioning strategy. Marine Solver allows users to consider the future exit point and see how it changes the attractiveness of a scenario.

Practical formulation: Imagine one cargo is better if you only look at the current voyage, but another cargo positions the vessel better for future work. Marine Solver helps compare both views.

7.2. Reducing fleet imbalance between regions

A company may have too many vessels in one region and too few in another. Cargo selection can help reduce this imbalance.

Practical formulation: Imagine your fleet is concentrated in one region while future demand is expected elsewhere. Marine Solver helps use current cargoes to move vessels toward better future positions.

7.3. Avoiding future ballast

The cheapest current voyage may create a long ballast leg afterwards. Marine Solver helps account for this future impact.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo looks profitable, but after discharge the vessel is likely to ballast a long distance. Marine Solver helps identify whether the apparent profit is still attractive after positioning is considered.

7.4. Preparing for a future contract

A company may know that a future cargo or contract or redelivery place will appear in a certain region. The current fixture should support that future plan.

Practical formulation: Imagine your vessel needs to be in a certain region for a future opportunity. Marine Solver helps select current employment that supports this future requirement.

8. Feasibility Validation

8.1. One vessel and one cargo

Sometimes the task is not full optimization but a fast feasibility check.

Practical formulation: Imagine you have one vessel and one cargo. Marine Solver helps quickly check whether the voyage works in terms of dates, route, costs, emissions and constraints.

8.2. Pre-negotiation check

Before responding to a broker or cargo owner, a team may need to understand whether the opportunity is worth pursuing.

Practical formulation: Imagine a broker sends a cargo opportunity. Before spending time on negotiations, Marine Solver helps check whether it is operationally and economically realistic.

8.3. Understanding why a scenario is not selected

Sometimes a cargo looks attractive, but the model does not select it. The reason may be infeasibility or simply weaker economics.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo looks good, but it does not appear in the best scenarios. Marine Solver helps investigate whether it fails because of laycan, route, cost, CII, vessel compatibility or because other options are stronger.

8.4. Testing which constraint changes the result

A planner may want to understand whether the limiting factor is laycan, CII, route restriction, cost cap, profit floor, vessel exclusion or port geography.

Practical formulation: Imagine the plan does not work. Marine Solver helps test which constraint is responsible and what would need to change to make the scenario feasible.

9. Cost and Profit Thresholds

9.1. Daily cost cap

A company may only accept scenarios below a certain daily cost level.

Practical formulation: Imagine you want to exclude any plan where daily cost exceeds your acceptable threshold. Marine Solver helps filter the decision space accordingly.

9.2. Daily profit floor

A company may require a minimum daily profit before accepting a fixture.

Practical formulation: Imagine you do not want to fix a vessel below a certain daily profit level. Marine Solver helps identify only the scenarios that pass that commercial threshold.

9.3. Testing whether the market supports the required economics

If no scenario meets the profit floor, this is also valuable information.

Practical formulation: Imagine your required profit level is not reached by any available cargo combination. Marine Solver helps show that the market does not currently support your target.

9.4. Comparing aggressive and conservative thresholds

Different commercial assumptions may create very different feasible spaces.

Practical formulation: Imagine you want to compare a conservative profit floor with a more flexible one. Marine Solver helps show how many scenarios become available under each approach.

10. Route and Geography Control

10.1. Avoiding canals

A company may want to compare routes with and without Suez, Panama or other canal passages.

Practical formulation: Imagine a canal route is faster but expensive, while an alternative route is longer but cheaper. Marine Solver helps compare the full impact on cost, time and emissions.

10.2. Avoiding piracy zones

Security risks may make certain routes unacceptable.

Practical formulation: Imagine the shortest route passes through a piracy-risk area. Marine Solver helps evaluate alternative routes and understand the cost and time impact of avoiding the zone.

10.3. Avoiding specific regions such as Malacca

Some companies may want to avoid specific regions for operational, insurance, security or strategic reasons.

Practical formulation: Imagine your company wants to avoid Malacca for a particular voyage. Marine Solver helps rebuild the route logic and compare the resulting scenarios.

10.4. SECA-sensitive routing

Routes through SECA zones may affect fuel cost and compliance requirements.

Practical formulation: Imagine two routes are possible, but one includes more SECA exposure. Marine Solver helps evaluate the impact on voyage economics and emissions.

10.5. Dynamic port pool

New ports may appear in the cargo list. The user may need to extend the port database without stopping the workflow.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo includes a port that is not yet in the database. Marine Solver allows the user to add or extend the port pool during the planning process.

10.6. Port ambiguity

Some port names are ambiguous. The same name can exist in different countries, or the same port can appear under different spellings.

Practical formulation: Imagine the cargo list says “Alexandria”, but it may refer to different ports in different countries. Marine Solver helps detect ambiguity and resolve it before routes are calculated.

11. Compliance and Emissions

11.1. EU ETS impact

A cargo may look attractive before regulatory costs are included, but less attractive after ETS costs are considered.

Practical formulation: Imagine a voyage looks profitable on freight alone. Marine Solver helps check whether it remains attractive after EU ETS and emission-related costs are included.

11.2. CII target as a planning constraint

CII can be treated not only as a reporting result, but as a constraint in planning.

Practical formulation: Imagine you want to protect the vessel’s CII rating while selecting cargoes. Marine Solver helps exclude or identify scenarios that do not fit the target.

11.3. Profit versus emissions trade-off

The highest profit scenario may not be the best environmental scenario.

Practical formulation: Imagine one scenario gives higher profit, while another gives lower emissions and better compliance. Marine Solver helps compare the trade-off transparently.

11.4. Environmental screening before commercial commitment

A company may want to assess emissions before fixing a voyage, not after execution.

Practical formulation: Imagine you need to know the environmental impact before committing commercially. Marine Solver brings this analysis into the pre-fixture decision stage.

12. Changing Market Conditions

12.1. Bunker price changes

Fuel prices can change quickly. A plan that was optimal yesterday may become less attractive today. Marine Solver allows users to update bunker assumptions and test whether the plan remains robust.

Practical formulation: Imagine bunker prices increase after you built your preferred plan. Marine Solver helps check whether the same scenario is still optimal or whether another route, vessel or cargo combination becomes better.

12.2. Freight rate changes

A cargo may become attractive or unattractive after a rate adjustment.

Practical formulation: Imagine the freight rate improves by a small amount. Marine Solver helps determine whether this change is enough to make the cargo worth selecting.

12.3. Waiting time assumptions change

Congestion or operational delays may affect port calls.

Practical formulation: Imagine expected waiting time increases at a loading or discharge port. Marine Solver helps update the plan and understand the effect on cost, time and vessel availability.

12.4. Market snapshot comparison

A team may want to compare the old plan with a new plan after market changes.

Practical formulation: Imagine you saved yesterday’s planning scenario, and today several assumptions have changed. Marine Solver helps compare the new optimal scenario with the previous one.

13. Imperfect and Mixed Data

13.1. Partial cargo data

In early-stage planning, not all cargo details may be confirmed.

Practical formulation: Imagine some cargoes have complete data, while others are still approximate. Marine Solver can still support preliminary scenario analysis and allow updates as data becomes clearer.

13.2. Own cargoes and market cargoes together

A company may plan both internal cargo flows and spot market opportunities in one decision space.

Practical formulation: Imagine part of your cargo pool comes from your own business, while part comes from the market. Marine Solver helps combine both into one planning exercise.

13.3. Approximate assumptions at early stage

Users may start with reference values and later replace them with confirmed numbers.

Practical formulation: Imagine you do not yet know all final costs, but you need a fast preliminary analysis. Marine Solver allows you to build the first version of the plan and refine it as assumptions are updated.

14. Speed and Iteration

14.1. Fast recalculation after new information

Commercial planning is iterative. Every new cargo, removed cargo, changed price or revised date can affect the result.

Practical formulation: Imagine your market view changes several times during the day. Marine Solver helps update the decision scenario quickly instead of rebuilding the analysis manually.

14.2. Comparing multiple scenarios in minutes

Instead of evaluating one plan at a time, the user can generate several ranked scenarios and compare them.

Practical formulation: Imagine you need not one answer, but several alternatives. Marine Solver helps produce and compare multiple feasible scenarios quickly.

14.3. Exploring “what if” questions

A planner may want to ask: What if we allow laycan deviation? What if we avoid Suez? What if bunker price changes? What if we remove one cargo? What if we apply CII target?

Practical formulation: Imagine you want to test several commercial and operational assumptions before making a decision. Marine Solver helps turn “what if” questions into comparable scenarios.

15. Workspace and Confidential Planning

15.1. Saved vessel database

A company may want to use its own vessel data repeatedly without re-entering it each time.

Practical formulation: Imagine you work with a recurring fleet. Marine Solver allows you to use saved vessel data as part of the planning workflow.

15.2. Confidential planning space

Fleet and cargo planning often involves commercially sensitive information.

Practical formulation: Imagine your vessel data, cargo assumptions and planning scenarios are commercially confidential. Marine Solver supports a private workspace where users can work with their own data.

15.3. Returning to saved tasks

Planning is rarely completed in one step. Users may need to return to a scenario after negotiations, updated costs or new cargo information.

Practical formulation: Imagine you built a scenario in the morning, received new market information in the afternoon, and need to continue from the same task. Marine Solver supports iterative planning.

16. Reporting and Decision Explanation

16.1. Explaining why a scenario was selected

Marine Solver does not only produce a result. It provides scenario comparison and breakdowns that help explain the decision.

Practical formulation: Imagine you need to explain to management why one vessel-cargo allocation is better than another. Marine Solver helps show the difference in cost, time, profit, emissions and feasibility.

16.2. Explaining why an attractive cargo was rejected

A cargo may look good by freight rate but fail after ballast, waiting, ETS, CII or exit position are considered.

Practical formulation: Imagine a cargo looks attractive commercially, but the full scenario analysis shows that it is not the best option. Marine Solver helps explain why.

16.3. Comparing scenarios for internal approval

A company may need a structured report before committing to a plan.

Practical formulation: Imagine you need to present several alternatives to decision-makers. Marine Solver helps create scenario comparisons, breakdowns and reports.

16.4. Turning complex planning into a structured decision

The core value is not only calculation speed. It is the ability to structure a complex decision where many variables change together.

Practical formulation: Imagine your team has vessels, cargoes, laycans, routes, costs, emissions and contractual restrictions all changing at once. Marine Solver helps turn this complexity into ranked, explainable decision scenarios.

Conclusion

Marine Solver is not built around one standard voyage calculation. It is built around the real business situations where fleet deployment, cargo selection, vessel selection, route planning, compliance, costs and timing must be considered together.

It helps users answer practical questions:

• Which vessel should take which cargo?
• Which cargo should be selected for this vessel?
• Which vessel is best for this cargo?
• What happens if a cargo is added or removed?
• What changes if bunker prices increase?
• Can we protect mandatory contracts while still optimizing the plan?
• How does laycan flexibility affect feasibility?
• What is the cost of avoiding a canal or risky region?
• Does the scenario still work under CII or ETS constraints?
• Which plan gives the best balance between cost, time, profit and emissions?

In this sense, Marine Solver is not only a calculation tool. It is a structured decision-support environment for pre-fixture fleet planning. Its purpose is to help decision-makers move from complex market options to clear, comparable and mathematically optimized decision scenarios.