Today, Marine Solver includes two mature modules – Sole Cargo and Part Cargo, with the COA module currently under development. This post focuses on Sole Cargo.
The Sole Cargo module is designed to optimize the operation of one vessel or multiple vessels simultaneously. This is especially important when a broker manages a pool of vessels and works with the same cargo market. System-level optimization reveals solutions that are impossible to identify when planning each vessel in isolation.
Real Chartering Constraints and Parameters
Sole Cargo reflects actual operational factors, including:
- Laycan windows and planning horizons.
- Selection between a single voyage or a voyage chain.
- Choice of freight basis: per metric ton, per cubic meter, or lumpsum.
- Optimization by selected criteria: time, cost, profit, or emissions.
- CO₂ constraints in line with IMO requirements.
- The ability to define an Exit Point — a desired location or region where the voyage chain is planned to end. This links current decisions with targeted fleet positioning and balanced deployment under uneven regional cargo flows.
Practical Scenarios for Brokers
The module covers daily operational challenges, such as:
- Fixed Cargoes: respecting already committed contracts when planning employment before and after, including mandatory cargoes.
- Specific Assignments: in multi-vessel optimization, assigning a specific cargo to a specific vessel.
- Exclusions: defining rules where certain vessels are prohibited from carrying particular cargoes.
Flexible Operational Modes
Sole Cargo can be applied in a market-driven mode, where optimal cargoes are selected from the open market based on external conditions, or in a scheduling mode, where vessels and cargoes are planned within time windows convenient for the operator. This allows the engine to support both competitive market operations and internal fleet planning.
All these tasks are solved within a unified optimization framework across multiple criteria, while the user remains free to select the key objective that best fits the current business context.
Sole Cargo is not a simplified model. It is a decision-support tool that reflects how optimization is actually used in real chartering practice.