Weathernews' SeaNavigator: Combining AI and Human Expertise for Maritime Excellence
Originally featured in Digital Ship magazine - Republished with permission
Filotas Paschos, Business Development Manager at Weathernews, spoke to Digital Ship about the SeaNavigator platform Weathernews has developed. He explained how it offers company-specific "tailored solutions, combining advanced weather routing with emission insights."
SeaNavigator Platform Overview
The SeaNavigator platform provides both manual and automated route optimization, ensuring vessel operators have access to accurate meteorological data. While AI processes large amounts of weather and vessel performance data, meteorologists oversee manual optimizations, adding human expertise for reliable results.
In early 2025, Weathernews will also introduce an onboard software extension, providing real-time weather forecasts and automated routing options for vessel crews, enabling better decision-making at sea.
Weathernews is a provider of weather intelligence and route optimization solutions for the maritime industry, offering services through a web-based platform and onboard vessel software. These include real-time voyage optimization, CII and CO2 tracking tools, and high-resolution weather forecasting to enhance safety and efficiency.
Combining AI and Human Expertise
Paschos emphasized how SeaNavigator combines AI with human expertise. “We always say that the human factor is an added value to the forecast. Human expertise in route optimization makes it much better,” said Paschos.
AI generates route suggestions based on weather and vessel performance data, but meteorologists add value by accounting for unpredictable variables that AI may not detect. Human oversight becomes crucial in extreme or rapidly evolving weather conditions. A recent example occurred during a UK storm when a vessel required immediate sheltering and bunker management. Weathernews’ meteorologists provided continuous guidance to ensure safe and efficient decision-making.
This approach differs from competitors who mostly rely on automated forecasting models. Weathernews’ hybrid system, integrating human expertise with AI, ensures highly reliable route optimization. “While we integrate AI to enhance our services, human expertise will always be at the core of decision-making,” said Paschos.
Compliance Solutions
Paschos outlined how Weathernews has proactively supported companies in aligning with new IMO and EU regulations. This includes the introduction of a CII Simulator and CO2 Tracking Module.
The CII Simulator helps fleet operators predict their CII ratings before departure, allowing for adjustments to ensure compliance. It provides real-time data on how speed changes, route modifications, and retrofitting decisions impact a ship’s environmental rating. The CO2 Tracking Module offers precise emissions reporting, helping clients meet IMO and EU regulatory requirements, and significantly reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties.
Real-time Decision-making Tools
Another central feature is that captains have access to the latest weather data and optimized routing recommendations while at sea. This is done by providing vessel operators with onboard software which improves their ability to make real-time adjustments. Vessel operators receive their voyage plans, including optimized route recommendations, alongside the reasoning behind each suggestion, allowing them to assess different routing options and communicate decisions with meteorologists for greater clarity.
In February 2025, Weathernews introduced a new onboard software solution that provides vessel operators with more access to weather forecasts and automatic routing suggestions. Paschos believes the upgrade will improve vessel operators' ability to make informed decisions without relying on shore-based support.
Precise Weather Reporting
Weathernews has invested heavily in advancing its weather modeling capabilities in recent years. The company's high-resolution weather model provides detailed reporting on specific weather patterns including thunderstorms, local wind effects, and shifting ocean currents. These specific patterns often go undetected by lower-resolution models.
By providing precise weather predictions, Weathernews allows vessel operators to avoid severe conditions, optimize fuel consumption, and improve safety measures.
Paschos outlined how this feature is a technological strength of the Weathernews product. It enabled the company's meteorologists and voyage planners to deliver very specific data-driven recommendations based on the priorities of each customer.
"A better high-resolution model can produce much better results for voyage planning," said Paschos.
User-friendly Focus
The SeaNavigator platform was designed with a user-friendly focus in mind. The platform uses a single interface that allows shipping companies to monitor weather conditions, adjust voyage plans, track emissions, and ensure compliance with international regulations.
"The SeaNavigator platform is a well-structured and easy-to-use system for handling all the operational and technical data, making it accessible for our users," said Paschos.
The platform improves decision-making and provides real-time support to vessels at sea. The SeaNavigator platform's ability to merge real-time weather data with ship performance metrics makes it a user-friendly experience.
Paschos spoke about how a fundamental focus of Weathernews' philosophy is its ease of use. "On SeaNavigator you can log in and have the automatic solution in a minute. The platform is simple so that those with experience levels from experienced operators to new users can easily use its features without training," said Paschos.
With operational centers in Tokyo, Athens, Copenhagen, and Oklahoma, Weathernews provides 24/7 personalized global support, answering customer questions, refining route suggestions, and incorporating user feedback into its systems.
