Maersk Tankers launches a new standalone digital business
In an acceleration of its digital strategy, Maersk Tankers is launching a new standalone digital business to reduce CO2 emissions and optimise vessels’ earnings across the tramp shipping industry, the company said in its release.
The as-yet-unnamed business will develop and sell the software product SimBunker to vessel owners and managers in the tramp shipping industry to help them use their vessels more efficiently. This will reduce CO2 emissions, supporting the shipping industry’s ongoing efforts towards more sustainable development, and increase earnings.
SimBunker optimises vessels’ bunker spend, which can account for up to 60% of the total voyage costs, by determining optimal solutions for factors such as speed, bunker purchase and route. The software product was developed within Maersk Tankers and will now be spun off into the new digital business, along with its related customer base.
Since 2016, Maersk Tankers has worked strategically to increase the use of digitisation, developing digital capabilities and products in-house, enhancing the customer and partner experience and forming strategic digital partnerships and alliances.
The spin-off is a direct consequence of and testament to the tangible results achieved over the past years.
When SimBunker is spun off, it will be the sole focus of a dedicated team and management to develop the software product. The team will be built around employees from the existing Maersk Tankers Digital team, as well as new employees to be hired. It will be led by Soren C. Meyer, who is currently Chief Asset Officer of Maersk Tankers. As Chief Executive Officer of the new business, he will, until further notice, report to Ingerslev.
When Meyer takes on the Chief Executive Officer role, effective 7 January 2020, he will leave his position at Maersk Tankers and the Leadership Team.
Maersk Tankers will retain a digital team in-house to develop existing products and bring new digital ideas alive that can serve partners and customers in smarter ways. Peter Schroder, Chief Digital Officer, will continue to lead this and the digital transformation of Maersk Tankers, which is a core component of the tanker company’s business strategy ‘Shaping the Future’. Owing to the strategic importance of this work, he will now report directly to Ingerslev.
Schroder and his team, among other initiatives, will be working in close partnership with CargoMetrics Technologies, with which Maersk Tankers entered an equity agreement in 2017. The partnership has since then worked on the development of SimTanker, a software product that provides a data-driven trade signal to proactively position the fleet of vessels in the most optimal way, meeting both customer demand and increasing earnings. The in-house digital team will also work to digitise more of the pool partners’ ‘customer journeys’ with Maersk Tankers through the online partner portal, ‘InSite digital’.
The new standalone digital business launches on 7 January 2020.