Here I was, Managing Director of a large tug operator, standing by the river Scheldt together with our European Head of Business Development. Our mission for that day was to explore the towage operations in Antwerp so that we could determine our entry strategy and prepare a business case for the board. Our tool: a set of binoculars…
The problem we faced at the time with any competitive entry into a new port was that there was no information available on any of the questions that you have when you want to assess the business case for doing that entry. How many assists are there, how long does an operation take, who are the key customers/segments, how many tugs do we need to service this port, et cetera?
It was then that Bert and I teamed up and set out to develop a solution that would enable Tug Operators to get accurate factual insights into any towage operation in the world, including their own.
By mid-2017, the first version of what we internally refer to as “The Job Scanner” saw the light. It is our software that seeks out towage job patterns, merely using AIS data.
Now we’re 4 years onward with 50+ ports explored in our software and a further suite of tools and use cases to help Tug Operators not only do better business development but also reduce fuel, CO2, SOx and NOx.
We feel proud that we have been able to make a positive contribution to our customer’s bottom line while also reducing the environmental footprint of their operation. A port manager of one of our customers told us – after a reduction of almost 25% in fuel consumption – that they have never seen such a low level of fuel consumption on their tugs before. And that is what drives us to do more. We want to use our expertise in data analytics and maritime to create a real impact for our customers, the planet, and our team.
You get access to our unique technology that is razor-sharp in assessing tug movements in ports.
We use predominantly AIS data to power our insights, there is no requirement to install any hardware or data collection applications onboard tugs.
We have an apt understanding of AIS data and data analytics technology, powered by strong experience in the maritime sector.
There is no upfront investment cost for achieving value from our products, so we can also offer a very flexible and easy contracting set-up, not requiring long-term commitments.
From market research to business case simulation to practical advice on crewing regulations. You can rely on us in the entire expansion journey.
Towage is your business. You operate under an increasingly competitive situation; margins are deteriorating while the demands to your fleet are increasing with larger vessel sizes. Consolidation in the market means your competitors are getting scale advantages. You’re trying to run a highly efficient operation and occasionally look for opportunities to expand. LionRock Maritime can help you with both.
Our expertise – in short – lies in drawing operational, commercial, and strategic insights from publicly available data sources for tug operators using data technology. But we don’t stop there; we support
with the implementation of these insights and ensure value is exploited.
We collect millions of data points each day. We have established a cost-effective infrastructure for collecting, cleaning, storing, and processing data.
Do you want to know more about Port Exploration solutions?
Beethovenstraat 95-5
1077 HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Through cutting edge data technology you will get immediate and unprecedented insight into your towage businesses in any port in the world, including your own.