Blog

Swell is a quiet, recurring cause of port delay, and it is happening more often. New analysis from Marcura's PortLog Analytics team maps where it hits hardest and what charterers and operators can do to protect laytime and P&L.

How to evaluate maritime AP automation vendors, and what genuinely maritime-built answers look like versus solutions adapted from generic AP tools.

How supplier bank account change fraud works in maritime AP, why standard onboarding controls don't stop it, and what a payment workflow built to catch it looks like.

How tolerance policies create cumulative AP leakage in maritime, and why the problem is invisible when checking happens per invoice rather than per supplier.

What four-way matching is, why three-way matching falls short for maritime invoice control, and how vessel confirmation changes what gets paid.

Why the real maritime AP process lives in email rather than the system of record , and what that means for audit trails, approvals, and financial control.

The real operational cost of manual maritime AP, how it builds across a managed fleet and what changes when the process is connected.

Why the PO side of maritime procurement has been transformed while the invoice side has not, and what that structural gap costs ship managers as fleet size increases.

One solution covering the full husbandry lifecycle. Plan, procure, execute and benchmark every husbandry port call, with cost control and audit-ready evidence built in.

New analysis from Marcura Intelligence reveals the scale and frequency of wind-related disruption to port calls, and what charterers, vessel operators and commodity traders can do about it.

As new tariff waves ripple across the global economy, we’re seeing early signs of shifting trade routes, particularly in dry bulk and crude oil. While container shipping grabs most headlines, Marcura’s trade flows platform, which draws from analysis of over 200,000 annual port calls globally, reveals deeper trends already underway.

High humidity is one of the leading causes of delays to fertilizer cargoes at ports in the Middle East and North Africa. New analysis from Marcura Intelligence shows where, when, and how these disruptions hit margins and what you can do to avoid them.

Marcura's analysis of over 40000 grain port calls reveals systematic rejection patterns affecting grain operations - some causing delays exceeding 12 days in extreme cases - with associated costs including cleaning, surveys, port charges, and lost time.

Most demurrage losses don't trace back to what happened at the port. They trace back to how the claims process handled things afterwards, and they follow four consistent, recoverable patterns.

Port cost management generates more information than most operations can act on. DA-Desk has been built to close that gap, surfacing what needs attention, evidencing what's already been checked, and giving operators the context to approve with confidence.

Automate the creation of voyage instructions for every port call using data already available in DA-Desk. Reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and deliver accurate instructions faster.

Port time is one of the largest costs in a voyage, and one of the least accurately forecasted. When claims data stays locked in the post-voyage process, the same forecasting errors repeat on the next fixture. Connecting what actually happened in port to what you estimated before the voyage changes that cycle.

Manual handovers between Chartering and Operations risk missed details and inconsistent workflows. Marcura's Voyage Handover tool standardises the process, flags conflicts between RECAP and CP terms, and generates customised handovers in under one minute.

Business Email Compromise is the fastest-growing payment threat in maritime. High transaction values, operational time pressure, and limited verification infrastructure create structural exposure that most controls manage rather than resolve. Closed payment networks like Marcura Pay offer an elegant solution to a growing problem

Geopolitical disruptions like those seen around the Strait of Hormuz expose how quickly operational realities can collide with charter party clauses. By connecting claims experience, operational data and contractual insight, shipping companies are beginning to move from reacting to disputes to anticipating charter party risk before voyages begin.

Fragmentation is emerging as one of the biggest structural challenges in maritime compliance. In Marcura’s 2026 report, The Fragmentation Problem in Maritime Compliance, we explore how duplicated due diligence, siloed data and inconsistent screening outcomes are forcing organisations across the industry to repeat the same verification work.

New study examines why fragmented compliance systems are amplifying sanctions risk, and what the industry needs to build together. Featuring insights from leading practitioners

Marcura acquires UK-based chemical tanker demurrage specialist Shipdem from Casper Shipping, strengthening its technical expertise in one of the most complex tanker segments. The move expands Marcura Claims’ end-to-end capabilities, combining specialist managed services with scalable self-service technology.

Norden and Marcura's partnership stretches back 22 years, a rarity in any industry. We sat down with Jonas Pappot, Norden's Head of Business Finance, to discuss what keeps this collaboration fresh and dynamic, the day-to-day value it delivers, and what the future might hold.

AI-powered laytime and demurrage tools promise to automate claims calculations, yet operators consistently find themselves still chasing documents, filling data gaps, and resolving disputes. The critical question when evaluating any claims solution: does the technology work for you, or do you end up working for it?

Calculating port costs remains one of the most complex and time-consuming elements of maritime operations. Effective DA processing in maritime requires not only speed, but accuracy across port tariffs, rebates and agent invoices. The most reliable approach combines digital automation with experienced human oversight.

Maritime AI adoption faces a critical paradox: 82% of shipping professionals are optimistic about AI's potential, yet 81% remain stuck in pilot projects with only 11% achieving scaled implementation. Instead of beginning with technology selection, successful AI adoption in shipping must start with the people who will actually use it.

Maritime operations generate more data than ever, yet vital insights remain buried in PDFs, emails, and disconnected systems. Learn how shipping companies are transforming unstructured information into connected, real-time intelligence, reducing uncertainty, improving decision-making, and strengthening commercial performance across chartering, operations, procurement, and finance.

Marcura's Charter Party Risk Analyser delivers full-document contract review in six minutes. But speed tells only part of the story. The real value emerges from analysis that simply wouldn't happen manually.

Partnership connects ShipServ's global supplier network with CFARER's Ship Manager Procurement and brings VesselMan's dry-docking, inspections, and technical project execution to CFARER customers.

Shivas Kapoor, Head of Crewing at Hafnia, and Stuart Gregory, CEO of MarTrust, explore the evolving landscape of crewing, the challenges of crew welfare and payments, and why Hafnia chose to roll out MarTrust’s digital payment solution across its fleet.

A new partnership between MarTrust and ISWAN connects financial wellbeing with mental health support, helping seafarers worldwide access trusted welfare resources directly through the MarTrust platform.

By Saurish Nandi, Group Solutions Head for Compliance, Marcura Under the Hong Kong Convention 2025, maintaining IHM Part I compliance is proving harder than earning the certificate. Manual follow-ups, uncertain classifications, and fragmented workflows drain time and focus. The answer is digital procurement that makes compliance automatic, not an afterthought.

Port disruptions create complexity for teams. Discover the benefits of DA Desk.

LONDON, 27 August 2025 – Maritime companies are stuck in the early stages of AI adoption, unable to scale beyond small experiments as widespread optimism collides with implementation reality, according to new industry research.

Manual coordination and invisible costs are holding your operations back. Here’s how a smarter approach can help.

By Saurish Nandi, Group Solutions Head, ShipServ

Marcura is showing how maritime AI really works: smart agents built for contracts and voyage handovers that save chartering and operations teams time and reduce risk. By Janani Yagnamurthy, VP, Analytics, Marcura

Combined entity will serve more than 150,000 seafarers a month globally across commercial shipping and cruise operations

Watch how Marcura AI generates comprehensive voyage instructions from a charter party, including all the detailed operational information masters need for effective port call execution.

Learn how Marcura AI calculates specific financial exposure from charter party risks—turning abstract contract concerns into concrete dollar amounts that inform your fixing decisions.

Learn how Marcura AI compares your working charter party against your base template, systematically identifying missing clauses, modified terms, and potential conflicts, giving you instant visibility into what's changed and what risks those changes might create.

Lauritzen Bulkers is unlocking a new level of voyage planning accuracy and operational profitability thanks to a partnership that combines advanced weather routing from Weathernews Inc. with data-driven insights into port conditions, congestion, laytime and operational performance from Marcura’s PortLog platform.

Port time represents a significant portion of total voyage expenses, yet it remains one of the least effectively managed costs in maritime operations. Marcura provides an elegant solution to address this challenge through two integrated digital solutions: PortLog Pro and Marcura Claims (formerly ClaimsHub).  

Integration adds predictive port cost and wait time data into Dataloy’s VMS, reducing system-switching for chartering and operations teams.

New partnership gives maritime teams access to Marcura’s ClaimsHub and AI Console inside Sedna, with PortLog integration set to follow, supporting smoother workflows, fewer systems, and faster decision-making.

Difficult to track and often underestimated, Scope 3 emissions are one of shipping’s biggest challenges and also one of its greatest opportunities on the journey to decarbonisation. Saurish Nandi, Solutions Head for Compliance & Sustainability at Marcura, explains why these emissions matter, where current methods fall short, and how digital platforms can turn complexity into competitive advantage. 

Bruno Deszczynski, CEO, Marcura Claims & Intelligence, explores how Agentic AI is reshaping maritime operations, moving beyond basic generative tools toward intelligent systems capable of contextual decisions and real-world actions. While highlighting the game-changing benefits, Bruno also addresses critical pitfalls such as hallucinations, compounded errors, and messy data. Drawing on Marcura's practical experience, he shows how pairing advanced AI models with human expertise delivers faster, smarter, and safer maritime workflows.

Andrei Grigoras, SVP of Compliance Solutions at Marcura Compliance, emphasises that regulatory challenges are nothing new in maritime, but the latest surge in sanctions enforcement is reshaping compliance at extraordinary speed. From intensified crackdowns on illicit oil trade to the expiration of key regulatory exemptions, Andrei highlights that businesses must be able to adapt quickly - or risk being caught off guard.