Serene through heavy seas
United Heavy Lift launches weather / routing platform, Syroco, a French tech start-up that supports the energy transition in maritime transport, is equipping eleven vessels of a maritime transport services provider for heavylift, general cargo and project freight activities with its weather / routing tool.
After a pilot phase conducted on three ships United Heavy Lift (UHL), which was founded ten years ago, has now introduced Syroco’s solution on eleven units in its F900 ‘eco-lifter’ class.
The 150 m heavylift vessels with a transport capacity of more than 15,000 t each (built in 2018-2024) are deployed to transport a broad range of cargo, including various modules, renewable energy components, machinery, mining equipment and other industrial goods.
Lars zum Felde, UHL Crewing’s director of fleet management, explains the general facts. “Given the diversity of cargo entrusted to us, no voyage is identical to another. The Syroco platform is versatile, using accurate digital twins that take into account the specific seakeeping characteristics of each vessel, which vary greatly based on the load carried. During the pilot phase, we managed to significantly improve decision making, increase the accuracy of our performance predictions and noticeably reduce fuel consumption.”
Syroco president and co-founder Alex Caizergues added that “United Heavy Lift is an innovative company that demonstrates an active commitment to increasing the efficiency of its operations. With this extended deployment we’ve placed the latest generation of a routing and trip-optimisation solution in the hands of its crews. It will reduce the energy footprint of UHL’s operations, and enhance safety and performance.”