This launch comes at a time when the latest figures from the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) show that losses due to weather are on the increase.
The service was designed and developed by Dryad’s in-house teams and World Meteorological Organisation accredited meteorologists with significant seagoing experience, the company said.
WxConnect is offered alongside Dryad’s vessel safety management service to extend tangible safety and operational benefits, whilst minimising burdens for Masters and shore-based teams.
In order to provide greater flexibility to clients, the forecasting tool will be offered with no subscription fee, no installation requirements and as a ‘Pay As You Go’ service, to further drive down costs for users.
The company said that WxConnect provides a completely flexible weather support, monitoring and advisory service for Masters. All weather forecasts are delivered in simple, easy to understand digital formats that provide access to accurate information and actionable insights, enabling safe passage planning decisions.
Dryad Maritime’s COO, Ian Millen, said: “Shipowners, managers and Masters are under ever-increasing pressure to meet various demands and make decisions that provide both commercial and safety benefits. WxConnect helps to reduce this burden by providing an on-demand, responsive service. For Masters, there is always someone at Dryad watching over the vessel and available to give prompt, accurate and invaluable advice, helping them to choose the best route to complete their transit successfully and efficiently, avoiding unnecessary costs. For those ashore, we take the same diligent approach to enable compliance and ensure that managed fleets are operating in an optimal way.
“Despite our technological age, it is a sad fact that losses attributable to weather have increased in recent years. The world’s seas and oceans can be unpredictable and, sometimes, dangerous, as evidenced by the tragic loss of ships and seafarers who work to keep the world fed and the lights on. WxConnect has been designed to help reduce the workloads at sea and ashore, by providing a managed service that gives the right amount of help to those who need it, when they need it; an extension of the award winning maritime security support we have delivered over the years.
“Just like our risk services, the technology behind WxConnect stays in house, with the service delivered by former mariners, so there’s no need to manage software or computers on board ships or in headquarters ashore,” he explained.