Sanctions screening and vessel tracking specialist Pole Star Global has bought data company StratumFive in the latest tie-up of maritime tech companies.
Bob Skea, CEO of Pole Star Global, said the deal adds voyage optimisation and weather-related planning to its services as it prepares for a new era of emissions monitoring in the push for net zero shipping by 2050.
Pole Star, established in 1998, is best known for working with governments, flag states and the financial sector on sanctions screening, vessel tracking and monitoring.
The acquisition of StratumFive, on undisclosed terms, adds new layers of information for use by ship masters and managers. Skea characterised it as “first-hand research as to what’s happened and what’s happening on the seas”.
StratumFive has been working on a new system that records charterparty details and supplies real-time information on weather and performance, said Skea.
He said the information would be vital for efficiency gains as the industry scrambles to find the best fuel solutions to reduce emissions.
The move “accelerates our efforts with vessel emissions transparency and planning”, said Skea.
“The drumbeat’s getting louder, and it’s not going away,” he said. “And we think that this positions us well for that.
“All the data coming off the vessel on the voyage is valuable to a number of different market participants. So yes, emissions — and then some.”
Stuart Nichols, the founder of StratumFive Group, said: “This partnership will allow us to accelerate the development of innovative solutions that will further transform the maritime industry.”
The deal is the latest in a busy year for the fragmented maritime tech sector that analysts say is ripe for consolidation.
They include cargo data analyst Kpler buying ship-tracking companies MarineTraffic and FleetMon in February.
That deal was followed by S&P Global buying data supplier Tradenet, while Veson Nautical snapped up UK valuation platform VesselsValue.
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