Introduction

Voyage management is a complex topic which spans every division within a shipping company. From shipowners to contractors, a voyage plan requires ongoing and dedicated commitment from all stakeholders to ensure operations run smoothly. However, with such a complex task, errors are naturally made. Miscommunications between team members when changes to the original voyage plan occur can have a domino effect on the rest of the vessel’s operations and, in some cases, the whole fleet. 

To make ship operations more efficient, companies have developed Voyage Management Systems (VMS).  These programs are designed to incorporate all the tasks and demands that operators must deal with and consolidate them into one application. The aim of this is to have a workspace accessible to all employees, to allow them to have access to a ship’s voyage, giving the user real-time information. In addition, it is a platform where all employees can make adjustments and communicate with one another, meaning there is less of a chance of changes going unnoticed.