Windward Launches Route Deviation Alerts To Improve Supply Chain Management Amidst Red Sea Crisis

The new capability will flag potential and actual route changes caused by the geopolitical crisis in the Red Sea empowering stakeholders to take action and mitigate further delays 

LONDON, Dec. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Windward (LSE: WNWD), the leading Maritime AI™ company, has announced the launch of Route Deviation (RDV) Exception, a new capability part of Windward's Ocean Freight Visibility solution, to flag route changes caused due to the geopolitical crisis in the Red Sea. The new capability provides stakeholders with early alerts of changes to container shipments that have shifted away from entering the Red Sea,enhancing visibility and enabling them to efficiently adapt to changes and mitigate negative outcomes.

Recently, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked vessels going through the Red Sea leading major shippers to reroute vessels to avoid the area and the Suez Canal. The collective vessel market share of MSC, Hapag Lloyd, and Maersk, all of which have rerouted vessels away from the area, accounts for approximately 60% of global trade. Many of the impacted vessels previously heading to Europe from Asia via the Red Sea are now sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, likely adding 10 to 14 days of travel time. As of the week of December 17th, 2023, Windward's data shows a two-year low of area visits in Bab-el-Mandeb for container vessels, which marks a decrease of 27% compared to the weekly average in 2023.

The newly launched route deviation capability will provide stakeholders with enhanced visibility, enabling them to anticipate challenges and develop contingency plans, thus minimizing disruptions to the supply chain and allowing them to manage costs more effectively. Early knowledge of impacted shipments enables companies to optimize their operations, whether it's adjusting timelines or reallocating resources to ensure timely delivery.

"Windward has its finger on the pulse with all matters related to maritime risk, be they compliance or supply chain related," said Ami Daniel, Co-founder and CEO of Windward. "Less than a month into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we launched our Russia compliance tool, now we have launched this capability to equip our customers with a first of its kind tool to deal with this unprecedented new challenge. This rapid deployment shows the robustness of our platform and technology and its ability to swiftly adapt to clients' changing needs."

Windward's models, developed by maritime and AI specialists, are specifically trained to understand the multitude of factors affecting the movement of goods at sea. Using Deep Learning (DL) models, Windward's Route Deviation Exception will alert stakeholders to any deviation from the original route. This allows supply chain partners – including logistic service providers, freight forwarders, cargo owners, shippers, container ports, terminals, liners, and more – to take the next step and utilize actionable insights, to make more well-informed, fact-based decisions, and provide accurate updates for both internal and external stakeholders.

About Windward

Windward (LSE: WNWD), is the leading Maritime AI^™ company, providing an all-in-one platform for risk management and maritime domain awareness needs to accelerate global trade. Windward's AI-powered decision support platform and exception management offers a 360° view of the maritime ecosystem and allows stakeholders including ocean freight forwarders, shipping companies, insurers, energy companies, banks, and governments to make real time, predictive intelligence-driven decisions to achieve business and operational readiness.

For more information visit: https://windward.ai/.

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