About

27 Research focuses on developing or enhancing preexisting solutions in relation to trading,operating, supervising and environmental aspects of the maritime sector. The project described is one out of the three we are currently working on.

Solution & Product

A significant challenge of freight trading is to improve the returns of a ship-owner by minimizing ballast time of a dry bulk vessel as well as to reducing carbon emissions. The minor bulks ship market is a sub segment of the Dry bulk market. These sizes are characterized by trading versatility and flexibility in terms of dimensions as it creates a lot of options and combinations of cargoes. Consequently, the combination of numerous ships and different cargoes impose a fleet management problem. As a result, optimizing ships’ positions maximizes the returns of a ship-owner by minimizing ballast time (time spent without cargo).

Innovation & Scalability

27 has designed a pack of algorithms in order to develop an optimizing platform (software) which will be made available to the trading market as a SaaS (software as a service) solution. The platform is at the stage of development and a prototype will shortly be available. The platform predicts the most suitable cargo and its location that will yield the maximum revenue at the expense of minimum carbon emissions. To fully realize the potential of this trading algorithm it will need to be structured as a pooling service.

Traction & achievements

27 has reached an agreement with a reputable shipping company in the Dry bulk sector specializing in Handysize vessels (company’s information will remain confidential) for the commercial management of a pilot vessel. Thus, enabling 27 to simulate and asses our proprietary algorithm under current market conditions. This creates a significant opportunity as it enables a proper assessment, under real market conditions, and gives 27R the chance to further analyze and optimize the product. Concluding, an agreement with a freight brokering agency has been reached in order to facilitate 27 with the necessary historical and current market data. Unfortunately, counter parties cannot be disclosed at the moment but the information is available on request.

Team & Why Us

27 has hired a reputable AI and Big Data analytics firm in order to maximize the benefits, expedite and supervise the process. In addition, a team of 10 people is contracted through the University of Piraeus. The team is made up by professors and post doctorate students. Furthermore, practitioners are consulted on a daily basis, in order to better simulate market conditions and to provide a deeper grasp of the sector.

Funding Needs

To produce a fully operational SaaS an investment of 2 million is required. The allocation of funds to the corresponding cost centers is the following 75% personell & 25% infrastructure and other costs.