Analytical portal for maritime professionals: Stark Research
Stark Research is an analytical tool for the shipping industry. It collects a lot of data about international voyages and helps to analyze the activity of a specific player or a whole market. The application’s basis is the unique data of bulk and liquid cargo flows through the ports and terminals of the Black and Azov Seas.
Client
Stark Shipping is a port agency from Ukraine that has been providing services to maritime logistics companies worldwide for over eight years. Solar Digital and Stark Shipping are long-time partners in IT and Digital solutions for maritime logistics. We have been working together from the very start of Stark Shipping and have launched several joint maritime IT solutions that helped our client claim its reputation as an innovative maritime logistics agency in the highly competitive maritime shipping market.
Stark Research 4.0 is an impressive analytical tool that helps different maritime market actors (shippers and receivers, maritime shipping companies, port agents, port governors, ports and terminals, independent stevedores, governmental entities, fleet operators, financial holdings, freight transport companies, 3PL and 4PL companies, construction companies, charter companies, oil brokers and grain traders, quality control laboratories and any other maritime professionals) to get full information on the required vessel or port, including real‑time shipping tracking map.
Stark Research: innovative digital big data solution for maritime logistics
The main question behind the Stark Research project was how a shipping company can effectively use data from vessels and external sources. The client approached with the following problem: being engaged in shipping agenting, they used large data flows on cargoes, particularly vegetable oil and grain. Most of their data was stocked in hardcopies and wasn’t structured: emails or Excel spreadsheets, local media articles, WhatsApp messages, and industry insight overheard here and there, which was inconvenient to use (something like custom TMS software for shippers). They wanted to create a system that would help to structure information, quickly find the necessary data, and make forecasts. However, there was no modern analytical tool on the maritime market that would:
- Collect all the data on port, vessel, track, etc real time
- Provide actual pricing on terminal costs, dues, and port charges
- Overview of the market, analytical reports, and statistical summary of the whole industry
- Have a real‑time shipping map that would be easy to track and use in their analytical work
- To be user‑friendly and have a clean interface design
This is why Stark Research has requested this Big Data-driven project from Solar Digital. Long story short, we have created something like Power BI (but so much more advanced, having so many extra options helping clients with business analytics) for maritime logistics and with non-stop incoming data on thousands of vessels and voyages with full detailed descriptions on each. Stark Research 4.0 is a unique digital solution for maritime markets and specialists. It allows them to get data reports, analyze them, and conduct custom research on fleets, vessels, ports, and cargoes online without external software. Everything needed is already on the platform and fully online, helping users manage big data analytics for marine logistics and transportation.
Line Up of tankers and bulkers: Vessel Schedules and Calendar
The core page of this project is a Line-Up page. This section of Stark Research collects together all the necessary information one would need about the vessel, its type, size, name, current location, cargo type, Q-ty mt, load destination, discharge destination, shipper, charterer, receiver, OPS, terminal, berth, and operator. This information is packed into a clean, user‑friendly design for maritime logistics professionals. Solar Digital team was responsible for ensuring that all the data is clear and relatable, is uploaded automatically (so that no admin is required to update it), and yet doesn’t overload servers with the info so that the user won’t face any issues or delays while using the system.
The Line Up section allows users to filter their analysis by year, country, region of interest, involved parties, market statuses, vessel history, etc. All this information transmitted to the system saves there non-stop, being one of the best and most handy digital solutions for maritime logistics.
Another custom feature for maritime logistics our team has implemented the professional status filter, such as: “on the way,” “waiting for cargo ops,” “cargo ops alongside,” “cargo ops STS,” “waiting to sail,” “on delivery” and “YOY finished.” It is worth mentioning that those filters, aka vessels' statuses, are updated in real‑time based on status info the system gets from the vessel’s AIS. Those are visually shown on the info cart for each vessel or track so that it helps users to identify statuses faster for their analysis and makes Stark research easy to use and understand.
Custom live ship maps AIS vessel traffic and positioning
The Map: real‑time AIS Marine Traffic vessel finder
We have developed a custom system where we ensure the flow of all Big Data from external resources and its analytics into Stark Research. Our platform allows the Stark team and their customers to follow the maritime supply chain logistics process in real‑time. This required API integration (we have integrated APIs of real‑time shipping trackers such as FleetMon and MaritimeTraffic) and 24/7 data updates on the Stark Research platform. Moreover, we have developed some custom vessel designs on the map and have integrated info charts (vessel status) for each of them on the shipping tracker map.
How does it work?
To integrate, analyze, and visually present all the shipping information, we have integrated real‑time shipping tracker maps, which get their info from ships' AIS and resend to the Stark Research system. Our product gets this information, redirects it among assigned pages, adds additional information on the shipping tracker, and finally shows it on the integrated map on Stark Research.
Maritime Logistics Market Summary
This is a unique solution we have provided the Stark Research platform with. In this section, Stark Research users can see different charts and data tables for the industry based on the data provided on the platform, which helps them see the overall market picture.
This digital solution helps gain insight from the largest vessel and port data, optimizing maritime industry professionals' research and decision-making process. It allows the user to get a report on cargo grades, monthly comparisons, vessel types and sizes, trade countries, trade maps, top companies, markets, regional supply, and more. Based on that analysis, the system builds user‑friendly stock reports that help users build their forecasts.
Connections system
To create a full-coverage IT product for maritime logistics clients, we have advanced further into the platform features and have created the Connections section. This section shows full historical data between cargo/maritime logistics companies on the market, such as voyages they provided to each other, countries traded, the share of cargo shipped to each country, and many more. Proving this product is hardly data-driven, we developed a system capable of taking this data, working with it, and redirecting the result to each filter and page this data is requested from.
Platforms Security
At Solar Digital, we value our client’s security the most, so we have implemented an advanced security system for the user. Hence, the system remembers the IP and the computer’s MAC address and has Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Moreover, the admin can assign gadgets allowed in the system, meaning no assigned gadgets can enter Stark Research until the system admin allows it for security purposes. Yet those permissions are customizable, meaning if the admin allows it, it can assign multiple gadget access for the user in case the user is on a business trip or has no access to a previously assigned gadget.
Ice Campaign Research
Ice Campaign is another digital solution Stark Research offers its maritime logistics clients. Ice navigation is a challenge that maritime logistics companies, ship crews, ports, and other maritime actors can not ignore. Different types of vessels have different Ice classes assigned to them, so it is crucial to know if the port is operational or unavailable because of ice.
Ice Campaign collects data on ports. If a port is frozen, Ice Campaign shows it and even provides users with historical data on the required port. This information helps Stark Research users optimize their processes.
Technologies used
Technologies: Laravel + MySQL + VueJs + Git + MongoDB + ElasticSearch + PHP +PHP Laravel + PHP Documentor + PHP Unit + Docker + Java Script + Vue. js + HTML + CSS3 + Webpack
Tools: Jira Cloud + Miro + Slack + Confluence + Figma + Centry. io + Docker + FleetMon API + MarineTraffic API + Google Map API + Git + GitLab + Zabbix + Pusher + Twillio + Mailgun + BrowserStack
IOS application
We have created a custom Big Data digital product for the maritime logistics industry, which has gained popularity in the market. This resulted in another collaboration with Stark Logistics, where we created a maritime logistics data management app for Stark Research.
The Stark Research App is fully based on the Stark Research web project. We have created a Single-Page Application (SPA) that, like its original project, has a 24/7 updated data flow. Yet this application does not overload the gadgets it’s being used with.
We have created a responsive iOS application ready for both iPads and iPhones so that users can access Stark Research whenever needed.
Result
As a result of our collaboration with Stark Shipping, we have developed a unique Big Data analysis platform for maritime professionals that includes all the needed data. The Stark Research project has helped Stark Shipping digitize its maritime logistics and shipping business and optimize its processes.
Key benefits Stark Logistics got from collaboration with Solar Digital and Stark Research project:
- The Stark Research project helped Stark Shipping gain a digital, 24/7-updating analytical system, which helps them gain maritime market insights faster than competitors and make the best business decisions. No product for maritime logistics analytics exists like Stark Research’s, making them unique and the only company with such a product on the market.
- Stark Logistics' research helped Stark Logistics and many of their customers get a better market overview and a deeper understanding of it, which helped them boost their and clients' sales.
- Stark Research has been awarded “Company of the Year” for several years with its Stark Research product.
- Last but not least, such a big maritime logistics digital product as Stark Research helped them drastically scale Stark Logistics business, making them one of the leaders in the global market.
Stark Research project was a great opportunity and experience for our team in Solar Digital as we have advanced our expertise in the maritime logistics industry and Big Data projects as an IT solution for this type of business.
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