Sometimes the things that have a big impact on us are not what they seem. Take, for instance, fire. Fire has no volume or mass but it sheds light, generates heat and sound, and does all the other things fire does. Another example (much in the news lately): Natural gas. Natural gas has no color or odor which is why we add mercaptan—which smells like sulfur—to it so we can detect leaks. And if you liquefy natural gas, we can transport it across the world to provide energy.
Software is like that. We think we know what software is, but it’s also not what it seems. It’s invisible (unless you care to read computer code) and it, too, has no volume, mass, color or odor. But, somehow helps run just about every aspect of our modern world, from the screen that allows you to read this post to the massive carriers that move the afore mentioned liquefied natural gas. All we need to know is that software works.
As a software-as-a-service product, Orbit helps our customers in global shipping, such as the operating teams at LNG carriers, make faster, smarter decisions. Our customers are the center of our universe. We continually respond to their needs, changing and improving Orbit by adding new functionality, new partners, or new data feeds.
Although our customers may be unable to see it, the code that powers Orbit is constantly changing. This week we are happy to announce another change: BunkerEx, a new partner.
BunkerEx, a London-based company founded in 2017, has changed the way shipping companies purchase fuel by identifying how a lack of transparency in the oil and shipping industries was costing companies significant amounts of money. BunkerEx is fast becoming the industry standard marketplace for fuel that provides clarity to the marine fuel space.
“We believe that when technology companies and data providers collaborate, we help companies move faster, deliver more value to the end-customer and accelerate the future of maritime,” says Ali Riaz, CEO of OrbitMI. BunkerEx provides daily bunker prices for over 2,000 marine fuel prices per day as well as relevant data of available bunkers at various ports. BunkerEx’s live feed of bunker prices will be integrated throughout Orbit. Our customers will be able to gain greater insights into bunker fuel pricing and unlock clearer, more informed decision-making. 
“With the addition of live bunker data from BunkerEx , we augment the existing data sets inside Orbit and improve the workflows of several maritime departments, such as the bunker desk and chartering teams, which use Orbit every day as a single source of truth for decision making.“
Optimizing vessel performance requires accurate and timely data, particularly related to the volatile bunker markets. Ishaan Hemnani, Co-Founder of BunkerEx, commented, "We are excited to partner with other forward-thinking companies in the Maritime space, and OrbitMI was no exception. Like all our partnerships, the idea is always to benefit the end-user by providing seamless, accurate data in a single place."
We will continue to work on our customers’ behalf to improve the Orbit experience. If you want more information about our partnership, read the press release here.
