Weather routing

Weather routing selects and adjusts a ship’s route using forecast wind, wave, swell, current, and ice data to minimize transit time, fuel burn, or motion-induced risk while keeping within the ship’s seakeeping limits. Shore-based services and onboard software combine numerical weather prediction with the vessel’s speed-loss-in-waves performance curves to recommend a least-time or least-cost track and to issue heavy-weather warnings. It supports voyage planning under SOLAS V/34, helps CII and fuel performance, and is used as evidence in laytime and unsafe-weather disputes.