Windward Launches a First-of-its-kind 'Sequence Search' Capability, Enhancing Businesses In a Turbulent Maritime Trade Environment

(EMEA) Windward, the leading Maritime AI company, announced the launch of 'Sequence Search', a first-of-its-kind capability allowing users to conduct advanced analysis of vessels' behavioral typologies and trade movements by searching for sequences of activities. The new tool is part of Windward's advanced BI & Analytics offering, providing all global trade stakeholders ranging from traders and shipping analysts to governmental organizations with much-needed context for due diligence, enriched intelligence, and lead generation.

Global trade has become increasingly difficult to navigate in the past years, particularly with oil and commodities. Geopolitical events have led to an increase in sanctions on a variety of goods and actors, and subsequently an increase in deceptive shipping practices to evade those sanctions. A new phenomenon that emerged, especially with regard to Russian sanctions is the use of a "dark fleet" which uses ship-to-ship (STS) transfers as a means of disguising its origin to transport sanctioned commodities including oil and oil products. In the 12th package of sanctions passed in December 2023 by the EU, compliance rules for the purchase of Russian oil via the G7 price mechanism have been tightened in order to clamp down on sanctions evasion.

At the same time, events like the indiscriminate attacks in the Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have led legitimate vessels to turn off AIS transmissions and deviate from their normal routes, traditionally an indication of deceptive shipping practices, to hide legitimate activities from bad actors. As such, it is increasingly important for stakeholders to understand the context of the behavior of vessels at sea to minimize and mitigate risk. 

Windward's new tool provides the context necessary to understand vessel behavior and conduct business with confidence in a challenging trade environment. The new Sequence Search enriches users' capabilities in the domains of maritime analytics and vessel behavior profiling. The capability builds on the proprietary data encapsulated in Windward's AI-driven vessels activities- a unique database built with 10 years of historical data of  vessel actions at sea & port. Rather than searching for standalone activity, the new capability allows Windward's users to search for sequences of up to six different activities in one search, enhancing our unique behavioral profiles and offering customized queries with sequential conditions between activities for increased context.

"The Red Sea situation is another reminder of the fact that in turbulent times, the players equipped with AI and technology are those able to react faster and better and drive better outcomes.  This new capability is a game changer for anyone looking to upgrade their ability to understand the complexities of global trade with best-in-class AI," said Ami Daniel, Co-founder & CEO of Windward.

"In times of changing trade flows, immediate insight is key to making the right decisions. This new platform enables our customers to translate their domain knowledge, internal processes, and insight into an actionable, immediate query. The result is nothing short of a competitive advantage to the users of our platform."

Windward's Maritime AI platform is powered by advanced machine learning and behavioral analytics models, providing customers with insights into vessel behaviors, ownership structures, and company risks, and predicting in real-time which companies and vessels are likely to be high risk. The company's behavioral models and risk indicators are constantly updated in line with new regulations and behavioral patterns, ensuring that customers are always one step ahead. Windward's solutions enable companies across the maritime trade industry to streamline business operations.