Voyage and lock planning app
A schedule in the office is only as good as what happens on board. The skipper is the first to see that a lock is full, that the current is stronger than expected or that a bridge will open later. Appfront builds a voyage planning and lock planning app for use on board: the voyage with the locks and bridges along the route, the expected passage time per structure, and a delay that reaches the planner and the charterer with a single tap.
What is a voyage planning and lock planning app for use on board?
A voyage planning and lock planning app is the part of the planning that lives on board. The skipper sees the voyage as it was planned in the office: the route, the locks and bridges along it, the expected passage time at each structure and the arrival at the loading or unloading point. Along the way he records what actually happens, and a delay goes straight to the planner, who can adjust the arrival time before the shipper calls.
Without an app like this, it all runs by phone. The planner calls the skipper to ask where he is, the skipper calls the lock to ask how busy it is, and the charterer hears an arrival time based on an estimate. What the skipper knows only reaches the office when someone writes it down. At a shipping company with ten or twenty vessels, part of the planning gets lost every day in conversations nobody records.
We build custom because the app has to fit your fleet, your sailing area and the way your office plans. Which data the skipper sees, what he can change himself, which sources you use for locks and bridges and how the arrival reaches your customer differs from company to company. The BICS reporting obligation stays as it is; the app is about your own planning and makes sure that what is known on board is also known at the office.
Voyage on board
Route, locks, bridges.
Delays reported instantly
To the office with one tap.
Arrival times stay accurate
Adjusted along the way.
How we build your voyage planning and lock planning app for on board
We start on board and at the office: how the voyage is planned now, what the skipper reports and when, which sources you use for locks and bridges, and how the arrival reaches the customer. We then build a first version covering the voyage and delay reporting, because that is where most of the phone calls are. A few vessels use it for a while. Integrations with your planning system, live waiting times and the voyage log follow once that goes well. After that, we maintain the app as your fleet or sailing area changes.
Voyage, reports and contact.
The first version.
Planning and sources.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What a voyage planning and lock planning app for on board actually does
The components below appear in almost every voyage planning app. Which ones you need depends on your fleet and how your office plans.
Voyage
Route with locks and bridges.
Passage
Expected time per structure.
Waiting times
From the sources, where available.
Delay
Sent to the planner with the reason.
Arrival
Adjusted and passed on.
Voyage log
What really happened.
Who we build a voyage planning and lock planning app for on board for
The app is intended for companies where the planning at the office and the voyage on board need to come together. The more vessels and the more locks on your regular routes, the more it delivers.
Shipping companies
Multiple vessels, one plan.
Charterers
Arrival times for the shipper.
Owner-operators
Own vessel, regular customers.
Transport operators
Vessel alongside the lorry.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we make your idea tangible in a single day for €1,150, so you know whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we deduct the cost in full.
View OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about the app on board. For the planner at the office, see our page on voyage planning and lock planning software, for recording the voyage see our page on a voyage report app for inland shipping, and for the vessel's documents see our page on certificate monitoring. You can read about our way of working at building an app.
Why Appfront for your voyage planning and lock planning app for on board?
A vessel that misses its loading window because nobody knew the lock was full, or a shipper who hears an arrival time that has been wrong for hours, costs a shipping company money and trust. That is what we build on: the voyage on board in sync with the office, a delay that reaches the planner immediately, and an arrival time that is adjusted along the way.
Fewer calls
What is known on board.
Corrected sooner
Delays seen immediately.
Reliable
Arrival times for the customer.
Security and privacy in a voyage planning and lock planning app for on board
The app contains data about vessels, voyages, cargo and customers. Access is set up per role: a skipper sees his own vessel and voyages, the planner sees the whole fleet, and a customer sees only the arrival of their own cargo if you want that. Every change is recorded with a name and a time.
The backend runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage and daily backups. Anything recorded on board without coverage stays on the device until a connection is available again, so nothing is lost.
Frequently asked questions about a voyage planning and lock planning app for use on board
Questions that shipping companies and skippers ask before they get started.
On board, it shows the planned voyage with the locks and bridges along the route and the expected passage time at each one, lets the skipper report a delay with a reason, and updates the expected arrival so the planner and the charterer see the same time.
The software is for the planner in the office: planning voyages across the fleet, monitoring loading and unloading windows, and chartering. The app is the part on board: the skipper sees their voyage and reports what happens along the way. They work best together.
No. The mandatory electronic reporting via BICS from Rijkswaterstaat stays as it is. The app is about your own planning between vessel and office. Whether data can be reused between the two is something we look at case by case.
From the sources that waterway authorities make available, where they exist, and from what the skipper records themselves. Not every lock or bridge provides the same information, so we look at what can be obtained for each route.
Yes. The voyage is stored on the device, and whatever the skipper records is kept until a connection is available again. After that, it goes to the office automatically.
If you want them to, yes. A shipper or consignee can get their own view showing only the arrival of their cargo, so they don't need to phone.
For shipping companies and charterers with several vessels on fixed routes with locks and bridges, where planning and arrival updates currently go by phone. For a single vessel with a regular customer, a shared calendar is often enough.
The voyage on board in sync with the office?
Tell us how your skippers currently report where they are and what is happening along the way. We'll show you how the app can handle that.