HomeZeroNorth Review: Reports into Day-to-Day Recommendations

ZeroNorth Review: Reports into Day-to-Day Recommendations

December 1, 2025

ZeroNorth is one of the data engines sitting behind “how fast, on what route, and at what fuel price” for a lot of modern fleets. From its Copenhagen headquarters and regional hubs in Athens, Singapore, Mumbai and elsewhere, the company runs an optimisation platform that turns noon reports, weather feeds, bunker prices and emissions rules into day-to-day recommendations. The pitch is practical: keep the voyage inside CII and EU ETS boundaries, cut fuel per tonne-mile, and surface commercial upside instead of just compliance stress. For shipowners and operators, the question is less “do we digitise” and more “whose algorithms do we trust to tune speed, route and bunkers across the fleet,” and ZeroNorth is one of the options in that decision set.

ZeroNorth HQ: Copenhagen
Amagerfælledvej 106, 4th Floor
2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
Additional offices in Athens, Mumbai, Singapore, Sofia, Tokyo and other hubs supporting regional customers.
Shipowners save by:
  • Optimising voyages in real time: ZeroNorth’s voyage optimisation connects weather forecasts, vessel data, commercial terms and fuel prices into recommended speeds and routes, with updated forecasts every six hours, so operators can cut fuel burn and emissions while protecting TCE and schedule.
  • Keeping CII and EU ETS in the planning loop: Emissions analytics in the platform track CII status in real time and simulate future ratings, while EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime views help quantify allowance exposure, so the “green choice” is tied to actual dollars per voyage instead of a separate spreadsheet.
  • Managing hull performance and auxiliary systems: Vessel Optimisation modules surface underperforming hulls and auxiliaries, using operational data to flag increased consumption, fouling or maintenance issues early, which supports better timing of cleanings, coatings and repairs between dockings.
  • Buying and using bunkers more intelligently: ZeroNorth Bunker combines bunker planning, procurement and analytics in one place, overlaying price signals with operational needs so operators can pick ports, stems and timing that protect both margin and CII ratings instead of buying on price alone.
  • Unifying data across systems and fleets: Tools like ShipPalm and the wider platform aim to centralise data from ship systems, noon reports and third-party sources into one stack, reducing duplicate entry, improving emissions reporting quality and making it easier to defend decisions with audit-ready data.
  • Scaling decisions across large fleets: After mergers and acquisitions and a combination with Alpha Ori Technologies, ZeroNorth reports several hundred employees across global locations and a platform used by a broad set of owners, traders and operators, which means optimisation logic is tuned on real, diverse trading patterns rather than a single niche.
  • Sharing value with charterers and cargo owners: Case studies and partnerships, including an alliance with Trafigura, frame the platform as a way to make fuel and emissions transparency part of the commercial relationship, strengthening owner–charterer cooperation on speed, routing and cost sharing.
  • Turning compliance into a commercial lever: Because the same optimisation layer looks at profit and emissions, owners can test scenarios like “what if we slow down to protect CII” or “what if we re-route to a cheaper bunker port” and see both P&L and emissions impact together before they commit.
Notes: ZeroNorth is typically sold on a subscription basis per vessel and per module. To size the opportunity, combine their savings ranges with your own fuel spend, EU ETS exposure and CII headroom for a representative trade lane, rather than relying on generic percentage claims.
Notable mentions and references
Where ZeroNorth’s optimisation platform shows up in the public record and investor landscape.
  • Thetius Top 150 (2025) Top scaleup, HQ Denmark
    ZeroNorth is profiled as one of the top scaleups in the Thetius Top 150 report, described as an AI powered optimisation platform serving more than two hundred customers and noted for recent funding, Nordic IT integration and a joint bunker solution with Hapag Lloyd. The report is available from Thetius.
  • Maersk Tankers spin off and investor base Origin story
    ZeroNorth started as a digital project within Maersk Tankers and was carved out as a separate company focused on voyage optimisation, with early backing from Maersk Tankers, Cargill and PSG Equity, positioning it as a data and decarbonisation specialist rather than a generic IT vendor. Background: Maersk Tankers digital innovation and related launch coverage.
  • Merger with Alpha Ori Technologies Integrated platform
    In 2024 ZeroNorth and Alpha Ori Technologies completed a merger into a single business under the ZeroNorth name, combining voyage, vessel and engine room focused tools into one optimisation stack that now serves several thousand vessels across more than two hundred customers. See: ZeroNorth announcement and Offshore Energy coverage.
  • Strategic alliance with Trafigura 350 vessel rollout
    Commodities group Trafigura has formed a strategic alliance with ZeroNorth and is rolling the platform across a controlled fleet of more than 350 vessels, while also taking an equity stake. Public statements frame the partnership in terms of fuel and emissions savings and closer data sharing with tonnage providers. Details: Trafigura press release and Smart Maritime Network.
  • Platform voyage and emissions impact Scale in use
    ZeroNorth reports that in 2024 customers used the platform to optimise tens of thousands of voyage legs, generating more than a million voyage simulations and cutting over one million tonnes of CO2 emissions compared with unmanaged operation, based on its own impact accounting. Summary figures: ZeroNorth funding update.
  • ZeroNorth Bunker market footprint Marine fuel coverage
    An interview with Ship and Bunker indicates that ZeroNorth Bunker is now involved in roughly fifty million tonnes of marine fuel transactions per year on the buyer and supplier side, a material share of the global bunker market. Coverage: Ship and Bunker interview.
  • CIBC Innovation Banking financing Growth and M&A
    In 2025 ZeroNorth secured a twenty million dollar debt financing package from CIBC Innovation Banking to support acquisitions and platform expansion, underlining that the company is consolidating maritime optimisation and emissions tools through mergers and bolt on deals. See: Smart Maritime Network and funding coverage.
Selection is indicative, not exhaustive. Use these links to test how mature the platform is, who is using it and how investors, customers and analysts describe ZeroNorth’s impact.
Voyage and emissions savings (ZeroNorth planner)
Roughly size fuel, EU ETS and ROI impact if you roll out ZeroNorth across part of a fleet.
Use your own view here. Many case studies quote a band. Pick a conservative point.
Replace with your own quote and module mix. This is a placeholder value.
Annual fuel saving (fleet)
$0
EU ETS cost avoided per year
$0
Total benefit (fuel plus ETS)
$0
Net benefit after platform fees
$0
Simple payback
N/A
Annualised ROI
N/A
Category Calculated value
Total fuel consumed per year (fleet) 0 mt
Fuel saved per year (fleet) 0 mt
Fuel spend per year (fleet) $0
CO₂ avoided (fleet per year) 0 tCO₂
CO₂ under EU ETS scope (fleet per year) 0 tCO₂
Gross fuel saving value $0
EU ETS cost avoided $0
Total ZeroNorth subscription cost (fleet) $0
Directional only. Replace defaults with your logs, trade mix and actual ZeroNorth pricing.

ZeroNorth is one of the few platforms trying to connect voyage speed, route choice, bunkers and compliance into one optimisation stack, and the mentions above show it has moved from a Maersk Tankers experiment into a funded, multi investor business working with large charterers and traders such as Trafigura, backed by Thetius Top 150 recognition and fresh CIBC financing.

The calculator is there to turn that into a simple fleet level picture for your trades: plug in a realistic fuel saving percentage, your own at sea days, ETS exposure and whatever ZeroNorth quotes per vessel, then treat the output as a directional frame for internal discussion rather than a promise, updating the assumptions as your operations team sees how the optimisation behaves on real voyages.

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