The maritime sector has cash for digitalisation but lacks a clear method to value technology, turning licence fees into the only visible metric.
Why Money Is Not the Missing Piece
At Oceanic Express LLP we have observed that the maritime industry does not lack money for digitalisation. The real gap lies in an accepted way to value technology whose benefits appear as faster decisions, avoided mistakes and increased operational capacity rather than a tangible asset that can be sold at the end of its useful life.
Ships vs. Software: A Valuation Paradox
Shipping has a well‑developed language for buying vessels – comparable sales, a vibrant second‑hand market and clear asset‑value metrics that financiers understand. By contrast, software procurement is surprisingly primitive. As Matthew Talbot, co‑CEO of Complexio, points out, “There is no resale value, no comparable, and the benefit turns up as things that stopped happening rather than as an asset on the balance sheet.”
The Licence‑Fee Tyranny
When value is unclear, the discussion collapses onto the one number everyone can see: price. Manish Singh of Maris Investments notes that “most business cases are built on savings very few consistently measure afterwards.” If buyer and vendor cannot agree on what success looks like, the licence fee becomes the only concrete figure.
From Need to ROI: Aligning Expectations
Christoffer Svard, chief commercial officer at Sea, stresses that investment must start with a genuine need and a clear line of sight to ROI. Too often the weakness is not the technology itself but product‑market fit – suppliers cannot articulate the precise problem they solve, and customers have not decided which operational outcome they are buying.
- Define a single operational pain point (e.g., cargo intake delay).
- Measure a tangible metric (e.g., planning time reduction).
- Pilot on a limited number of vessels.
- Scale only after proven ROI.
Making Digital Funding Work
Nikhil Mathew of Admaren Tech recommends starting with a defined problem and measuring cargo intake, planning time, errors, port stays or fleet utilisation. Jacques Goudchaux of AXSMarine adds that market cycles affect appetite: booming markets bring cash but little willingness to interrupt operations, while downturns free up time but tighten budgets.
Vendors therefore need flexible models – subscriptions, phased deployments and outcome‑linked pricing – that let owners test value without committing to a full‑scale rollout.
Putting Finance in the Room
Talbot suggests the most radical change is also the least technological: agree on how value will be measured before installation. This means observing a live baseline, locking assumptions with the customer’s finance team and reviewing results periodically. Digital ROI can be measured through cycle‑time reduction, rework avoidance, recovered leakage and retained organisational capability. A demurrage claim filed within the time bar, a duplicate invoice stopped before payment, or an operation that continues smoothly after a senior employee departs – none fit neatly into traditional fuel‑saving calculations, yet they are real dollars saved.
Until shipping becomes as sophisticated at valuing digital capability as it is at valuing steel, the smallest software line items on the balance sheet will continue to trigger some of the longest boardroom discussions.
At Oceanic Express LLP we are already helping our clients bridge this gap. By integrating performance dashboards, real‑time analytics and outcome‑based contracts, we turn intangible digital benefits into measurable business results.
Ready to turn digital uncertainty into measurable profit? Contact Oceanic Express LLP today at +91-9830041358 or +91-9831034014 and let our team guide you through a value‑first digital transformation.