Maana and Aramco Trading Company Launch AI Application to Optimize Maritime Fleet and Shipping Operations
2.3.2021 17:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Aramco Trading Company (ATC) and Maana today announced the launch of Fanar, the first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven maritime fleet optimization application on Microsoft Azure purpose-built for the oil and gas industry.
Fanar combines the expertise of ATC and the Maana Q knowledge technology. It unifies maritime fleet optimization, planning, management and shipment scheduling on a single platform. The application:
- systematically integrates all data sources, constraints, and business rules
- automatically optimizes schedules across the fleet with a single click
- rapidly processes “what if” scenarios for better insights
- dynamically incorporates historic performance to generate new predictions
Fanar has been tested daily by ATC since June 2020.
“Collaboration between Maana and Microsoft helps us, through Fanar, to drive down costs,” said Ibrahim Q. Al Buainain, President and CEO of Aramco Trading Company. “Fanar enables us to optimize all local decisions across our maritime shipping and logistics workflows.”
Based on any given a set of cargoes and fleet of vessels, Fanar can determine how to ship the cargo in a way that minimizes cost, optimizes fleet utilization and maximizes business value. It continuously computes dynamic criteria such as vessel locations and actuals; terminals and ports status and congestion; bunkering locations, costs and quality; vessel cleaning; time and spot chartering costs; weather; risk of piracy, terrorism or war; risk of labor and social unrest resulting in closures; epidemics; shipping routes; canal fees; charter party specifications; Contracts of Affreightment (COA); commodity prices; special considerations; business rules and more.
“Under the hood of Fanar is the digital twin of ATC’s global maritime operations,” said Babur Ozden, founder and CEO of Maana. “It is the largest digital twin in the world on Microsoft Azure for global maritime shipments of oil and gas, holding the history, present state and future simulations of billions of barrels of petroleum products, thousands of voyages and vessels.”
“Maana is a founding technology member of Energy Core, a global Microsoft initiative dedicated to digital transformation in the energy sector, through the power of artificial intelligence and cloud technologies,” said Darryl Willis, Corporate Vice President of Energy at Microsoft. “Fanar is a great example of how Maana and ATC are using Microsoft Azure for supply chain optimization.”
The Fanar application is available to Azure customers. For more information, please contact Fanar@maana.io
About Aramco Trading Company
Aramco Trading Company (ATC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco and is responsible for handling Saudi Aramco’s domestic and international supplies to worldwide markets. ATC’s mission is to integrate Saudi Aramco’s global Downstream assets to maximize profitability while ensuring Saudi Aramco’s systems are optimized and reliably balanced.
About Maana
Maana organizes human expertise, enterprise knowhow and industrial data into digital knowledge to assist subject matter experts at critical operation affecting the global economy.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210302005116/en/
Contact information
Mandi Browning
mandi@maana.io
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Saildrone USVs Receive Danish Flag Registration for European Operations22.9.2026 13:45:00 EEST | Press release
Saildrone today announced that the first four Saildrone Voyager USVs (unmanned surface vehicles) have been registered in Denmark and will operate under the Danish flag, marking the first time Saildrone USVs will operate under a national flag. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260922488140/en/ A Saildrone Voyager operates in the Baltic Sea in support of maritime domain awareness missions. The 10-meter USV is one of the first Saildrone platforms registered in Denmark to operate under the Danish flag. The registration establishes a clear flag-state framework for Saildrone USVs operating internationally. Working together, Saildrone and the Danish Maritime Authority developed the regulatory framework necessary to register and operate unmanned surface vehicles under the Danish flag. “We are pleased that Saildrone has chosen Denmark as the flag state for the company’s uncrewed vessels. This underscores that Denmark, as
NIQ Announces Friendly Bid to Acquire The U Group & Co Limited, Expanding Trusted Intelligence for the AI Era22.9.2026 13:45:00 EEST | Press release
NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a leading consumer intelligence company, today announced that its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, Nielsen Connect Australia Pty Ltd (NIQ Australia) has launched a conditional off-market offer for all outstanding shares of The U Group & Co Limited (The U Group) as a friendly takeover bid (Offer). The U Group is an Australian-based company specializing in first-party, consumer-consented purchase data collection through its ReceiptJar app, receipt intelligence, and AI-powered data processing capabilities. In connection with the Offer, NIQ Australia has lodged its Bidder's Statement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and dispatched the Offer materials to shareholders of The U Group in accordance with applicable Australian regulatory requirements. The Board of The U Group has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the Offer for the reasons set out in the Target's Statement. The Offer reflects NIQ's commitment to strengthening trust
OKX Sets a New Standard for Account Protection with OKX Shield22.9.2026 13:30:00 EEST | Press release
OKX, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange and onchain technology company with more than 150 million customers worldwide, today launched OKX Shield. OKX Shield is an integrated security product suite combining sophisticated safeguards, visible protection status and the potential for customers to be paid back up to €500,000 following a third-party account-takeover. Account takeover fraud is a challenge for all financial businesses to protect customers against, with billions lost every year in Europe. The most recent EBA and ECB data shows €4.2 billion in payment fraud across Europe in 2024, which was up from €3.5 billion in 2023. Customers are being targeted directly, with attempts to compromise their accounts across financial platforms. OKX Shield brings together account-security enhancements with a new protection program, providing up to €500,000. Customers who activate OKX Shield and maintain the required safeguards can be made whole if an unauthorized third party takes over their
Infobip Predicts 7.3 Billion Black Friday and Cyber Monday Interactions as AI Reshapes the 2026 Shopping Season22.9.2026 13:26:00 EEST | Press release
Global AI-first cloud communications platform Infobip predicts more than 7.3 billion customer interactions across Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026, as AI and conversational channels transform how consumers discover products, receive offers and access support. New Infobip research also reveals that 63.2% of consumers have used an AI assistant or chatbot while shopping during the past 12 months. Black Friday is no longer a single shopping event. Infobip’s research shows that the shopping season now begins weeks earlier and continues through the entire customer journey. Nearly six in ten respondents will have started holiday shopping by early November, while only 19% wait until Black Friday week itself. This extended shopping window is creating new pressure for retailers to engage customers earlier, with better timing, more relevant offers and frictionless support across the channels consumers already use. AI is becoming a central part of that journey. According to the research, 63.2% o
Aurora Solar Expands Beyond Solar, Adds Home Electrification, More Flexible Financing, and a Growing International Footprint22.9.2026 13:00:00 EEST | Press release
Aurora Solar today announced platform updates across the U.S., U.K., and Europe, reaching beyond solar + storage and into the electrified home. The 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot found that 71% of U.S. homeowners are interested in solar. These advances help turn that interest into action, giving installers and homeowners flexible financing, accurate proposals, a low-pressure way to buy, and insight into the potential for an electrified home. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260922783110/en/ The updates include: Home electrification integrated into proposals: Empowers sales pros to seamlessly quote energy optimizations like HVAC, EV chargers, and battery storage in the same sales proposal as solar. Available to U.S. installers. Prepaid leases and financing flexibility: Provides sales pros with more financing options, from prepaid leases to prepaid PPAs and beyond, to put solar in reach for more customers. Available
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom