SPOS 9

How to Start & Update your Voyage

Route Templates
In SPOS 9, Route Templates consisting of 2 waypoints can be made. The route definitions can be saved and
modified afterwards.

Create a new route template

When pressing the new template button, a prompt will appear
requesting a name for the route. You may then create a route by

• Clicking on the chart

• Entering Lat/Lon Coordinates via the Add Point button
• Right Clicking on the chart and choosing convert to port
this snaps the waypoint to the selected port

Note: you can also convert a waypoint to port using the Add Port > Convert button in the waypoint table

When using the new Route Network feature, you can also snap your waypoints to a position on the route
network.

Add point Function

When planning a new route, the template can be created quickly using the add point function

Pressing the Add point button will create a list of ports and Coordinates boxes, you can select a Port
from the menu and the coordinates will automatically be filled in and the point snapped to the port,
Coordinates can also be entered manually.

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You can create as many new points each with their own port list as needed,

When all ports or coordinates have been set pressing “Ok” will create the template, if you decide to adjust the
position of a certain waypoint this can achieved by clicking to select a waypoint anywhere on the route and
then holding click to drag the waypoint across the map.

Route Network

At the Bottom of the map you will find the Route Network icon.

When you zoom in on the map for coastal detail, the Route Network button becomes available, clicking will
open the route network and define the map into 2 types of areas: 1. The areas where navigation is fully free
and not restricted, 2. Areas, typically near the coast, where navigation is restricted. Here the route network
defines where you can sail and in which directions.

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When planning your voyage route inside the Route Network (within the thick blue boundary) the route
calculation and optimization will always follow a path along the route network lines to your given port or
waypoints.

After a route calculation: If the connection point from your route waypoint to the Route Network is not
optimum, you can select yourself where to connect. To do so, use the right mouse click anywhere near the
current connection point and click ‘Connect to Route Network’.

Now you can add the exact point where you want to connect to the route network and insert a waypoint on
the chosen location. A pop-up will ask you whether you immediately want to recalculate.

In case you do not want to follow the Route Network for certain route segments use the right mouse click on
the Connection and click ‘Ignore Route Network’. This specific segment will now always be calculated as a
straight line (rhumbline), ignoring the route network.

Open or block passages/canals

In the Route Network, the most common and important passages, straits and canals can be Open or Closed for
route calculations. Blocking or Unblocking a passage can be done by, Toggling the or symbol. This will be
saved, so it will also apply to future route calculations.

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Note that if all passages between your departure and destination are
blocked SPOS 9 will not be able to calculate a route, instead you will
receive an error message.

Calculating a voyage

Route Template
From the drop-down list in the Route Template group box, you can select
a route template for routing calculations. There are two types of
templates.

• Voyage route: a copy of the route template used to create the

voyage
• User defined route templates.

Routing Options
In the Routing Tab, you will find Routing Options. Here you can enter the
Departure time that will be used for calculations and fill out values for the
daily running cost of your vessel and fuels. Your inputs will be used to
calculate the cost of a voyage. If you are using variable speeds and sailing
through ECA areas the route can be optimized on minimum costs. This takes
the sailing time and the fuel consumption on different speeds and different
fuel inside ECA area into account. In case the cost details are not shared
with you, please use fictive amounts to your best knowledge to index the
difference between routes.

Variable speed
You can define ‘speed ranges’, one or multiple to be used in the route
optimization. By specifying the speed range or ranges that are applicable for your ship you can exclude speeds
or speed ranges that your vessel should not sail on, for example for vibration reasons or sub-optimum engine
performance. If you can sail on multiple speed-fuel combinations, for example when in a pool, you can also set
only those speeds and the algorithm will only evaluate those in its optimization exercise. Fuel consumption for
any speed will be taken from the speed-RPM-fuel curve in your ship’s Profile.

Compare the gains of the optimized route

Before beginning a calculation, you can tick Calculate GC to include a
Great Circle Route, doing so will calculate the shortest route and add the
result to the map and comparison table alongside your optimised
calculation, this allows you to compare differences and gains particularly
when sailing a longer route.

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Calculate
When making a route calculation there are 3 options for optimizing the route.

• Time Optimisation will provide you with one calm water speed that gets you to your
destination quickest, this is not always your highest speed if a higher speed would be stalled
by weather, you can choose from one speed, multiple fixed speeds or a speed range. Note
that the Time Option is disabled if you set a Fixed ETA.

• Fuel Optimisation is available when you have multiple speeds or a speed range defined and
when you have a Fixed ETA, it will optimise on fuel used but no accounting for the cost of
different fuels, typically this will calculate low speeds to save fuel but with a Fixed ETA it will
find the optimum speed to meet the ETA on the lowest fuel consumption possible.

• Cost Optimisation will calculate the best speeds considering Weather, Ship profile, given
speeds/speed ranges, ECA passages, the route network and the given costs for the ships fuel,
with a set ETA the system can provide full variable speed optimisation where weather and
ECA zones will impact the best speeds and define the speed change moments for you

Note that in any case you will have to provide a speed or speed range that makes sense for your voyage and required ETA.

Especially with a set ETA, the system can provide you a full variable speed optimization where the weather and
ECA zones will have impact on the best speeds. SPOS is capable of full variable speed optimization and will
define the speed change moments for you. No additional input is required.

When multiple speeds on your route are advised, you can see so in the ‘Comparison Track’ table below the
map, the sicw and RPM column will read (var), indicating variable speeds/RPM. In the Route Info table (click
the button on the right-hand side of the comparison table) you can see for which parts of the route which
speeds are advised, the recommended speed from each waypoint is also visible on the map.

Once routes are calculated, the table below the map will show you the cost and fuel consumption summary.
This is divided in sections for Total cost, fuel and distance and sections for ECA and Non ECA areas.

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Where are the ‘Calculate Rhumbline’ and ‘Calculate Composite’ options?
In our vision, a rhumbline route calculation for a full voyage route is not in any way an optimum route. If it is,
the route optimization algorithm will propose it anyway.

However, on short tracks, especially within the boundaries of the route network, in water where navigation is
restricted, is still makes sense to calculate rhumb line tracks. That’s why you can still overrule the algorithm by
ticking the ‘set rhumbline / ignore route network’ setting. You can do this in the route template table on the
Input screen and on the map by right click on a route template segment. In the route calculations, this setting
will always be applied.

Starting a Voyage
Once you have calculated a route, a track can be selected in the information panel below the chart as the
voyage plan to sail. This is done by selecting the Start Voyage on Selected Route button. Then follow the
wizard instructions to create your voyage plan.

After the start of your voyage you can make changes in the voyage plan and recalculate routes. Upon
completion of the wizard, a new position report or Fleet management report will be created.

Create
Creating a voyage in the wizard is done in 2 steps

Step 1:

Type a voyage description and enter the creation time and coordinates at SOSP,
you can also specify if you are sailing in ECA/Non ECA or Fuel Changeover.

Press NEXT button for step 2

Step 2:

Enter the observed weather and voyage information such as draft aft / fwd of
vessel, tons of cargo and number of TEU
(optionally).

Then enter the type of bunkers you want to log

and the initial quantities. (leave empty if not
used).

The initial voyage plan is stored in the database

and displayed on the map coloured squares
waypoints (instead of circles). All other calculated
routes will be removed.

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If the weather for the next days is expected to be severe, SPOS will suggest printing the heavy weather
checklist.

When SPOS is closed and restarted again, the voyage will be activated automatically and plotted in the chart.

Update Voyage
The voyage plan is updated by pressing the Update Position button in the Voyage group box. The date of the
last position report is indicated as well. The update wizard is the same as the create voyage wizard, you simply
update the information that you used to start the voyage and when you Click Finish the Vessel position is
updated on the map.

Depending on weather and/or voyage developments, the master may simply update his current position and
recalculate the voyage. To make more thorough changes in the voyage plan the master may change different
input and route settings.

The voyage update is initiated with the button Voyage Update:

Important: Even whilst you are in the Voyage Wizard, you can still adjust your voyage route. Go to the input
screen to adjust the voyage route to your updated plan and re- calculate the voyage route. Then select the
calculated route that you will continue your voyage on.

Complete Voyage
Completing a voyage is done by Updating your Position and Selecting End of sea passage (voyage End), SPOS 9
will then create an End of voyage report .pdf file

Important: You need to complete the voyage before you start a new voyage!!!

When an EOSP report is sent, you can continue to update your voyage with in-port and berthing reports. At this
point you may Choose or Calculate a new route and enter a new SOSP report, the previous voyage will then be
archived, remaining accessible via Voyage and Position updates history.

Note: you can edit and resend Submitted reports for a voyage when viewing that voyage in the updates History.

Voyage Info
Detailed voyage information can be viewed by Selecting the Voyage Info for a current voyage or Show Details
of Selected Voyage for an archived voyage, the reported positions are shown in green,

As always you can generate a pdf to print the information using the printer icon.

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Report with SPOS to FleetGuard Enterprise

(make sure you are running SPOS version 9.2 or higher)

SPOS config file

SPOS 9 has the Ability to work with a flexible Noon layout. The Configuration of the SPOS Noon Layout will be
discussed between the Shipowner and MeteoGroup. The Resulting layout will contain only the required fields
to Configure the Noon Layout onboard MeteoGroup will provide a Config file, This SPOS config file will be sent
by e-mail. When you drag and drop the file into your SPOS Application (logo SPOS), the settings will be
automatically imported (version 9.2 or higher).

System settings for SPOS Noon reporting to FleetGuard Enterprise

When you open SPOS and go to the Import/Export Settings Tab you will get the window as shown.

• Tick the box: FleetGuard

• Select Folder if you want to manually send
the Noon file as an attachment or Mail if
you want to use your e-mail directly (MAPI
functionality)
• Add: your office reporting email address to
the “send report to” field
• Press Ok

Your SPOS Application is now Configured for Fleetguard Reporting (and updates after receiving new weather
data and recalculate your Optimum route).

Pay extra attention to the chapters: Starting a Voyage, Update Voyage and Complete Voyage in this document.

Contact
Need help or when there are further questions: [email protected]