Dry Bulk Chartering Software for Cargo and Vessel Matching

Dry bulk circulars often compress commodity, quantity, tolerance, load and discharge ports, laycan, terms and broker context into a few lines. LaycanMatch separates distinct offers and creates reviewable records from the fields present in the message. It does not claim complete normalization for every commodity, abbreviation or chartering form.

Vessel messages can become positions with vessel name or type, DWT, open port or region, open date, direction and remarks when supplied. These records form a searchable open tonnage view linked to the sender and source email. The map visualizes ports, offer routes and approximate regional context derived from processed emails; it is not live AIS tracking or a voyage-routing system.

The match workflow compares supported cargo and vessel data such as commodity context, quantity and DWT, loading and discharge locations or zones, laycan and open dates, confidence and recency. Results are ranked so a broker can inspect likely candidates first, then apply commercial knowledge and obtain missing details.

The same offer may appear in several folders, be forwarded again or remain quoted in a thread. Email identity and normalized body data support message deduplication; similar structured fields support possible-offer duplicate review. Received time, processed time and source context help users distinguish a fresh update from repeated text.

LaycanMatch structures incoming opportunities and helps users find possible pairs earlier. It does not calculate freight, TCE, bunker consumption, canal costs or port costs; it does not manage subjects, approvals or charter-party documents; and it does not replace a broker’s professional judgment. The useful handoff is a reviewed cargo-vessel shortlist with source context.

Begin with one mailbox, selected folders and a short date range. Review cargo types, quantities, ports, zones, laycans, vessel names and DWT against the source emails. Measure how many records require correction, how duplicates are handled and whether brokers can find known opportunities faster than in the inbox. Only then widen history or add mailboxes. This phased approach gives the desk evidence about extraction quality, processing volume and operational fit before a larger commitment.

During the pilot, include clean circulars, abbreviated positions, forwarded updates and messages with missing dates or ports. This reveals whether the resulting records remain reviewable and whether the shortlist saves time when real dry-bulk traffic is incomplete.

LaycanMatch does not negotiate freight, approve counterparties, calculate voyage economics, interpret charter-party risk or conclude fixtures. A ranked cargo-vessel pair may still fail because of vessel particulars, restrictions, cargo specification, owner or charterer preference, sanctions, credit, freight expectations or information that was never present in the email.

The product organizes and ranks the available email evidence so experienced users can spend less time searching and more time evaluating and communicating.

A broker may receive a 42,000 mt grain cargo from Constanta to Alexandria with a late-July laycan and, separately, a 47,000 DWT vessel position open in Constanta. The cargo record should retain commodity, quantity, ports and dates; the vessel record should retain name or type, DWT, open port and date. Matching can rank the pair because route, timing and size signals align, but the broker must still verify stowage, draft, vessel particulars, freight expectations and counterparty context.

Telegram alerts are enabled per saved cargo requirement or vessel position. Enabling an alert should confirm exactly what the system will look for: vessels for a cargo requirement, or cargoes for a vessel position. It should not rerun an old search or send historical candidates as new. Subsequent alerts should contain a direct link to the new candidate list, while disabling the alert stops future notifications for that position.