Building a trusted digital marketplace for offshore vessel availability

The challenge

Creating a marketplace without giving away too much information

In offshore vessel chartering, speed, trust and controlled access are essential. Fleet owners want to make vessel availability visible, but not expose all commercial or operational details to every market participant. Charterers and brokers want to search quickly for vessels that fit a specific region, timing and assignment.

Nauticworx needed a digital platform where supply and demand could meet: vessel owners can offer available vessels, while charterers and brokers can publish assignments or requests for vessels. At the same time, the platform had to protect sensitive information. Full vessel details should only become visible after the owner has approved access.

This required more than a listing platform. Nauticworx needed a controlled asset sharing environment with structured vessel data, company ownership, request handling, temporary access and a customer portal for subscriptions, onboarding and daily use.

Step 1: Explore

Understanding the maritime sharing model

Together with Nauticworx, we explored how vessel owners, charterers and brokers interact in the chartering process. The goal was to translate a real-world commercial network into a digital model that supports both visibility and confidentiality.

The exploration focused on vessel types, ownership structures, company relationships, search behavior, charter requests, subscription models and the moments where access should be requested or granted.

Outcome

A clear model for controlled vessel sharing:

• Vessel owners can publish availability

• Charterers and brokers can search for matching vessels

• Charter requests can be created as demand

• Full details remain protected until access is approved

• Company-to-asset relationships can be added temporarily after approval

Step 2: Define

Designing the right Purple Unity capability mix

Based on the exploration, Purple Unity was configured around the capabilities needed for a controlled chartering marketplace.

Asset Data Manager was used to model different vessel types as asset types, including relevant vessel data and ownership context.

Company & Contacts Manager was used to structure companies, contacts, ownership and customer relationships.

Asset Sharing Engine was used to support both sides of the market: available vessels as supply and charter requests as demand.

Service & Support Engine was used to support access requests and communication between parties.

This created a solution design where asset data, company relationships, sharing logic and cases work together as one connected platform.

Step 3: Build & configure

Modeling vessels, companies and controlled access

Purple Unity was configured to support multiple vessel asset types. Each vessel is connected to a company and customer context, making ownership and responsibility explicit.

The sharing model allows users to search vessels and assignments, but not immediately see all details. This is an important part of the concept: Nauticworx protects commercially sensitive information while still making market opportunities visible.

When a user wants access to more information, a case can be created. The other party can then approve access. Based on that approval, an event is triggered that temporarily creates a relationship between the requesting company and the asset. This makes detailed vessel or assignment information available only to the right party, for the right reason and at the right moment.

Step 4: Connect & extend

Building the Nauticworx portal on Purple Unity

On top of Purple Unity, a customer-facing portal was built for the Nauticworx platform. The portal supports the core user journeys for vessel owners, charterers and brokers. Nauticworx publicly positions the platform around vessel availability, charter inquiries and listed vessels, and the app navigation includes vessels, charters and pricing.

The portal enables companies to:

• Register and manage their organization

• Add and manage vessels

• Create and manage charter requests

• Search for vessel availability and assignments

• Request access to protected details

• Communicate through cases

• Manage subscriptions

The platform was also extended with Stripe for subscription payments and Azure B2C for identity and access management.

Step 5: Run & improve

A scalable platform for vessel matchmaking

After launch, the platform can continue to grow with Nauticworx. More vessel types, regions, partners, subscriptions and matching scenarios can be added on top of the same Purple Unity foundation.

Because the solution is built around structured assets, companies, sharing requests and events, Nauticworx can keep improving the platform based on usage, feedback and market demand.

The result is not a one-off portal, but a scalable digital marketplace foundation for maritime chartering.

What makes this case unique

Controlled sharing as the core of the business model

The unique part of the Nauticworx case is the balance between market visibility and controlled confidentiality.

Fleet owners want to be found, but they do not want to expose every vessel detail to everyone. Charterers want to search fast, but access to sensitive information must be managed carefully. Nauticworx itself emphasizes that full vessel details are only shared with selected prospects.

Purple Unity supports this by combining asset sharing, company relationships, cases and event-driven access control. A request for access is not just a message; it can trigger a temporary relationship between a company and an asset. That makes it possible to reveal the right information only after approval.

This turns Purple Unity into more than a data platform. It becomes the engine behind a trusted marketplace model.

Purple Unity gave Nauticworx the foundation to build a controlled digital marketplace where vessel owners, charterers and brokers can connect without losing control over sensitive asset information.

The result

A digital vessel sharing platform built on Purple Unity

With Purple Unity, Nauticworx has a platform where maritime companies can bring supply and demand together in a controlled way.

Key outcomes

Structured vessel data

Different vessel types are modeled as assets with clear ownership, customer context and relevant details.

Supply and demand in one platform

Fleet owners can offer available vessels, while charterers and brokers can create requests or assignments.

Controlled access to sensitive information

Users can search and discover opportunities, but detailed vessel or assignment information is only shared after access is requested and approved.

Temporary asset-company relationships

Approved access can trigger a temporary relationship between a company and an asset, enabling controlled visibility of details.

Customer-facing portal

A custom portal enables companies to manage vessels, charters, subscriptions, access requests and communication.

Subscription-based business model

Stripe integration supports subscription flows, while Azure B2C supports secure identity management.

Foundation for sustainable chartering

Nauticworx positions its model around finding suitable vessels closer to the required area of operation, reducing unnecessary mobilization where possible.