Maritime software is folding into fewer and larger platforms. The pitch to owners is simple. Spend less time running IT and more time running ships.

That promise only holds if the systems really share data and if the buyer still decides where that data goes and how far AI is allowed to act on it.

Consolidation will happen with or without owners at the table.

Maritime software has a sprawl problem. Owners and managers run ERP, procurement, crewing, bunkering and analytics tools from separate suppliers, and time and data get lost in the gaps between them. As Chris Hornung, group CEO of Deep Wave Maritime Technologies Group, put it: “In maritime, you’ve still got a very dispersed set of solution providers.” Companies end up spending “a lot of time managing IT provision”.

Deep Wave’s partnership with MarineXchange (MXP) is a bet that ownership can fix this. The private equity-backed group is just over a year old and has made three acquisitions in commercial shipping. MXP brings more than 60 cruise brands and over 400 vessels, taking the combined group to approximately 500 customers and 7,000 vessels.

The cruise entry itself matters less than the model behind it. The idea is that one product, such as e-procurement, can serve both commercial and cruise fleets, so investment in it is spread across a larger base. “Suddenly that capability is operating into two verticals, which allows us to invest more into that product, drive that product forward, and therefore both cruise and commercial get to benefit,” Hornung said.

The logic is sound, but owners should test it. Integration is easy to promise and hard to deliver, and roll-ups often keep separate brands and codebases for years. Hornung himself expects little change for customers in the short term.

AI is the bigger unknown. Deep Wave says it is “embedding agentic AI into our solutions”, but Hornung admits the industry has not settled how far it will go. “How is the sector going to utilise AI? What is it going to be willing to utilise, and where are the guardrails it’s going to want to put in place?” he asked. Starlink connectivity will shape how much of that actually reaches the ship.

This is where owners have leverage. Platforms are consolidating, and the buyers who establish terms early around data access, AI limitations and integration timelines will get systems built around their operations. Those who wait will inherit someone else’s design.

When a Near Miss Becomes a Fleet-Wide Warning

A near miss may expose a risk on one vessel. But how can operators ensure the lesson reaches other crews before a similar incident occurs?

On 17 November at 11:00 AM GMT, OneOcean’s See Further webinar will use real case studies to examine recurring maritime risks, operational decision-making and how organisations can turn lessons learned into practical changes.

Christopher Saunders, Chief Maritime Officer at RightShip, and John Hissey, Senior Product Manager at OneOcean, will join moderator Nick Chubb to explore what effective loss prevention looks like in practice.

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What Does Effective Loss Prevention Look Like in Practice? A live webinar in partnership with OneOcean | 17th November 2026
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Vessel Performance Summit | 10th March 2027 | Denmark
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Digital Ship Summit | October 2027 | Singapore
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Crews are passing every audit on bridges they no longer fully understand, and the CrewConnect panel says closing that gap is up to managers, not the IMO.