ABB to acquire weather routing business

The acquisition of the DTN Shipping portfolio covers vessel routing software, including analytics, reporting, and modelling applications. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions as well as completion of applicable works councils’ consultation procedures. It is expected to close during Q2 2024.

The acquisition comes at a time when real-time weather routing analytics play an increasingly important role in helping vessels optimise voyage efficiency and safety. Complementing ABB’s existing digital offering, the DTN Shipping business brings market-leading application programming interfaces (API) to ABB and expands the number of vessels connected to ABB networks to over 5,000. ABB and DTN Shipping will work together to ensure continuous customer service and the seamless integration of approximately 85 employees, most of whom are located in the Netherlands and Philippines, into ABB.

Current customers of DTN Shipping will benefit from ABB’s expertise in electric, automated and digital marine solutions, securing more opportunities to gain efficiencies, save fuel and cut emissions. 

“We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the ABB family. With DTN Shipping’s unique weather routing solutions, combined with our existing digital portfolio, we can bring significant benefits for ship owners and operators worldwide,” said Juha Koskela, Division President, ABB Marine & Ports. “This is integral to our commitment to deploy digital solutions for the purpose of driving better operational decisions, resulting in increasingly sustainable performance of vessels. With this acquisition, we can now offer all levels of digitalisation, across all fleet types and sizes, creating a unique offering in vessel and voyage performance.”

ABB Ability™ digital solutions for the marine industry are well-established in passenger, ice-going, container and energy vessel segments. With this acquisition, ABB further strengthens the company’s focus on investing in digital solutions that support decarbonisation and enable better resource efficiency, in line with the ABB purpose to drive a more sustainable future through technology leadership.