Everyone Has the Same Data Now, So Who Trains the Juniors?

At the Splash Singapore conference, a panel of chartering chiefs talked about AI on the fixing desk. Chartering is the work of matching ships and cargoes and agreeing the price. In the same week, software company Sea launched Cora, an AI assistant that answers questions about charter parties and recaps inside Sea's contract platform, so a team does not have to search the files by hand.

What the panel said. Jesper Klarup of Fednav said competing desks use the same two or three platforms, and often price a cargo within a few cents of each other. His warning was short: the digital tool is necessary, but it can never become your alibi. Torbjørn Gjervik of Western Bulk said that if you only use the data in those systems, you will not beat the market. Michelle Gonzalez of Vale said data alone does not make better decisions, and that AI is still weak on context and politics.

The question nobody could answer. It came from the audience. If AI does more of the basic work that juniors used to learn from, who becomes the expert of tomorrow? Klarup said young people must still learn to run a calculation on paper. Willem Vermaat of Heidelberg Materials Trading said companies must let juniors make mistakes. Stephen Fletcher of AXSMarine said to get young staff away from screens and onto ships and into ports.

The other side. In this week's Marcura survey, 75% said AI helps less experienced colleagues become useful faster. Both things can be true. A junior with AI gets to the answer sooner, and may understand it less.

About Cora. Sea has not named a customer or given an accuracy figure. A wrong answer about a laytime or demurrage clause can cost real money, so the tool must show the exact clause it used. We covered Sea on 13 September, when it put BIMCO clauses into its workflow.

For ship managers. This is not only about chartering. It applies to your junior superintendents and purchasers too. Pick the tasks a trainee must do by hand at least once before the tool is allowed to do them. [Splash247 · panel · Splash247 · Cora]

This story is part of the Maritime AI Digest of 4 October 2026.