SAN FRANCISCO — Spire Global announced plans to work with VesselBot, a Greek technology company focused on the international maritime industry, to develop products based on Spire’s automatic identification system (AIS) data.

San Francisco-based Spire formed Spire Maritime in 2018 to develop vessel tracking and monitoring services. Spire Maritime is forging partnerships with industry experts like VesselBot and harnessing technologies like machine learning to expand its product line, according to an April 15 news release.

“In addition to the predictive data available today, users can expect features that detect vessel ownership and provide historical data on vessel usage or cargo patterns,” Spire spokesman James Pearson said by email.

For example, the new products created by Spire and VesselBot could provide customers with “more precise monitoring and enhanced visibility onshore and onboard,” optimizing performance and reducing time in ports, said VesselBot CEO Constantine Komodromos.

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting markets, “it becomes even more imperative for ship owners and operators to optimize performance” and improve performance per vessel and for their entire fleets, Komodromos said by email. With the help of technologies and various types of data, including AIS, weather forecasts and port call costs, ship owners and operators “may identify optimal voyages and operational conditions to reduce cost and increase their bottom line.”

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to collaborate with Spire Maritime,” Komodromos said in a statement. “We look forward to this collaboration and aim to work together … to create unique, innovative digital solutions that will solve actual problems, and … enable operational efficiencies to the constantly changing maritime market.”

John Lusk, Spire Global Data Services general manager, said in a statement “the maritime industry is ripe for digital disruption” due to competition and new regulations.