The oceanography company Tidetech has released online commercial tidal models for the Singapore and Malacca Straits.

Developed by Tidetech, the online viewer – OceanView – is an entry-level version of the company’s tidal models, viewable on any internet browser and on internet capable mobile devices.

According to the company, OceanView offers a highly detailed and accurate tidal current atlas featuring tidal current predictions at 1km resolution for every 30 minutes. Other features include latitude and longitude, place names, scale showing speed of current in knots (no interpolation necessary), and shipping lanes for easy reference.

Along with viewing via internet browser, the data can be downloaded as PDF and printed prior to sailing for use as a hard copy tidal atlas.

Tidetech Managing Director Penny Haire said in a prepared statement there was a “black hole” for detailed tidal current information in this region. “This is a region that experiences very high traffic density and is faced with complex tides that have a significant effect on passage time and fuel consumption,” she added.

“There are thousands of ships that don’t fully realize the [fuel and efficiency] savings to made with accurate tidal current data, largely because it hasn’t previously been available.”

Haire said the online viewer represents an inexpensive way for ships to begin achieving efficiency savings with tide and current data. The company can also provide solutions for full integration for route and speed optimization to gain maximum efficiency benefits.

“While the online viewer is not as powerful as the fully integrated version, it does provide detailed information where there hasn’t been any before,” Haire explained.

Trials with both OceanView and fully integrated oceanographic data are running currently with container vessels, cruise ships and ferries in various regions around the world.

Tidetech’s team of oceanographic scientists and commercial navigators have access to global bathymetry [depth] data, satellite altimetry information and local observations, which they use to calculate hydrodynamic models of motion that govern fluid dynamics. In-house data engineers can integrate the data to bridge systems, with optimization systems delivered via route optimization software.