Maritime ERP software built on Dynamics 365 Business Central. Connect vessels, crews, finance, logistics and compliance in one place, with a phased ERP migration path off legacy marine systems and spreadsheets.
Maritime operations involve many moving parts. When data sits in separate systems, it becomes harder to manage vessels, shipments, maintenance, crews and finances efficiently. Dynamics 365 Business Central brings everything together in one secure platform, improving visibility and control across your operations.
Dynamics 365 Business Central is a complete ERP system built to connect business processes across finance, service, logistics, operations and supply chain. For maritime organisations, it replaces disconnected tools with one platform that helps reduce manual work, strengthen planning and support safer, more efficient operations.
With built-in reporting tools and Microsoft-grade security, Business Central gives maritime teams the information they need to make sound decisions. If you want to see how an ERP for the maritime industry can streamline daily operations, keep reading.
An ERP built for maritime operations transforms how you coordinate vessels, manage marine services and run shore-based teams. Here is how it helps.
Business Central brings finance, service, supply chain, project management and operational data into a single environment. This makes it easier for teams across ports, vessels and offices to work together and reduces the risk of miscommunication.
With real-time dashboards, forecasting tools and integrated analytics, maritime leaders can make decisions based on up-to-date information. A 2025 Gartner insight reported that businesses using centralised operational data improve planning accuracy by up to 30 percent, which is crucial for scheduling, dispatch and maintenance.
Business Central scales as maritime operations expand. Whether you manage a small fleet or a multinational network of vessels, it adapts to meet your needs. Cloud deployment makes it easier to manage operations across borders without adding unnecessary complexity.
Automated workflows cut down manual processes and improve financial oversight. This helps maritime organisations control overheads, reduce waste and maintain healthier margins. According to a 2025 Forrester study, organisations using modern ERP systems save an average of 19 percent in operational costs within 12 months.
Maritime businesses must meet strict safety, tax and environmental regulations. Business Central supports compliance with secure audit trails, standardised reporting and controlled access to data, helping teams maintain accurate records.
Data taken from a survey we commissioned in December 2024. Click here to view
of businesses are utilising an ERP
businesses are dissatisfied with their current ERP
of businesses say using an ERP has contributed to achieving business outcomes
Maritime operations face unique challenges, from unpredictable shipping schedules and rising operational costs to global compliance demands and complex supply chains. Business Central helps maritime organisations run more efficiently with tools that support planning, crew visibility, asset management and financial control.
Track the condition, performance and maintenance schedules of vessels and marine assets. Business Central helps teams plan maintenance proactively so you can reduce downtime and extend asset lifespan.
In the maritime sector, operational clarity is essential. Business Central is a strong fit for maritime businesses because it connects and simplifies complicated processes.
Business Central helps teams plan vessel movements more accurately by combining operational data and financial information. This reduces scheduling conflicts and helps improve punctuality across routes.
Maritime operations rely on precise cost calculations. Business Central allows teams to estimate voyage costs, assess fuel spending and monitor actuals against forecasts. This supports more consistent profitability.
For businesses that provide marine services or manage crews, Business Central offers a clear view of personnel, tasks and job progress. It helps teams manage workloads, monitor performance and respond quickly when operational needs shift.
Manage port agents, maintenance contractors, fuel suppliers and logistics partners in one place. With stronger visibility of contracts and service agreements, maritime organisations can maintain reliable relationships across global operations.
Built-in analytics help maritime leaders identify trends in performance, spending and maintenance. This makes it easier to refine strategies, improve operations and plan for long-term resilience.
ERP migration is the process of moving finance and operational data, processes and users from an existing system onto a new platform. For maritime businesses that usually means retiring a legacy ERP, an ageing accounts package or a set of vessel spreadsheets, without interrupting voyages.
Map what lives in your legacy ERP, accounts package, planned maintenance system and spreadsheets. Most maritime ERP migration projects start by agreeing which vessel, voyage, crew and finance data has to move and which historic records can stay in an archive.
Agree how vessels, voyages, ports, charters, spares and cost centres will be represented in Business Central so voyage costing and fleet reporting work from day one, rather than being retro-fitted after go-live.
ERP data migration is usually the longest phase. Supplier and customer records, open purchase orders, spares catalogues, fixed assets and opening balances are cleansed, de-duplicated and mapped before any load is attempted.
A phased ERP migration moves finance first, then supply chain and maintenance, with at least one full trial load and reconciliation before cutover. This keeps vessel operations running while the new system is proven.
Go live is planned around a quiet operational window, with balances reconciled, users trained and support in place through the first month-end so reporting is trusted immediately.
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Most trials drop you into a generic demo company that looks nothing like the way you actually work. Ours doesn't. We configure your free trial around your business and the use case you care about, so you and your team can test real scenarios with data and processes you recognise.
It starts with a short questionnaire about your industry, your current systems and what you want to prove out. Once that's back with us, your tailored trial can usually be made available within a few working days. Prefer a guided walkthrough first? A standard demo is still on the table - just tell us which you'd like.
Complete a short questionnaire covering your industry, processes and the things you most want to test.
We set up a Business Central environment around your use case, so you're not clicking through a generic demo company.
Your tailored trial is typically ready within a few working days of the questionnaire coming back to us.
These are the problems that come up again and again when we talk to maritime businesses about their systems. If two or three of them sound familiar, the issue is usually structural rather than a matter of trying harder with the current setup.
Operating cost per vessel is the number the business runs on, but if maintenance, crew, fuel, port charges and dry dock all post to general cost centres, per-vessel profitability has to be reconstructed by hand.
Agents invoice in local currency, charters settle in another, and entities in more than one jurisdiction each need statutory reporting. Currency handling isn't an edge case here, it's the daily reality.
A scheduled dry dock is a large, forecastable spend that needs to sit in the cash plan and the asset register, not appear as a shock in a single month.
Critical spares sit on board, in port stores and at suppliers, and knowing what's actually available before ordering again is a persistent problem.
Three situations that reflect the patterns we see most often in maritime. Each one describes a type of business, the problem it started with and what changed once Business Central was set up around it.
These are anonymised, illustrative scenarios built from common patterns in the sector. They aren't customer stories, and no figures here are attributed to any individual organisation.
Coastal shipping operator, small fleet, two trading entities
Illustrative scenarioMarine services business, around 90 staff
Illustrative scenarioPort operations and logistics business
Illustrative scenarioLicensing is published and predictable. Implementation isn't, because it depends on what you ask the system to do. Here's the licence position, then the things that genuinely move the number in this sector.
£6.20per user / month
Read, approve, enter time and expenses. No full transactional access
£61.50per user / month
Finance, sales, purchasing, projects, basic stock and warehousing
£84.60per user / month
Everything in Essentials plus manufacturing and service management
Microsoft UK list prices, per user per month on an annual subscription, correct at the time of writing. Check the current figure on Microsoft's pricing page.
Maritime operators generally need Business Central Premium rather than Essentials, because service management covers planned maintenance and job-based repair work. Multi-entity operations licence per entity but can share configuration. Crew or shore staff who only submit expenses or timesheets often fit a Team Members licence.
Multi-entity and multi-currency work adds meaningfully to a maritime implementation, and it's worth deciding early whether the finance system holds vessel operations or simply consumes data from a specialist fleet system.
To learn more about Business Central, or to see how an ERP for maritime operations works, get in touch using this short form.
Maritime ERP software is a single system that manages the finance and operations of a shipping, marine services or port business: vessel and asset costs, voyage budgeting, spares and procurement, crew and service jobs, multi-currency accounting and compliance reporting. Dynamics 365 Business Central provides this on Microsoft's cloud.
ERP migration is the process of moving your finance and operational data, processes and users from an existing system, such as a legacy ERP, accounts package or set of spreadsheets, onto a new ERP platform. It covers data mapping, cleansing, trial loads, reconciliation, training and cutover.
The usual approach is phased: assess the current systems, design how vessels, voyages and cost centres map into Business Central, cleanse and map master data, run at least one trial load with reconciliation, then cut over around a quiet operational window with support through the first month-end.
It depends on the number of entities, vessels, currencies and integrations, and on how clean the existing data is. Data cleansing and reconciliation usually take longer than the technical load, so scoping with a Dynamics partner early gives the most reliable timeline.
Yes, if the migration is phased. Finance typically moves first, then supply chain and maintenance, with the legacy system kept readable for historic records so day-to-day vessel operations continue while the new system is proven.
Most maritime businesses move open transactions, opening balances, customers and suppliers, vessel and asset registers, spares and item catalogues, and a defined period of historic finance data. Older history is usually archived rather than loaded, which keeps the new system fast and clean.
Business Central is a cloud-based ERP system that helps maritime organisations manage finance, operations, asset maintenance, crew planning and compliance in one platform.
It helps track vessel performance, maintenance schedules, running costs and operational data, giving teams better control over fleet-related decisions.
Yes. Business Central supports accurate record keeping, controlled data access and consistent reporting, helping organisations meet safety, tax and environmental regulations.
Yes. It helps manage cargo handling, route planning, logistics processes and financial oversight across shipping operations.
It supports integration with third-party maintenance and inspection tools, enabling smoother workflows across shipyards, engineering teams and vessel operators.
Business Central is built on Microsoft's secure cloud infrastructure, with strong data protection and access controls suited for international operations.
Ports can use it for budgeting, operational planning, supplier management, maintenance and reporting, helping improve operational efficiency.
Yes. The platform scales from small firms to large global fleets, making it suitable for marine services, local operators and start-up shipping companies.
It centralises financial data, automates reporting and provides real-time visibility of costs, revenue and performance across the business.
Implementation time varies by organisation size and needs. Dynamics partners can advise on the approach that suits your operations.
Looking at Business Central beyond maritime businesses? See the full Dynamics 365 Business Central overview for features, pricing considerations and how implementation works, or read our guide to choosing a Business Central partner.
