Insured ships out of the typhoon

Seojun underwrites cargo insurance at a big marine insurer in Busan, one of the world's busiest ports. When a typhoon swings towards the coast, his clients’ ships are out there with insured cargo. He checks ship trackers in one window, the forecast in another, his policies in a third. By the time he calls the owners, the ships are in the storm. With xMap Flows, Seojun built Wren. Every hour, around Busan port and its approaches, Wren lists every ship at sea, keeps only those carrying cargo he insures, checks the wind ahead where each one is, picks out the ones heading into a gale, and warns their owners while there is time to shelter. When the last typhoon turned north, Wren flagged seven insured ships six hours ahead of the gales. Five sheltered in the inner harbour, two slowed down at sea. Not one container was lost, and Seojun made seven calls instead of seventy. Seojun used to watch typhoons hit. Now he watches them miss.

The story in words