HarborLab fully embeds artificial intelligence into platform ecosystem as it launches new AI-powered disbursement agent tool

Greece/Singapore – 17 March 2025 – Harbor Lab, the Athens-based maritime technology company that optimizes Disbursement Account (DA) analysis for the maritime industry, has launched its new AI-powered DA feature as part of the company’s drive to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) into its entire platform ecosystem.

The groundbreaking new software, known as HL AI, is the maritime industry’s first-ever use of AI to specifically address challenges and inefficiencies related to port expenses as ship owners and operators look for major cost savings in daily vessel operations.

With port-related spending reaching more than $2 million per year for a single vessel, the financial risks related to traditionally complex and time-consuming Proforma Disbursement Account (PDA) and Final Disbursement Account (FDA) processes are staggering. By integrating AI into its entire platform ecosystem, HarborLab is offering its users a crystal-clear breakdown of port-related fees to ensure their expenses are transparent and backed by verifiable data.

With HL AI, DA approvers will have an enhanced ability to see and understand how each port expense is calculated in greater detail, backed by Harbor Lab’s algorithmic insights and access to real-time port tariff data. In addition, HL AI can instantly translate all tariff documents to eliminate potential language barriers, making it easier to understand official port information in English.

HL AI will also automatically generate AI-powered email responses for expense discrepancies in order to accelerate negotiations. Moreover, HarborLab’s AI Agent will be continuously learning and evolving as users adapt to the platform to ensure the system’s level of accuracy remains at the forefront of the wider HarborLab system.

“More than $130 billion is spent annually on port expenses and shipping players are struggling to verify costs, eliminate errors and maintain transparency in a traditionally opaque and time-consuming process. The launch of HL AI is the latest step to eliminate those inefficiencies by tripling the DA review capacity of industry players and bringing more power to shipping companies to manage their expenses,” said Antonis Malaxianakis, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of HarborLab.

“Crucially, HL AI is the latest step in our goal towards a fully autonomous DA management process by showcasing the power of AI in the world of commercial shipping. At present, a single HarborLab user can oversee more than 1,000 port calls per year so this latest move will enable our users to be much more efficient when it comes to DA verification,” he added.

HarborLab representatives will be present at this year’s Singapore Maritime Week from 24-28 March to showcase the power and benefits of HL AI, alongside its range of award-winning software for principals, vendors and agents. To find out more about speaking with a HarborLab representative, please email Olga Symvoulaki, Commercial Supervisor at Harbor Lab, at osymvoulaki@harborlab.com.

About Harbor Lab

Harbor Lab is an Athens, Greece-based forward-thinking maritime software company offering the first e-disbursements accounts analysis software that automatically calculates and evaluates port expenses against real-time port tariffs, optimizing the Port Cost Management process. Founded in March 2020 by Antonis Malaxianakis, its purpose is to build trust in the maritime ecosystem. It currently has 1300 vessels, whose disbursement accounting is run through the platform and more than 5000 agents and vendors registered. Since the company’s inception, it has rolled out a number of cloud-based products that provide ship operators, managers and charterers with greater transparency and in-house control and monitoring of their vessels’ costs. Harbor Lab has 70 employees.