Key NFRs for Freight Systems
- Handle real-time vessel tracking feeds (AIS data, often millions of messages per day).
- Process market data (Baltic Exchange indices) with low latency for FFA settlements.
- Support high-frequency trade bookings and exposure calculations.
- Scale horizontally to handle peak volatility periods (e.g., shipping crises, sanctions news).
Availability & Reliability
- Near 24/7 availability (global trading desks operate across time zones).
- Failover and disaster recovery in case of outages (RPO < 15 min, RTO < 1 hr).
- Ensure no single point of failure in trade capture or freight cost linkage.
Data Consistency & Integrity
- Freight contracts, voyages, and invoices must be consistent across Trading, Risk, and Finance.
- Strong transactional integrity for freight settlement (no double payments).
- Event-driven updates (trades → freight → risk → finance) must be idempotent.
Security & Compliance
- Role-based access control (e.g., chartering desk vs finance vs risk).
- Audit trail for contract changes, invoices, demurrage disputes.
- Compliance with regulatory audits (SOX, IFRS, shipping regulations, sanctions screening for vessels and counterparties).
- Secure integration with external providers (Baltic, AIS).
Interoperability & Integration
- Integrate with Trading (ETRM), Risk Engine, Finance ERP, and external data feeds.
- API-first architecture (REST/GraphQL) + event-driven messaging (Kafka, MQ).
- Support for industry formats (XML, FIX, JSON) for freight contracts & settlements.
Usability & Transparency
- Clear visualization of voyage progress, laytime, demurrage calculations.
- Dashboards for freight exposure (linked physical & FFA positions).
- Drill-down to port logs, vessel events, index history for disputes.
Auditability & Traceability
- Every freight cost element (charter hire, bunker, port charges, demurrage) must be traceable.
- All FFA settlements should be reproducible against Baltic indices.
- Maintain immutable history of contract negotiations and changes.
Extensibility & Maintainability
- Ability to add new vessel types or indices without major rework.
- Modular architecture so Freight Derivatives, Chartering, Demurrage can evolve independently.
- Automated testing for critical calculation logic (e.g., laytime, FFA MTM).
Monitoring & Observability
- Monitor voyage execution KPIs (ETA deviation, bunker consumption).
- Monitor system health (API latencies, message queues, data freshness).
- Real-time alerts for missed feeds (e.g., Baltic index not updated).