Spire's Sale of Ship Tracking Arm alarms Users

French maritime data analytics platform Kpler wants to buy ship tracking company Spire Maritime, whose satellite data is a vital resource for oil traders and shipping companies, but some Spire customers fear Kpler will cut them off and have raised antitrust concerns to U.S. authorities, sources familiar with the matter say.

The $241 million deal announced on Nov. 13 would give Kpler control over Spire's satellites and maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS) data stream, which tracks ships globally, particularly in the open ocean, with a refresh rate of every 15 minutes.

This capability is unmatched by competitors, including Orbcomm, which has 7-10 satellites and takes about 36 hours to update.

Spire's advanced technology allows it to track tens of thousands more ships than its competitors, making it an attractive information source for various customers including cargo trackers, the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence agencies. The data is also used by commercial maritime companies and commodities and energy desks at Wall Street firms who use it to trade oil contracts.

Other customers include Maxar Intelligence, Polestar Global, Lloyd's List Intelligence, Windward, Vortexa, MapLarge as well as shipping and cruise companies, the people said.

Veson Nautical, which lists Cargill and Trafigura among its customers, and ShipTracks, which serves Chevron, are among the analytics companies that use Spire data.

If the deal goes through Spire will still service existing contracts with the U.S. government for maritime data.

However, the acquisition has raised concerns that software and analytics customers who rely on Spire's AIS data, and may compete in some applications with Kpler, could lose access to that data if the deal goes forward.

Kpler has been actively acquiring competitors to strengthen its marine traffic and fleet monitoring capabilities. There is a worry that this vertical integration could also impact pricing and stifle innovation, said the sources.

Spire's data is also used in products offered by LSEG Data & Analytics. LSEG pays Reuters for news.

Kpler's acquisition spree has already raised eyebrows in the industry. In recent years, the company has bought up several competitors including UK-based maritime data provider MarineTraffic and Norwegian firm Nortek. These acquisitions have expanded Kpler's capabilities and market share but have also raised concerns about the company's growing dominance in the maritime data market.

Kpler's acquisition of MarineTraffic, which was previously a major competitor in the AIS data market, led to a loss of data access for some analytics companies that were outside Kpler's targeted customer base, the sources said.