OSLO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- As the global shipping industry accelerates digitalization and decarbonization, a Norwegian maritime weather intelligence provider is stepping up its focus on China, citing rising demand for localized services, faster operational communication and deeper partnerships with Chinese industry players.

In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Kim Hedegaard Sorensen, CEO of StormGeo, said Asia is crucial for the company and is seeing more growth than any other region. China, he added, is expected to become a bigger part of StormGeo's business in the coming years.

"We see more growth there than anywhere else," Sorensen said. "I believe China will be a bigger part of our business in five years."

Norway-based StormGeo, now owned by Swedish industrial group Alfa Laval, serves 13,000 vessels globally, providing operational decision support such as routing-related services. Sorensen said this means "one out of three vessels in the world fleet has some StormGeo software onboard."

He said shipping is now the company's largest segment, accounting for about 60 percent of its overall business.

StormGeo has many Chinese clients, including COSCO and customers in Hong Kong. Sorensen said he has visited China to talk to clients in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The CEO said the company needs to adjust how it serves customers in China, where technology adoption is high and expectations for responsiveness are different from many traditional shipping markets.

"Our global operating model is serving clients in English from global centers, but it won't work there," he said. "We must serve Chinese clients in Mandarin."

Petter Andersen, vice president of shipping at StormGeo, said Chinese customers have adopted digital tools quickly and often prefer communicating via WeChat rather than email. He added that customers are looking for practical ways to reduce fuel consumption and support decarbonization.

To broaden its platform, StormGeo is seeking to expand through partnerships, including with technology providers working on wind sail technology. "In China, for instance, many young companies are looking into wind sail technology," Andersen said. "We engage with them to understand how a vessel with a wind sail behaves, and then we incorporate that into our route advice."

The executives said local partnerships and data handling are also key. Sorensen said StormGeo needs to ensure data storage within China to meet regulatory requirements and client expectations, noting that Chinese customers want assurance that their data stays in China.

On industry engagement, Andersen said StormGeo is strengthening ties with the China Shipowners' Association and is planning a collaboration with the China Classification Society (CCS). "We have an ambition to enter a formal collaboration with CCS in 2026," he said.

On product development, Sorensen said StormGeo plans to launch a "fully AI-automated routing optimization service" in the first half of 2026, built on 20 years of data, while keeping "humans in the loop" for complex situations. Enditem