Analysis
APIs and events: the lifeline you cannot ignore.
If you have ever asked why everything takes so long, the answer is almost always a data synchronisation problem.
Most maritime software lives inside a sync problem it cannot solve alone.
A port agent updates an ETA. The operator only finds out next morning, by email. The charterer finds out when they ring in.
None of this is a technology failure. It is an event distribution failure.
Request/response is not enough
Classical APIs answer a question. What is the current ETA? You call, you get the number.
But nobody wants to poll. What you actually want is to be told when the number changes.
The two patterns that fix it
Webhooks — the upstream system POSTs to your URL when something interesting happens. Simple. Works for most cases. Requires a stable URL and some auth.
Streaming endpoints — the upstream exposes Server-Sent Events or a WebSocket. Your client holds the connection open and receives updates as they occur.
Both are more work up front than a polling loop. Both save orders of magnitude in bandwidth once you have dozens of vessels under watch.
Pick the one your upstream supports. If it supports neither, lean on the operations team to demand it.