Maritime Procurement Software — RFQ to Quote in 30 Minutes

Marine procurement is unusual. The buyer is often a superintendent ashore, the goods are needed at a port the vessel reaches in four days, and the supplier is a chandler who has to consolidate, clear and deliver alongside before the ship sails. When that happens over email and PDF quotes, the friction is enormous — mismatched item descriptions, quotes that arrive too late, deliveries that don't match the order.

Tidal is built for that reality: maritime software that runs marine procurement end to end. It gives buyers a clean e-procurement workflow and gives chandlers, through Tidal’s ship chandler software, a structured way to receive requests, quote and fulfil. The result is a shared record both sides can trust, and a supplier hub that makes sourcing in an unfamiliar port far less of a gamble.

Marine procurement connects to the rest of the operation. Fleets standardise buying across vessels with our fleet procurement software, tie purchasing to operations through maritime shipping software, and can screen new counterparties with maritime due diligence software before they deal. Cruise lines run the same buying on our cruise fleet procurement software, and it powers end-to-end maritime logistics software and marine inventory management. Start from the Tidal platform overview.

Capabilities

A full maritime procurement solution and e-procurement workflow

From the requisition on board to the invoice in finance, with a supplier network attached.

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Catalogue matching

IMPA and ISSA coding keeps item descriptions consistent between buyer and supplier, so quotes come back against exactly what was asked for.

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Structured RFQs

Send one request to several chandlers and compare responses line by line — price, availability and lead time in a single grid.

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Ship chandling hub

Reach your own approved suppliers plus vetted chandlers across ports worldwide when you need a quote somewhere new.

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Purchase orders & delivery

Turn the chosen quote into a purchase order, coordinate delivery to the port call, and confirm receipt against the order.

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Order tracking

Follow every order through quoting, approval, dispatch and delivery, so nothing goes quiet until it turns up as an invoice.

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Spend visibility

See what you buy, from whom, and at what price across ports and categories, and use it to negotiate better next time.

For both sides

Buyers and suppliers on the same system

For buyers

Raise requisitions, source in the right port, compare real quotes, and keep a clean audit trail from need to delivery.

For ship chandlers

Receive structured RFQs instead of loose emails, quote line by line, and manage orders and deliveries in one place.

For technical teams

Tie spare-part purchasing back to the equipment it belongs to, so the buying record supports maintenance decisions.

For finance

Match invoices to orders and receipts automatically, and cut the time spent chasing discrepancies at month end.

Why it works

What maritime procurement software should do

One shared record between buyer and supplier, not two inboxes
Consistent item coding so quotes are actually comparable
Sourcing help in ports where you have no regular chandler
Delivery tied to the vessel's schedule, not guesswork
Invoice matching that catches short deliveries early
A spend history you can negotiate from

Overview

What is maritime procurement software, and who is it for?

Maritime procurement software — also called marine procurement software — is the system a shipping operation uses to buy stores, spares and provisions: from the requisition raised on board, through sourcing, RFQ and quote comparison, to purchase orders, delivery at the port call, and invoice matching in finance. Instead of buying over email and spreadsheets, it keeps buyer and supplier on one shared, coded record, so quotes are comparable and every order is traceable end to end.

It serves the whole marine supply chain. Fleet owners and managers standardise purchasing across vessels; superintendents and purchasers ashore source against tight port-call windows; ship chandlers and marine suppliers receive structured RFQs and quote line by line; technical teams tie spare-part buying to the equipment it serves; and finance matches invoices to orders and receipts. Tidal is built for all of them on one platform and goes live in about a week, with no ERP required.

Comparison

How is it different from generic procurement tools and ERPs?

Horizontal e-procurement suites and large maritime ERPs both touch purchasing, but neither is built for how ships actually buy — coded marine stores, chandler RFQs, and delivery to a moving vessel.

Capability	Tidal maritime procurement software	Generic e-procurement tool	Maritime ERP
IMPA & ISSA catalogue matching	Built in, at the core of every RFQ	Not marine-specific	Sometimes, via modules
Ship chandler supplier hub	Built-in network of vetted chandlers	No	No
RFQ automation from email	AI extracts and codes every line item	Manual entry or forms	Manual entry
Delivery to the port call	Coordinated to the vessel's schedule	Generic logistics only	Varies by suite
Works standalone, no ERP	Yes — inbox and catalogue only	Yes	No — it is the ERP
Typical time to go live	About one week	Weeks to months	Months to years

Tidal integrates with ShipNet and Bassnet where you run them, so it complements a maritime ERP rather than replacing it — and runs standalone where you do not.

Evaluation

How to evaluate maritime procurement software

The criteria that separate marine-specific tools from repurposed generic ones — worth checking before you buy.

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Marine catalogue coverage

Does it match items to IMPA and ISSA codes so buyer and supplier describe the same part? Consistent coding is what makes quotes comparable.

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Supplier and chandler reach

Can you reach approved suppliers and vetted chandlers in ports where you have no regular contact, without leaving the system?

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RFQ and quote comparison

Does it turn an email RFQ into a structured, side-by-side comparison of price, availability and lead time — including large line-item lists?

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Delivery and port coordination

Are purchase orders tied to the vessel's port call and delivery window, with receipt confirmed against the order?

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Integrations and standalone

Does it connect to ShipNet, Bassnet and CSV where you need it, and still run without an ERP where you do not?

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Spend visibility and audit

Can you see spend by port, supplier and category, and produce a clean audit trail from requisition through invoice matching?

Integrations

Does it integrate with ShipNet, Bassnet and existing systems?

Tidal fits the systems you already run — and works on its own where you do not run one.

ShipNet & Bassnet

Integrate with the two most widely used maritime ERP and inventory systems via API, so requisitions and orders stay in step.

CSV import / export

Move catalogues, requisitions and orders in and out by CSV where a direct API is not available.

Email inbox

Connect your existing Outlook or Gmail inbox so incoming RFQs are captured and processed automatically from day one.

Standalone, no ERP

Run Tidal on its own with just your inbox and product catalogue — most customers go live this way, and add ERP links later.

FAQ

Maritime procurement software, answered

What is maritime procurement software?

Maritime procurement software — also called marine procurement software — digitises how ships buy stores, spares and provisions: requisition, sourcing, RFQ, quote comparison, purchase orders, delivery and invoice matching. It connects buyers to ship chandlers and marine suppliers in one system instead of email chains.

How is it different from a generic procurement tool?

Generic e-procurement suites are built for office categories, not ships. Tidal is marine-specific: it matches items to IMPA and ISSA codes, includes a ship chandler supplier hub, reads RFQs straight from email, and coordinates delivery to the vessel's port call — the things a marine buyer actually needs that horizontal tools do not cover.

Do we need an ERP like ShipNet or Bassnet to use it?

No. Tidal runs fully standalone from your existing Outlook or Gmail inbox and product catalogue, and most customers go live that way. Where you do run ShipNet or Bassnet, Tidal integrates via API or CSV so it complements the ERP rather than replacing it.

What is the Tidal ship chandling hub?

It is Tidal's supplier network. Buyers send RFQs to their own approved chandlers and, when they want, reach additional vetted suppliers in ports worldwide, all quoting against the same catalogue line items.

How does it handle RFQs with hundreds of line items?

Tidal's AI reads the incoming email — PDF, Excel or plain text — extracts every line item, and matches each to IMPA and ISSA codes at over 90% accuracy. A large RFQ that would take a team days to price by hand is turned into a structured, comparable quote in under 30 minutes.

Does it work with IMPA and ISSA codes?

Yes. Requisitions and catalogues use IMPA and ISSA coding so buyers and suppliers describe the same item the same way, which cuts errors and speeds up quoting.

Can ship chandlers and suppliers use Tidal too?

Yes. Ship chandlers and marine suppliers receive structured RFQs, quote line by line, and manage orders and deliveries through Tidal — fewer clarification emails and cleaner order records on both sides.

How does it help control spend across a fleet?

Every purchase order carries the vessel, department, budget line and port, so spend is visible by ship, supplier, category and port. That history lets purchasers compare prices across calls and negotiate from evidence rather than memory.

How long does it take to go live?

Most customers are live within about a week. Tidal connects to your inbox, maps your catalogue to IMPA and ISSA codes, and configures your suppliers and margin rules — with no IT project and nothing to install on board.

Is our purchasing and pricing data secure?

Yes. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and your pricing, catalogue and supplier data are never shared with third parties or used to train shared models. SOC 2 Type II compliance is in progress.

Maritime procurement software with a built-in ship chandling hub