Research · work in progress

The Darpan.
A living digital twin of a trade corridor.

Tracking every container, forecasting every delay, from a warehouse door in India to a customer door in Europe.

Darpan (Sanskrit दर्पण): a mirror — a faithful reflection of the physical world.

RADAR · THROUGH MONSOON CLOUDOPTICAL · DENSE TEMPERATE PORThub?via Suez · weeks at seavia the Cape · much longerWarehouse beltnear MumbaiJNPTIndia’s busiest gatewayRotterdamEurope’s largest porttruckbargerailCustomerEuropeone container · ETA with a bandOne corridor, every kind of leg, two very different ports.

The problem

Every party sees one leg. Nobody sees the journey.

Roughly eight hand-offs between a factory near Mumbai and a customer in Europe, each run by a different company with its own system.

Warehouseown companyown system?Truckown companyown system?Port gateown companyown system?Yardown companyown system?Vesselown companyown system?Hubmaybetransshipment?Portown companyown system?Truck / bargeown companyown system?Customerown companyown systemEvery party sees one leg. Nobody sees the journey.India → Europe · roughly eight hand-offs

Arrival estimates wrong by days — updated only after the delay has happened.

Port congestion discovered when the ship is already waiting at anchor.

No way to ask “what if we route differently?” before committing.

The vision

From tracking what happened to forecasting what will — and rehearsing the alternatives.

01

Every container is a tracked object

A known position, a status, and an expected next event.

02

Delays are forecast, not discovered

Ocean leg, port, customs and road — each with a confidence band.

03

Congestion is seen before it bites

Signals that arrive earlier than the delay itself.

04

The journey can be rehearsed

Rewind, fast-forward, test an alternative route before committing.

How the twin is built

Five layers, from the senses to the crew.

Satellite imagery enters at the first layer and improves every layer above it — it measures the bottlenecks a container gets stuck in, before anyone reports them.

5Coordinate & acta team of digital agents watches the twin, flags threats, tells the right peoplethe crew4Simulatereplay past journeys, rehearse what-ifs on routes, ports and timingthe imagination3Forecastthe next event and when — with a confidence band, and early congestion warningthe intuition2Unifyevery signal in one language, one timeline per containerthe memory1Sensevessel positions, port events, road movement, customs, weather — and satellite imagerythe senses

It does not just watch

A team of digital agents that acts.

One agent per leg — warehouse, road, port, ocean, customs — with a coordinator above them. Threats are spotted early, the fix is rehearsed, and the right people are told automatically.

WarehouseRoadPortthreatseen from aboveOceanCustomsCOORDINATORWHAT THE TEAM DOESNegotiates every hand-offbetween the two agents involvedFlags a threat before it is a delayplan vs forecast vs observationRehearses the fix in simulationbefore recommending itTells the right people automaticallyshipper, terminal, trucker — their channelLearns after every journeyforecast versus what happened

Where we are

One corridor first. Then replicate.

Indicative, not a commitment — this is research.

Phase 0 · now

Foundations

Corridor selected. Conventional data sources being connected. Container timeline and replay under construction.

Phase 1 · next

First tracked journeys

Real containers followed end to end. First forecasts with confidence bands. First satellite observations of both ports.

Phase 2 · later

Early warning

Congestion warnings from imagery trends. Forecasts measured with and without satellite input. Route alternatives simulated.

Phase 3 · later

Replicate

A second corridor. Partner interfaces.

Container logistics has spent twenty years digitising paperwork. The next step is a twin that can see, forecast and rehearse.

Shipper, port, carrier or researcher — if this corridor is yours too, we would welcome a conversation.

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