The challenge
Running a boat trip operation involves far more than taking bookings. Vessels need maintenance tracking and safety certification. Risk assessments must be documented and reviewed regularly. Standard operating procedures need to be accessible to crew at all times. And customers expect to book and pay online, not phone up and hope someone answers.
Our client was managing all of this manually. Bookings were taken by phone and tracked in spreadsheets. Vessel maintenance records lived in paper logbooks. Risk assessments and SOPs were Word documents buried in shared drives. There was no unified view of operations, and the lack of online booking was costing revenue every day.
What we built
We designed and built a platform comprising seven independent microservices:
Booking manager. Online booking with availability management, customer details, payment tracking, and automated confirmation emails. Customers can browse available trips, select dates, and book directly — no phone call required.
Vessel management. A complete register of boats and vessels with maintenance scheduling, safety equipment tracking, certification management, and operational status. Maintenance tasks can be assigned, tracked, and signed off through the system.
Risk management. Digital risk assessments with hazard identification, likelihood and severity scoring, control measures, and review scheduling. Assessments are versioned and auditable, meeting maritime safety regulatory requirements.
SOP management. Standard operating procedures created, versioned, and distributed through the platform. Crew members can access current SOPs from any device, and management can track acknowledgements.
Operations service. Day-to-day operational management including trip scheduling, crew assignments, and operational reporting.
File management. Centralised document storage for certificates, insurance documents, crew qualifications, and operational records, with folder hierarchy and access controls.
Tenant management. Multi-tenant architecture allowing the platform to serve multiple operators from a single deployment.
Architecture
Each microservice runs independently with its own DynamoDB table, AppSync GraphQL API, and Lambda functions. The Next.js admin dashboard aggregates data from all services into a unified operational interface. This microservice architecture means each domain can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently.
The result
The operator went from zero online presence to a fully digital booking and operations platform. Customers book trips online around the clock. Vessel maintenance is tracked proactively rather than reactively. Risk assessments and SOPs are always current and accessible. And the microservice architecture means new capabilities can be added without disrupting existing operations.