Solhea
Explore how flexibility in development capacity enabled Solhea to run multiple healthcare projects despite shifting expertise requirements.
Simplifying IT
for a complex world.
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Scaling maritime project delivery with senior engineering talent
2 → 25
developers across 3 companies
30+
developers placed
98%
trial success
7+
years of collaboration
Scaling maritime project delivery with senior engineering talent
2 → 25
developers across 3 companies
30+
developers placed
98%
trial success
7+
years of collaboration
Table of contents
Project details
Client: Ascenz Marorka, GTT Group
Location: France
Industry: Marine Digital Solutions
Duration: 2018 – present time
Tech Talent Placed: 30+
Tech Stack:
Backend: C# / ASP.NET, Microsoft Azure (including Azure IoT Edge and Azure Pipelines), MSSQL, Python, Kafka
Frontend: WinForms (legacy desktop UI), jQuery
Data / AI: AI / Data science tools & frameworks (for maritime logistics modeling and optimization), Tableau BI
QA / Testing: Manual and automated testing frameworks
The client
Ascenz Marorka, GTT Group’s smart shipping arm, delivers digital solutions built on decades of maritime innovation. It serves bunker professionals, LNG operators, offshore support vessels, and vessel-performance specialists. The business combines expertise in fuel and bunkering monitoring, vessel-performance management, data collection, and modeling. Its tools help customers save fuel, reduce emissions, and operate ships more effectively.
The challenge
The company ran a complex software system built on decade-old technologies. Years of changes had weakened the architecture’s structure and extensibility, making it hard for new team members to navigate and maintain.
The client’s broader goal was to modernize the platform using cloud technologies so the system could meet evolving industry needs. Yet the old system still needed active support, with a 20/80 split between maintenance and new system development. This created a dual challenge: keep vital legacy functions running while building an advanced cloud-based IoT solution for smart shipping. The client needed skilled specialists who could handle both.
The project scope
The project focused on developing algorithms to simulate a cargo vessel’s full operating cycle—from loading and transit to offloading at the destination. The simulation models had to perform multi-parameter computations, factoring in current speed, piracy zones, weather conditions, and regions with special fuel regulations. The solution was to enable a more efficient cargo vessel operating cycle, lowering time, fuel, and other resource consumption. This work required a minimum of a support engineer and a data scientist.
The initial customer’s in-house team consisted of 15 people, including developers, a product owner, and a project manager.
Over the project’s duration, the work centered on three core components:
A Windows-based application for collecting sensor data from ships
A web interface for viewing all vessel data and reports
A service hosted on Microsoft Azure to receive and process this data
UNL’s process
Stable delivery through adaptable staffing model
In December 2018, the client engaged UNL for a C# / ASP.NET support developer and a Python data scientist, with the start planned within the next few months. The first dedicated developer joined in early February 2019. To work as full members of the client’s team, UNL’s engineers integrated with its workflows and tools, including communication channels, project tracking, and repositories.
Over time, the team scaled up and down as new roles were added and some positions phased out. Project continuity was maintained by planning replacements ahead of time, overlapping new and existing team members, and transferring knowledge through documented processes and walkthroughs. In addition, UNL’s EOR services, covering payroll, taxes, and paperwork, ensured that role changes did not disrupt implementation.
Across the life of the project, UNL placed 30 technical specialists with complex international project experience under a three-week risk-free trial. Ninety-eight percent of the proposed candidates completed the trial period.
High-caliber IT talent availability
Core technical roles placed:
Skills:
C#, MSSQL, jQuery, modern UI practices
Responsibilities:
- Developed new features and user i nterfaces on both backend and frontend layers
- Modernized UI components and improved data flows
- Linked backend services to front-end dashboards and reporting
Skills:
Selenium, C#, Postman, Jira, TestRail
Responsibilities:
- Developed and executed test plans, test cases, and automation frameworks
- Conducted functional testing (CRUD and new features)
- Performed regression and exploratory testing
- Verified data accuracy in reporting dashboards
- Tested complex computations in shipping performance charts
Skills:
C#, ASP.NET, WinForms, Azure
Responsibilities:
• Maintained and enhanced legacy applications
• Integrated backend services with Azure
• Supported the transition to modern Azure IoT architecture
Skills:
Azure IoT Edge, Azure Pipelines, Cloud Services
Responsibilities:
- Planned and executed Azure infrastructure migration
- Built and maintained Azure services supporting data processing and system operations
Skills:
Python, AI/ML Frameworks, Data Modeling, Simulation
Responsibilities:
- Created complex models simulating the full lifecycle of cargo handling
Proven fit for complex, evolving projects
To keep the high-complexity project moving forward under changing staffing needs, UNL met the client’s lead-time expectations. It also ensured the client received tech talent with specific experience, the skills necessary to handle legacy software issues, and a strong cultural fit, demonstrated by:
High adaptability across legacy and modern hybrid environments
Strong autonomy in understanding undocumented codebases
Close collaboration with the client’s distributed product teams and PMs
Proven ability to scale rapidly when project requirements changed
Business-level English fluency and clear communication
Over 98% trial success rate across all placements on this project
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Result
UNL Solutions enabled the client to sustain and enhance an extensive legacy maritime platform. The company’s developers were able to understand the outdated codebase to maintain and improve the solution.
In parallel, the EOR-based collaboration made hiring expenses more predictable for the client by providing clear phase-out notice terms and no obligations for severance, insurance, or vacation coverage. The engagement model proved so effective that, after Marorka became part of the GTT Group, the approach was retained and adopted by other companies in the group. What began as a one-time request for a few specialists turned into a long-term staff extension partnership, with 25 experts working across multiple projects and teams.
Today, 15 UNL Solutions developers continue to deliver value across Ascenz Marorka and the wider holding company.
On behalf of Marorka, we would like to express our gratitude towards UNL Solutions… Their developers integrated seamlessly with our own development team. Communications are direct and effective. As a result, our productivity was boosted, and we’re absolutely satisfied with the high-quality increments shipped by the developers.
Richard S.
Director of Product Management
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