Ships transiting the global oceans carry immense quantities and varieties of bulk, containerized, and liquid cargoes. Specialized vessels such as heavy lift ships, vehicle carriers, containerships, LNG tankers, bulk cargo carriers, and cruise ships all have vessel specific limitations to performance and safety such as wave, wind, and ice conditions. Also MetOcean Data such as wind and current can be used to advantage to reduce transit distance/time (aka fuel). Weather routing for avoidance or minimization of exposure to adverse conditions and route optimization all require an understanding of vessel performance and accurate forecast MetOcean data. In this panel, three experts will discuss the considerations in route planning, vessel limits, specialized data sets via observations, and the application of numerical data to the ship route optimization and safety challenge.