Digitalisation changes vessel operations

Digitalisation continues to dramatically change many industries and businesses. Over recent years, we at ABB have observed this shift in the maritime industry, a shift that has been enabled by improved satellite coverage and advances in cloud computing. Some vessel operators have already invested in fleet operations centres to support their vessels in voyage planning, handling emergencies and making technical decisions that go well beyond the expertise traditionally available onboard ships.

It is, however, possible to centralise even more tasks to a remote location, presuming the internet connection is stable and secure. More exciting now are the opportunities provided by the integration of a supplier’s and vessel operator’s operations centres. Here, we outline how this development impacts vessel operations, emphasising the potential of the Internet of Things within the shipping industry.

In the first example, let’s look at maintenance. Traditionally, vessel operators often used to organise maintenance operations by selecting a main contractor who took the responsibility for maintaining the electrical, mechanical and automation equipment of all suppliers on the vessel.

In the digital era, there is an alternative option that is based on integration, internet and common software tools. The internet and software tools enable the connectivity between the ships, their onshore operations centre and the equipment suppliers’ service centres. This allows anyone involved to make decisions based on accurate information and input from all necessary parties.

At ABB, we call this model ‘Integrated Operations’. At its core every party in this model is connected, and focuses on its role and area of expertise. By integrating the vessel operator’s operations centre with those of the suppliers, digitalisation and connectivity allow the operator to work with a high number of suppliers efficiently. Thus, maintenance operations can be organised in a different way than before. The vessel operator’s trained maintenance crew are connected to suppliers’ remote support centres where they can acquire deeper knowledge when required enabling them to perform large parts of maintenance themselves based on defined procedures and available data enabling condition-based maintenance. Integrated Operations also provides the cloud computing infrastructure necessary to manage condition-based maintenance.

Safe and secure

In the second example, let’s consider cargo safety and passenger comfort through the continuous monitoring of vessels connected to ABB’s Integrated Operations centres. Relevant data about the vessels and their performance is transmitted to our specialists in the Integrated Operations Centre from where they can, for instance, advise the ships to optimise speed and fuel consumption based on the current and expected weather conditions. This in turn can minimise vessel motion, which increases passenger comfort on passenger vessels, prevents damage or loosening of cargo on containerships, and reduces sloshing in LNG tanks.

Currently more than 600 vessels of various types, including containerships, have data connection to our Integrated Operations Centre, and we support another 2,000 vessels with our new digital case tracking systems. We solve more than thousand cases each month, coming from the crew on board, the staff on shore, and from our own employees that service these vessels. We are part of the daily vessel operations, and are able to provide our knowledge and resources more directly and faster to those who need them.

We have seen that this model has significantly improved the performance of these ships, and at the same time significant savings have been made in maintenance-related costs. Also our own performance in terms of providing support has improved: response times are faster and the time needed for co-ordination and maintenance planning has been significantly reduced.

We anticipate that the next step will be real-time collaboration between several suppliers and the vessel operator, or ship owner. These parties will then be able to virtually analyse an issue before deciding how to resolve it and who to send on board. The “thing” that makes all this possible we call the Internet of things, services and people.

Richard Windischhofer, PhD is senior vice president responsible for business development and Integrated Operations at ABB’s Marine and Ports business unit.