Plan for it going wrong

Soft Marine’s Boris Kokorev says planned maintenance software should come with a back-up system and settings or potentially a secondary system could be used if there was an issue.

Cargotec’s Frank Kho also points out that maintenance programmes are “not mission-critical”.

“A couple of hours of system downtime is not a problem. Even with several days there is no big issue. With normal data back-up process, information is available for maintaining a sufficient level of maintenance of the equipment without jeopardising the whole operation.”

Royal Haskoning’s Tim Bownes adds that while the automatic backing-up of data is crucial, the ability to also interrogate that data independently in a usable format is vital.

“This perhaps brings us back to the consideration of appropriate systems, ensuring that over-complex systems are not forced on relatively simple assets. The consequences of a system failure may be severe for a fleet of straddle carriers but if that system is only focused on cargo operations plant, it is perhaps an advantage in this respect.”