Digital tools to facilitate challenges in Shipping

Shipping faces significant challenges in today’s regulatory environment. Meeting reporting requirements and adhering to environmental legislation has become increasingly complex, and digital solutions are essential for effective management. Decarbonization is an ultimate goal, but it will require more than just environmental measures to achieve success. We have already seen solutions in the direction of alternative fuels or in optimization of ship design and retrofitting. Likewise, shipping must leverage the benefits of digitalization to strengthen the resilience of the maritime supply chain, promote sustainable development, and ensure compliance with all regulatory frameworks.

The effort to increase automation in shipping offers advantages in multiple directions. Not only to enhance onboard safety and improve environmental performance, but also to grant reassurance to more efficient and sustainable shipping.

The Importance of Effective Data Management

The modern shipping industry faces numerous challenges, including the need for accurate ship performance status, informed decision-making, and efficient operations and reporting. To address these challenges, it is crucial to have reliable datasets as a starting point. Collecting data onboard is just the beginning; organizing and validating the data is also essential to enable sophisticated analysis using powerful tools. With such data management in place, it becomes possible to simulate operations and achieve set targets while meeting regulatory requirements.

Additionally, interconnectivity and integration among all different applications that are currently used by shipping companies and of course the exchange of data is a vital element for a successful use of digitalization. This will be essential for the efficiency and sustainability of the digital tools in maritime industry.

The integration of digital tools will eliminate inserting the same data in multiple sources with the potential of an error to increase exponentially. The greater level of collaboration we achieve among digital tools, the higher the engagement of the crew to use them.

By leveraging such tools, businesses can gain valuable insights into their operations through real-time data feeds and alerts. This optimization process can lead to enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in shipping operations.

Digital Tools by RINA

In our attempt to assist the shipping community to overcome daily challenges, we have developed a series of tools and services. RINA combines a Software Ecosystem with a comprehensive knowledge of the maritime domain, thanks to the expertise of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Our web-based applications are installed both onboard all vessels and onshore ensuring availability of data everywhere. The web applications are constantly synchronized, exchanging data in both directions. By monitoring fleet operations through a cloud-based live streaming from ship(s) to shore, shipping companies can also take data driven decisions to improve business operations.

Our offering spans from a complete Fleet Management System to Performance Monitoring, Vessel Reporting System and Electronic Logbooks. The SERTICA Fleet Management System not only ensures safe, environmentally friendly operation and minimizes costs, but also optimizes maintenance efforts, increases awareness about equipment availability, and monitors the rate of equipment deterioration.

The Vessel Reporting System is a comprehensive solution covering all noon reporting needs as well as standard reports for EU MRV, IMO DCS, CII, and Performance. You even have the flexibility to create your own reports. You can calculate your CII index by setting up reports in the Vessel Reporting System to get an accurate and comprehensive picture of a ship’s carbon emissions and energy efficiency. Vessel reporting simplifies daily workflows, increases quality of data, and connects all stakeholders to one report. The Vessel Reporting System (VRS) not only helps ships and operators comply with current reporting regulations but also prepares and adapts them for future challenges from a more and more interconnected world.

SERTICA Electronic Logbooks are designed to adhere to the relevant MARPOL regulations and circulars, assisting shipping companies in collecting data to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The software is capable of fully replacing the paper copy of register books, reducing paperwork on board, enhancing the reliability of the records, and their compliance with international regulations.

The implementation of digital solutions can provide a strategic advantage through data-driven solutions. By analyzing data collected over extended periods, businesses can make informed decisions that improve performance and efficiency on a daily basis.

Christoph Lücke

Project Head of Hamburg Messe und Congress’ maritime trade fairs SMM, MARINE INTERIORS Cruise & Ferry Global Expo, and Seatrade Europe

SMM & Marine Interiors: Maritime industry meets digitalization

Optimised route planning, streamlined processes, smart warning systems: digitalisation makes shipping safer and cleaner. At SMM & MARINE INTERIORS, leading companies will present their solutions and products. Greek companies will play a key part.

The temperature inside container HLBU9468044 isn’t 15 but 22 centigrade. That is a problem. The container transports Belgian chocolate for a supermarket chain based in Montreal, Canada. And that chocolate is about to melt. But the orange-coloured tracking device on the container sends an alarm signal just in time. Within 30 minutes a technician is able to resolve the problem while the customer is watching it all remotely using an app. “Containers fitted with tracking devices when they leave the depot are always fully visible to us, and will be so to our customers in a next step, as well – no matter whether they are travelling by lorry, train or river barge or are stored at a warehouse,” explains Dr Maximilian Rothkopf, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. The Hamburg-based shipping company is the world’s first to equip all of its steel boxes, some 1.6 million in total, with trackers. Rothkopf is convinced the enhanced transparency will help improve control of today’s strained supply chains, for the benefit of customers.

SMM: Driving the maritime transition

Digital tools – as the above example demonstrates – can prevent food from spoilage. About 7 to 15 per cent of products perish in transit, according to estimates of Sea Cube, the US-based refrigerated container leasing company. Other digital tools address even bigger issues: Some can contribute up to 15 per cent to the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals the industry is aiming to achieve by 2050. These include technologies supporting the design, construction and operation of more energy-efficient vessels. Apart from decarbonisation, digitalisation is the other major transformative force driving the development of the shipping industry today. This will be reflected at SMM & MARINE INTERIORS. Last September, as many as 2,000 exhibitors gathered at Hamburg’s exhibition halls for the event themed “Driving the Maritime Transition”. In the MarineInteriors@SMM section, suppliers to passenger vessel operators showcased their innovative products and solutions. From new technologies for the engine room or bridge to interior furnishings and equipment, and through to interior design and health management, there was a clear focus on sustainability. Certain questions are keeping shipowners, shipyards and suppliers up at night, such as: How can we implement the maritime energy transition as quickly as possible? What digital solutions can help us accomplish this? Numerous suppliers highlighted their smart solutions at the fair, including Greek companies such as the navigation and route planning experts from Orbyt Global. Analiyses Ltd and Uteco likewise are regular exhibitors at SMM: They supply highly sensitive sensing devices such as those used in projects like Hapag Lloyd’s container tracking initiative.

First-rate specialist conferences at SMM

especially the Maritime Future Summit (MFS), is another source of important technical insights. Focused on digital technology, this conference traditionally heralds the beginning of the leading international maritime trade fair. At SMM, decarbonisation and digitalisation go hand in hand. Our objective last year was mainly to highlight ways to interlink digital technologies.

One perfect platform to do so is Digital Twins: These virtual ships simulate all equipment, machinery, networks and control systems on board a vessel, interconnecting and integrating them in cyberspace. Digital twins provide a means to optimise the operational efficiency of ships by analysing and improving route and operational planning during a voyage. They can also be used to maximise cargo space utilisation and minimise the carbon footprint of entire fleets. For example, the classification society DNV uses digital twins in ship surveys: “Using 3D models of ship hulls we can plan drone flights precisely. This allows us to collect inspection data in a safer, more economical and more reliable manner while providing decision support to our customers,” said Pierre Sames, Senior Vice President at DNV Maritime. Plankton, algae and mussels growing on the bow and propeller can increase a ship’s fuel consumption by more than 30 per cent in extreme cases.

AI at SMM: More than state-of-the-art

Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes saving potential to the next level: For example, the RASMUS project predicts surface currents. While weather routing, accounting for known ocean currents such as the Gulfstream, has long been state-of-the-art in modern fleet management systems, RASMUS now forecasts smaller, temporary currents. It can be used in an AI-optimised route planning environment to lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions by as much as eight to ten per cent, according to scientists at the GEOMAR research centre in Kiel, Germany.

AI can also be applied in crew support tools. The B-ZERO project allows crew members to leave the bridge unattended temporarily: “It is not our goal to develop unmanned ‘ghost ships’ but to support the crew and increase safety on board by helping them mitigate the risk of incidents due to human error,” said Lennart Swoboda, Head of Autonomy at the shipbuilding company Bernhard Schulte which is involved in the B-ZERO project. To accomplish that, numerous sensors fitted to the vessel monitor its environment. A smart system then processes this information in real time, triggering appropriate responses, such as an instruction to change course.

MARINE INTERIORS: Smart cruising

The passenger shipping segment is likewise on course for a digital future. In fact, it is considered the technology avant-garde of commercial shipping. This will be evident at the MARINE INTERIORS Cruise & Ferry Global Expo, powered by SMM, which will take place in Hamburg as a stand-alone fair again from 06 to 08 September 2023. It focuses on interior design, outfitting and innovative technologies for cruise ships and ferries. Once again, sustainability will be one of the key themes, along with digitalisation. Among the participating companies is Hamburg-based Innovaze Media, a supplier specialising in consultancy, design, 3D visualisation and engineering of entertainment and media systems on cruise ships. “MARINE INTERIORS offers a unique platform to showcase our innovative solutions and services to a wider professional audience from the shipbuilding and maritime industry,” says Innovaze CEO Malte Polli-Holstein.

Many international exhibitors are expected to attend, including Decon, a Greek outfitter that was involved in building the MSC World Europa. The luxury cruise liner launched in 2022 not only boasts LNG-powered solid-oxide fuel cell technology (SOFC) but also advanced on-board entertainment systems featuring VR elements. The ship’s unusual hull shape is the result of thorough engineering work at MSC: “We design our ships to achieve optimal hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, as well as maximise energy und fuel efficiency,” the shipping company states in its sustainability report. Similar to the ‘big sister’ trade fair SMM, Marine Interiors will feature a conference programme. Focal topics will include design and interior outfitting of cruise ships and ferries; passenger ships as innovation drivers; and how the future of cruising can be sustainable both culturally and in terms of technology. Design meets digitalisation: Planning activities for MARINE INTERIORS are in full swing. We are looking forward to seeing numerous exhibitors and enjoying fascinating conferences that will make shipping smarter. You are cordially invited to be part of it!

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