Maritime players plotting pathways to data collaboration with digital projects in line with new BV-backed research study.

Digital technologies are increasingly being leveraged by shipping players to facilitate data collaboration among different actors in areas like ship design, vessel performance and port calls as a new Thetius research study backed by Bureau Veritas (BV) shows this will be vital to drive decarbonization, an OrbitMI-hosted panel heard at the recent Shipping Insight event in the US.

“Data-powered, collaborative innovation is the essential ingredient that can further accelerate the transformation of the industry. We believe that digitalisation is a foundation for innovation as it allows for faster, richer and more efficient collaboration,” BV Marine & Offshore’s VP Digital Solutions & Transformation Laurent Hentges states in the foreword to the Thetius report, entitled Common Interest.

Several data-sharing initiatives under way across shipping were highlighted by the panel that demonstrated the traditionally conservative industry is slowly breaking down barriers to collaboration in an area that is seen as highly sensitive due to issues such as competition and data protection.
US-based RoRo operator ARC is applying digitalization across three main areas – safety, quality of life for seafarers and efficiency – in a rapid push towards vessel automation through installation of mesh wifi networks with sensors for an Internet of Things (IoT) onboard, as well as use of AI-based voyage optimization and automated reporting to ease the workload for captains, ARC’s SVP head of operations Fred Finger said.