MAKING DATA FROM SHIPS ACCESSIBLE

Vessel Insight has been developed to transmit quality data from ship to cloud via the Internet at a reasonable price. A boat has many systems, such as propulsion, engine, scrubber and navigation. Obtaining data from these systems can be both difficult and expensive. The advantage is that the data can be used to make ships smarter, safer and more efficient.

KONGSBERG has now launched a solution it hopes will become the standard for the maritime industry.

“What we’ve developed is a standard solution to obtain data from ships and store it in the cloud. It’s not a product as such — it’s an infrastructure. When the data has been uploaded to the cloud, we can make products based on this data. Alternatively, the data can be accessed on board. Both of these approaches are possible”, says Christian Møller, Chief Technology Officer at Kongsberg Digital.

AN INVITATION TO OTHER SUPPLIERS

The solution is based on the principle that the service should be open to everyone.

“Through standardisation and by putting our cards on the table, we can invite other suppliers to get involved; they can also connect and get data from their products uploaded to the cloud”, Christian Møller explains.

“The problem today is that if suppliers have their own infrastructure solutions, the boat owner ends up with 15 different data transport solutions. Then the data becomes diluted, it gets expensive and there is no standardisation in the industry.”

“With KONGSBERGs’s influence in the industry, and bearing in mind our size, it makes a lot of sense for us to take on this role. The feedback from a lot of sup-pliers is that this is something they’re really pleased about — the fact that someone is building a standard infrastructure for data transport. Using this infrastructure, they can create services and applications in the cloud that add value for the customer. This is the direction we are moving in”, says Christian Møller.

DATABOX INSTALLED ONBOARD

Vessel Insight will be able to access data from every system on board a ship and store it in the cloud. The system will be simple to install via a databox, which sends the data from the ship to the cloud.

The data can then be processed in real time. When the data is consolidated, shipping companies will have a total digital overview of the performance of the ships in their fleet. It is installed using a databox, and the service is subscription-based.

“The solution consists of a standard PC running software to extract the data and send it to the cloud. The solution encompasses applications that take care of safety, keys, access and access control and local storage when the ship is not connected to the Internet”, says Christian Møller.

“What has the feedback been like here at Nor-Shipping?”

“My experience is that many people think it’s excellent that KONGSBERG wants to solve this problem. If you walk around the trade fair, you will see a lot of companies with equipment that can give you insights when data is transferred to the cloud. However, what’s missing is a simple and cost-efficient way of transporting this data. Many people are saying that we have now solved a problem for the industry; an obstacle to progress in the digitisation process. Our intention is to make this as cheap as possible as it will be on a large scale. So, my gut feeling about Vessel Insight is very good”, Møller concludes.