Navigating the Maritime Industry with Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence

Navigating the Maritime Industry with IoT and AI
10 July 2019 https://www.cioreview.com/news/navigating-the-maritime-industry-with-iot...

IoT-powered platforms and AI will act as the backbone for the upcoming technological transformations in the Maritime Industry.

FREMONT, CA: Over the last decade, the maritime industry has undergone massive transformations. Technologies are reforming the underlying processes accounting for smarter ships, automation, intelligent cargo tracking and other numerous other advances in the shipping industry. Most of the digital solutions provide a game-changing perspective against the traditional work processes.

With steadily automating operations, improving security, dealing with maintenance proactively, and better visibility across the supply chain, technologies are providing an overall push to the maritime industry. However, for the smooth flow of operations, it is essential that the state-of-the-art devices must interact. Thus, internet of things (IoT) powered platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) will act as the backbone for these technological transformations to complement each other. Here are the major sectors where IoT can provide maximum advantages:

Maritime Process Visibility with IoT

IoT enables a large amount of data from various sources to intelligently interact among themselves. In the case of the shipping industry, it connects multiple components within a ship’s engine room, to fleet management, cargo containers, and ports. The direct implication of IoT is visible in day-to-day operations at sea, port, and a more extensive network of logistics.

For instance, the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which is also one of the busiest ports in the world, has incorporated the technology to utilize the endless stream of information and analyzes the processes in ships in dock, cranes in the yard and individual containers. As a result, its operators can move 20-25 percent more cargoes per hour than any of its competitors in northern Europe.

Smart Decision Capabilities with AI

The massive amount of data from IoT powered equipment provides excellent potential for improvement for a company. However, the data sets must be analyzed and comprehended to actualize the gains from the collected resources. AI recognizes patterns and connects the randomly distributed data sets while proactively guiding operations to keep the freights on the move and in profit.

Microsoft partnered with OOCL to enable the Hong Kong-based shipping company with AI capabilities in a 15-week upgrade. According to Steve Siu, OOCL’s chief information officer, the estimates provided by the AI analysis will save the company about $10 million each year.