IoT solutions present innovative opportunities for streamlining processes and solving problems, and the maritime industry is certainly no exception. Applying IoT solutions to the maritime industry has been shown to increase the efficacy of shipping operations via various analytic, monitoring, and communication technologies. Sounds pretty good, right? Let’s get into it.
Continuous Improvement Facilitated by IoT
Carrying out the everyday operations of a shipping vessel is a complicated endeavour which requires special attention to maximize revenue. With the analytic capabilities of IoT solutions, figuring out what specific processes can be improved is essential to sustaining economical operations.
Optimized Data with 5G Technologies and LPWAN
All sorts of ships in the maritime industry have traditionally relied on VSAT satellite connections for their communication and navigational needs. However, the advent of 5G, LoRAWAN and proliferation of low-earth orbit satellites have opened up a whole new set of possibilities for fast data and low power sensor networks. This real time data in conjunction with voyage management systems can optimize many systems on a vessel improving operations overall.
IoT Vessel Monitoring Capabilities
Monitoring every applicable aspect of a seafaring vessel using IoT helps its crew and managers gain greater control over the ship. The monitoring of inventory, potential hazards, and utility conditions create an overview which reduces the margin of error and mitigates expenses. With GPS trackers for each shipping container, both the ship’s managers as well as the client can gain better insights into their part in the supply chain. Door and movement sensors can also be fitted to containers so that fleet managers can track vibrations and know whether a door has been opened to determine whether the contents have been compromised. For refrigerated cargo, temperature sensors are a must. Tracking the temperature of a shipment can give managers confidence that they are following safety standards and compliance requirements.
Reduced Energy Consumption
Energy is used throughout every part of the ship to power its many different needs, from operational needs, to cabins, to kitchens, and more. Lighting, HVAC, water, and engine needs can be monitored to automatically control and reduce energy usage.
IoT to Facilitate Equipment Maintenance
By monitoring the various types of equipment used to operate the ship, IoT solutions can help technicians perform condition-based or predictive maintenance. IoT solutions can compare the operational data of a piece of equipment to the data of its failure state to highlight when maintenance is required. The economic value of this type of maintenance is twofold: performing maintenance before equipment failure is less costly than sourcing a replacement, and man-hours expended on interval or scheduled checks are drastically reduced.
Inventory Management Simplified
While at sea, reducing the prevalence of equipment failure is even more critical due to the availability of resources. With cargo and spare parts management systems, workers can focus on inventory without wasting time cataloguing and searching manually. IoT’s real-time inventory tracking systems can quickly source replacement parts, food stores, medicine, commercial cargo, and more.
Reducing the risk of equipment failure, lowering energy usage, and achieving a more informed overview of a ship’s inventory are just a few reasons why applying IoT solutions to the maritime industry is presents enormous opportunities. To learn more about how IoT solutions can transform the maritime industry, contact us at Evolution Data we have some experience in the space.
