A good seaman has always had to consider weather, navigation and make fast decisions based on the data before him. Today, smart shipping entails using more digital technologies and improved machines, data from different inputs, which makes for safer, more cost-efficient, and more sustainable ships.
“Smart shipping means using digital technology. More hardware, smarter software, and more data. The goal for smart shipping is that seafaring will be safer, more efficient, and sustainable. For me a smart ship is highly digitalized and comprehensively connected,” says Carlos Jahn, professor and dr. at Hamburg University of Technology Institute of Maritime Logistics and director at Fraunhofer CML, who gave a keynote on smart shipping.
Smart Shipping entails a large scale of things, such as enhanced situational awareness, smarter navigation, more data on traffic, weather, and information from ports. Technical equipment, and smarter engines is also a large part of smart shipping. It is also about automation on knowledge work, meaning big data analytics – which can give support in decision making at sea, and work towards autonomous systems.
The smart ship concept, driven by a wide range of digital technologies, will shape the future of shipping.
“Extensive applied research and development is needed to exploit the promising potentials and new market opportunities for the maritime industry. I am convinced that our Finnish-German cooperation offers excellent conditions for R&D and innovation activities needed to exploit these potentials”, says Carlos Jahn.
Hans-Christoph Burmeister, director at FIP-S2@Novia, from Fraunhofer CML, gave a short introduction to the innovation platform. The project will take on global challenges in the industry, by using is an integrated simulation-based and mixed reality testing and development facility.
“Our platform will be based on the already existing simulation-based and mixed-reality testing and development facility that Novia is operating here in Turku. We will use this for a quick and cost-efficient prototyping, validation, and verification of innovative ship solutions. Combining human factor, ship operation as well as maritime logistics domain knowledge and state-of-the-art software technologies tailored specifically to maritime market needs.”
The industries challenges are the same all over the world. Digitalization is the key, and the overall challenges are cost-intensive customization, lack of skills, standards, and tests.
“And we will try to find solutions to these challenges. At the end of the day, it’s about combining simulation environments for different cases in smart shipping.”, says Burmeister.
The projects Research, development and innovation activities will focus on three areas; Digitize Ship operation, capitals Digitize Nautical Education, Digitize Shipping and Shipbuilding
The Kick-off also contained keynotes from Karno Tenovuo, Jaakko Wilska, Wilhelm Gustafsson and Sinikka Hartonen. You can listen in to the keynotes on Fip-s2.fi.
