New centre for maritime digitalisation launched in Singapore

The new centre aims to increase sustainability, safety and efficiency in Singapore’s maritime ecosystem, by translating research capabilities in computational modelling, simulation and artificial intelligence (AI) into deployable maritime solutions. The centre, led by A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), will partner Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), industry partners and public sector agencies on collaborative research in key areas such as:

• Studying various scenarios in the electrification of harbour crafts and their impact on infrastructure and operational activities in Singapore waters.
• Decarbonising the maritime sector with sustainable technologies, for example using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in tidal turbine designs to convert kinetic energy of moving water into green electricity.
• Conducting CFD-based risk assessments and mitigation for the safe use and storage of alternative fuels.
• Detecting near-collision events of ship manoeuvring in port waters and providing AI models and explainable outputs to reduce traffic safety risks.
• Improving efficiency by advancing AI research in areas including Just In Time (JIT) operations, predictive maintenance, emissions monitoring and reduction, and supply chain intelligence.

We look forward to contributing to maritime digitalisation and enhancing Singapore’s competitiveness in the maritime sector

…said Dr Su Yi, Executive Director, A*STAR’s IHPC.

Mr Bernard Wong, Head (Fleet Management) of PSA Marine also stated that through  collective efforts, they hope to contribute towards a safer and more sustainable maritime sector in Singapore.

Maritime AI Research Programme and inking of Master Agreement Framework

The Maritime AI Research Programme is a flagship initiative hosted under A*STAR’s C4MD to deploy AI technologies in the maritime industry. The programme is funded by the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI), and will help maritime companies develop the necessary capabilities to implement AI solutions and overcome barriers to adoption.

The programme will strengthen Maritime Singapore’s AI capabilities and competitiveness, and we look forward to welcoming more industry partners.

said Mr Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

As part of the Maritime AI Research Programme, A*STAR has inked a master agreement framework with seven industry partners to co-develop AI and other digital technologies for a safer, more efficient and more sustainable maritime industry. The framework was formalised at the MarineTech Conference held as part of the Singapore Maritime Week.

The seven industry partners are: American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, ClassNK, METIS Cyberspace Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd, MTI Co. Ltd., PSA Marine (Pte) Ltd and ShipsFocus Services Pte Ltd.

As Mr David Barrow, VP Marine & Offshore, South Asia Zone, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore and Yukihito Fujinami, Corporate Officer, ClassNK both stated, both parties look forward to collaborating for a safer and more sustainable future of the maritime sector.

Initial projects under the Maritime AI Research Programme include near collision detection, predictive maintenance, launch boat optimisation, and energy consumption prediction.

MTI, as the R&D arm of NYK Line, has strengths in applying advanced technologies such as AI, simulation and optimisation to ship design and operation, and we hope to raise our technology level by participating in the Maritime AI Research Programme.

..said Dr Hideyuki Ando, Director, MTI Co., Ltd.

Initial projects under the maritime ai research programme

• Near-Collision Detection (Partners: A*STAR’s IHPC, PSA Marine)

Automatic detection of near-miss collision cases within port waters is needed to review and analyse maritime collision risks. Further analysis of detected cases will help in finding out the causes of the high-risk cases and potential factors leading to accidents.

• Predictive Maintenance for Marine Vessels Partners: (A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR’s IHPC, PSA Marine, ABS)

These solutions predict failures of the components and trigger notifications, allowing engineers on board to take preventive action before occurrence, thus saving outlays due to unplanned downtime of the vessel and improving reliability of the vessel performance. According to Dr Gu Hai, ABS Vice
President, Innovation Research Center, this technology and this project have significant potential to contribute to the development of a more sustainable industry.

• Optimisation of Launch Boat Services for Maximising Resource Utilisation and Reduction of GHG Emission Phase 1 (Partners: A*STAR’s IHPC, ShipsFocus)

This collaborative research project aims to develop technologies that streamline the booking consolidation and scheduling process for launch boats, leading to larger passenger groups per trip, higher utilisation of a launch boat and reduced fleet size. In addition, this could also reduce surface-level traffic and free up sea space.

• Pre-study for Maritime Data and AI Modelling Excellence Research Considering the Case of Vessel Energy Consumption Prediction (Partners: A*STAR’s IHPC, BV)

This research aims to study the data and modelling excellence for maritime vessel energy consumption prediction and ensure practical applicability for real-world deployment, considering different concerns and digital maturity among all parties involved. This pre-study phase will initialise this research and identify other suitable maritime industry partners for the full-scale research.

The capabilities of AI-based data analytics offer shipping new ways to overcome its most pressing challenges, including decarbonisation

…said Eleni Polychronopoulou, President & CEO, METIS Cyberspace Technology.

We are happy to contribute ShipsFocus’ domain experience and expertise in the maritime supply chains and technological applications to this collaboration

…stated Mr Chua Chye Poh, Founder, ShipsFocus Services Pte Ltd.

To remind, a Hafnia-led digital start-up venture studio ‘Studio 30 50’, was launched earlier this month  in collaboration with DNV, Wilhelmsen, IMC Ventures and Microsoft, that aims to identify new solutions to address a broad range of ESG topics concerning the maritime industry, while also funding innovative proposals built by startups which seek to improve efficiencies across the whole maritime supply chain. Furthermore, last year Aramco launched the Aramco Research Center at KAUST (ARC KAUST), which aims to accelerate the development of low-carbon solutions for the energy industry using advanced analytics.