Start-ups have the capability to help the maritime industry adopt innovation among the increasing intrusion of digital technologies and lead its transformation. With a maritime backround, their founders may have worked for big maritime companies in the past, but are now exploring ways to work with a much smaller team. This gives them the ability to find solutions quickly.
The video, issued by Stena Line, shows how the Captain and crew onboard the cruise ferry ‘Stena Scandinavica’ are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce the fuel consumption on the Gothenburg – Kiel route, under a pilot study initiated back in September 2018.
Gazprom Neft, part of Russian oil and gas company Gazprom, announced launch of the world’s first ever digital Arctic-logistics management system, aiming to ensure uninterrupted year-round shipments of crude produced and to improve efficiency in logistics management.
Some of the biggest European shipbuilders announced that they have created a new cooperative initiative to develop a connected vessel platform. This project is named Code Kilo and aims to address the digitalisation challenges of various stakeholders. Specifically, EUROYARDS members – Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Damen Shipyards Group, Fincantieri, Lürssen, Meyer Werft, Naval Group and Navantia – collaborated to improve data management solutions and standards.
Nautilus Labs has secured USD 11 million in Series A funding led by M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, along with Root Ventures. Existing and new investors including Quiet Capital, Trail Mix, and Amplifier Lab participated in the round, which brings Nautilus’ total funding raised to USD 14.5 million.
Fujitsu announced the results of a field trial that was conducted with the help of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. This trial analyzed marine traffic risks in the Singapore Strait, with Fujitsu presenting the usefulness of a new ship collision risk prediction technology. This new technology leverages the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in predicting near misses between vessels.
Wood Mackenzie stated that an oil supply gap is approaching. In case that oil demand peaks at 110 million b/d in 2036, the inexorable decline of fields in production or under development today creates a yawning gap of 50 million b/d by the end of that decade.
On March 18, NYK presented its new initiatives, using AI and big data analysis of the dry-bulk market, at a symposium cosponsored by the Japan Shipping Exchange Inc. and the Japan Society of Logistics and Shipping Economics.
DNV GL launched an artificial intelligence research centre in Shanghai, aiming to find solutions to improve its audit, inspection and survey services. DNV GL aims to develop new solutions based on AI technology, such as computer vision. The new research centre will grow up to eight staff by the end of 2019. In addition, blockchain has become a key technology to the company’s assurance operations.
During the 2019 SMART4SEA Conference, Mike Konstantinidis, CEO, METIS Cyberspace Technology, described how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can apply in shipping and improve operations. As such, he talked about the METIS Virtual Agents, the first cyber personal assistant for vessel monitoring & management, interacting with its colleagues in the maritime company via natural language processing.
