In the ongoing battle of improving, the shipping industry has made the greatest ally; Digitalization. The smart era has already been useful for the sector, while the advancement in the maritime industry has called for the development of autonomous ships, presenting the motion of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS).
Automation and autonomy play a significant role in the shipping industry, paving the way for a more digitalized future and enabling the industry deal with its current smart challenges. Yet, there is confusion between those two terms; so what do we mean when we talk about automation and autonomy within the maritine industry?
A new program provides blueprints for digitalisation, service innovation and information flows in maritime transport. Namely, DIMECC Sea for Value programme (S4V) aims to prepare for autonomous operations and navigation.
Wärtsilä’s Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) will be delivered in the Port of Callao, in Peru, on January 2021 to ensure that port operations will be conducted in a safe manner, given that the port is frequently dealing with fog and haze.
ClassNK, Japan Marine United (JMU), and NAPA have carried out a joint feasibility study on 3D model based plan approval using 3D CAD models as part of their technical investigation project.
The weather service provider, StormGeo along with the Norwegian classification society, DNV GL shake their hands and inked an MoU in order to further develop digitalization and accelerate maritime data sharing within the maritime community.
Mr. Tor A. Svanes, Managing Director, NAVTOR AS –who recently received the 2020 SMART4SEA Leadership award for his valuable contribution in the e-navigation field – shares his perspective on the the future of navigation. Among many important things to consider in the digital era, Mr. Svanes highlights that one platform for the exchange of all navigational information is vital as well as a new approach on ECDIS.
Mikael Lind, Associate Professor and Senior strategic research advisor at Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) in Sweden and Chalmers and Juan Carlos Croston is VP Marketing & Corporate Affairs with Manzanillo International Terminal (Panama), state that ship agents have an important monitoring role.
The technology group Wärtsilä in collaboration with PSA Marine successfully completed IntelliTug project’s sea trials. In fact, through their initiative both sides aim to further enable autonomous navigation.
Reports have arose that the live map by the Johns Hopkins University has been cyber attacked by hackers who are selling malware claiming to compromise the map and infect users. It has been stated that cyber crime has been dramatically increased, as BBC also reported the rise of phishing emails after tracking down “campaigns” asking for money and personal data.
