The 2019 SMART4SEA Conference successfully concluded on Wednesday 30st of January, at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) at the Bookcastle of the National Library of Greece, attracting 600 delegates representing a total of 270 organizations.
The event was organized by SAFETY4SEA, having SQEMARINE and Wärtsilä as lead sponsors. Other sponsors were: ABS, Arcadia Shipmanagement Co Ltd, Blue Planet Shipping Ltd (BPS), Capital Shipmanagement, CHANDRIS HELLAS INC., ClassNK, Costamare Shipping Company SA, Digital Shadows/ Nisos Advisors, Dorian LPG, GTMaritime, Hudson Analytix, Latsco Marine Management Inc, MacGregor, METIS Cyberspace Technology, MINERVA Marine, Navarino, NAVTOR, Neptune Lines, Orpheus Marine Transport Corporation (OMTC), Propulsion Analytics, RISK4SEA, SQEACADEMY, Tototheo Group, Tsakos Group of Companies, Vessel Performance Solutions ApS, V.Ships and WinGD
The event gathered experts across the maritime industry who discussed how smart technology trends affect the industry on the field of digitalization, connectivity and autonomous shipping. Inspiring presentations and panel discussions also shed focus on mitigation measures for cyber threat which is arising as an increasingly challenging topic over the last years. Presentations were given in six panels as follows:
Panel No. 1 – The Brave New World
Apostolos Belokas, Managing Editor, SAFETY4SEA, opened the event providing an overview of the technologies expected to transform shipping, varying from big data applications to autonomous systems. He continued by citing key developments on the field of cyber security, ship autonomy, blockchain technology and digitalization in the past year, concluding his speech with the smart shipping challenges expected ahead.
Andreas Chrysostomou, Chief Strategy Officer, TOTOTHEO, said the near future is expected to form a new era for shipping through technological advancements. In the 2020s, he noted, we will be looking for optimization of capacity utilization, saving money and time for involved actors, having Just-in-time Arrivals and shorten total turn-around time. These, he added, will be mixed with also a socioeconomic pressure to deliver an environmentally friendly service, low in cost.
Dmitry Kononov, Chief Investment Officer, SHIPNEXT, focused on how blockchain in expected to affect shipping and supply-chains. In this regard, he then described how SHIPNEXT uses blockchain to address mixed communication channels, acting an international Digital Shipping Marketplace that connects industry through a single functional platform.
In her presentation, Carleen Lyden Walker, CEO, SHIPPINGInsight, addressed the challenges facing today’s shipping industry and its vulnerabilities and risks if it doesn’t take action to change the way it conducts business. She also suggested some solutions to mitigate risks which covered incorporating technologies, such as digitalization and automation; embracing blockchain; improve the efficiency of today’s shipping industry; reduce the silos which exist within companies and sectors.
Panel No. 2 – Smart Marine Ecosystems
Giannis Moraitakis, E&A Business and Sales Development, Wärtsilä Greece, highlighted that, as the world is moving toward a more and more connected future, the opportunities offered through smart technology will foster a new era of collaboration and knowledge sharing with customers, suppliers and partners. By applying smart technology owners and operators can deliver greater efficiencies that lead to increased revenues and profitability, enabling also sustainable societies.
Dimitrios V. Lyridis, Associate Professor Director of the Laboratory for Maritime Transport, provided a recap of the Sea Traffic Management (STM) concept, standards, infrastructure and a glimpse to its current status, as well as results of the STM Validation project. He then moved on with a short description of the final implementation in the form of the Ports of Call, focusing on the Mediterranean basin and the implications for global shipping.
Børge Hetland, Sales & Marketing, NAVTOR, shared the company’s experience on e-Navigation during involvement in European Research & Development projects and described how the emerging technology is expected to transform the procedure of Passage Planning in the very near future. Concluding, he highlighted that digital Passage Planning has already started to transform the passage planning process and it will result in enormous time savings when preparing their voyages – which means increased efficiency and consequently cost savings.
Panel No. 3 – Digital Shipping
Jörgen Strandberg, Director Agile business development, Wärtsilä Corporation, discussed the benefits of remote operation and autonomous shipping, noting also how these may pose a competitive threat to conventional shipping. With this respect, he described the business characteristics and rationale of an unmanned transport vehicle in comparison with traditional shipping.
In his presentation, Demetres Armanes, Senior Engineer, ABS, discussed Smart Functions, which are becoming increasingly common onboard marine and offshore vessels, providing crew and support personnel with key information to aid in decision- making. Moving further, he explained how ABS Goal-Based technical requirements and the necessary risk – based Smart Function System assessment, provide a clear validation and verification path toward Smart Functionality.
Athena Kanellatou, Regional Director Mediterranean, Macgregor, and Stefanos Spiriounis, Sales Engineer, Global Lifecycle Support, Macgregor shared the company’s experience on intelligent cargo handling for bulk ships, which are already available to enable safer working conditions and smoother operations. They also presented the vision of remote operation of cranes from port, noting that in the future, autonomous cranes will be the link that connects the vessel to the automated terminal.
Christian Vakarelis, VP Media Communications, Navarino talked about the accelerated pace of technology which is expected to change humanity more in the next 30 years than in the previous 300. With this respect, he also discussed the correlation of crew welfare with connectivity onboard through the ‘Bring your own device’ method.
Panel No. 4 – Smarter Decision Making
Mr. Carmelo Cartalemi, General Manager Business Development, WinGD, and Mr. Panos Theodossopoulos, CEO, Propulsion Analytics, jointly presented a real time Engine Diagnostic System (EDS) available in all WinGD 2-stroke, diesel and dual fuel engines. The two companies collaborated to develop the EDS system that analyses data on the performance of engines/subcomponents in real time and provides live advice to the crew. The data are analyzed using thermophysical simulation models, machine learning techniques and expert/knowledge-based algorithms and are further used to diagnose and troubleshoot abnormalities allowing to integrate maintenance planning and spare parts inventory.
In his presentation, Soren Vinther Hansen, COO, Vessel Performance Solutions, advised operators on how to structure a clear vessel performance management system, including a summary of the data logging process, how to validate the logged data, the analysis results and how to use the KPIs for decision support. He also provided an overview of the systematic feedback loop needed for the different stakeholders involved in the performance management process.
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, calculating KPIs, and making complex prognostics and diagnostics.
Panel No. 5 – Cyber Security
Cynthia Hudson, CEO, HudsonAnalytix, provided a discussion on Cyber Incident Response to share insight on immediate need to establish the method/means to respond to a Cyber Incident. Mrs. Hudson suggested that a response organization headed by an appointed Cyber QI or similar in the US, (CQI), Cyber Incident Response Team (CINT) and Cyber Incident Response Organization (CIRO) be strongly considered during the planning, training and exercise process of Cyber Incident Readiness.
Isidoros Monogioudis, Senior Security Architect, Digital Shadows, and Stavros Katsoulis, Managing Partner, Strategic Security Consulting, Nisos Advisors presented the current landscape surrounding maritime cyber threat. In this regard, they provided an overview of cyber threats for vessels and for the wider maritime sector, including ports, rigs, and offices. They concluded the presentation with next steps on cyber security, arguing that maritime digital exposure is getting bigger and that the future is “compliant” so either way companies will have to enforce cyber security measures.
Robert Kenworthy, CEO of GTMaritme, discussed the statistics and trends of data that they see across the vessels using their services. Namely, he offered a unique insight into the data and emails that are being transferred and highlighted the various areas that this data can become vulnerable to Cyberattack. Concluding, he offered advice on how these can be mitigated as best practice.
Joe Walsh, Collier Walsh LLP, briefed delegates on “Myths and Realities” associated with recovery from a cyber incident, highlighting how perceptions may impact a recovery. Emphasizing prevention in the first instance, he identified key recovery concepts: being mindful of stakeholder expectations; management’s full and holistic engagement with resistance against delegating cyber readiness responsibilities; and a meaningful response plan that is exercised regularly. Mr. Walsh concluded with considerations for investigating cyber breaches.
Chris Bhatt, Global Sales Director, Marine, AON provided an overview of the current landscape on marine insurance for cyber risk, noting that dependence on data changes the risk profile, being one of the fastest growing areas of concern in the maritime industry. With this respect, he emphasized on organizations’ ‘I won’t get attacked’ current philosophy, noting that hope is not a strategy.
Closing the event, Apostolos Belokas as the Forum Chairman thanked the delegates for their participation, the sponsors for their support, the speakers for their presentations and the organizing team of the event for their contribution towards forum objectives.
Explore more about the event at https://events.safety4sea.com/2019-smart4sea-conference/ and find photos photos at Flickr. Save the date for the upcoming SAFETY4SEA events and learn details about our busy agenda at https://events.safety4sea.com/.
