Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has introduced its Smart Marine Ecosystem vision in an effort to organize developments taking place in the shipping industry through the use of high levels of connectivity and digitalisation.

“The world is moving towards a future that is more and more connected, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the shipping sector. The opportunities offered through smart technology will foster a new era of collaboration and knowledge sharing with customers, suppliers and partners,” Roger Holm, President, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions, said.

Marine industry players are faced with major sources of inefficiency that impose a significant negative impact on business operations and profitability.

These inefficiencies can be considered as ‘waste’; the three most notable sources of such waste being overcapacity, inadequate port-to-port fuel efficiency, and time wasted waiting when entering ports and other high traffic areas. Eliminating this waste forms the basis of Wärtsilä’s strategy towards ecosystem thinking.

According to the company, shared capacity will improve fill rates and reduce unit costs; big data analytics will optimise both operations and energy management; intelligent vessels will enable automated and optimised processes; and smart ports will result in smoother and faster port operations.

“In the future, we shall be looking more holistically at customer business operations. Instead of optimising a single vessel, we may be optimising a fleet, or even the customer’s business. In the long term, vessel-as-a-service becomes the ultimate means of providing asset and lifecycle management services,” Pierpaolo Barbone, President, Wärtsilä Services, said.

Wärtsilä has already opened one Digital Acceleration Centre (DAC), located in Helsinki, to speed up innovation and to co-create with customers a range of new business models and solutions. These include the industry’s most advanced intelligent vessel and other ground-breaking projects. A second DAC is scheduled to open in Singapore in December, and during 2018 two more will be opened in Central Europe and North America.

Image Courtesy: Wärtsilä