Developments in the maritime sector:

Digitisation is making its way up

July 2021, by Marten Jan Visser - Digitisation in the maritime sector is on the rise because the reluctance that initially predominated has made way for some cautious enthusiasm. More and more skippers and shipping companies are now experiencing its advantages, such as:
 

  • early detection of failures and thus avoiding downtime
  • improved maintenance planning thanks to insight into the operating hours and condition of the engine systems
  • optimisation of engine efficiency
  • fuel savings and CO2 reduction

It is therefore expected that the use of digital technology is about to boom. But what does that mean in concrete terms? Which digital solutions are already available and what does the digitised future look like? And, most importantly, what’s in it for shipping companies and skippers?

Developments in the maritime sector


From a standard maintenance contract to proactive monitoring with a connectivity solution
 

When you purchase an engine for a seagoing or inland vessel, you naturally want the engine maintenance to be proper and efficient. A standard maintenance contract covers regular maintenance well. And after that maintenance, engine performance is checked as well and possible adjusted.

However, digital solutions offer new, better ways to perform maintenance. In addition, increasingly stringent requirements are imposed on shipping companies and skippers, especially in terms of the environmental impact. To comply with these requirements, proactive monitoring of the engine system is indispensable and digital technology is particularly suitable for this.

For example, the engine system data collected in the Pon Power Remote Fleet Vision application provides insight into fuel consumption and other engine data, including current faults.

Remote Fleet Vision (RFV) is a so-called connectivity solution, which can be included as an additional service in the maintenance contract. Important engine system data is collected together with oil sample results in the CAT Cloud and displayed on a dashboard.

This dashboard, which is available at my.cat.com, and the underlying data can be viewed on your desktop and laptop and on your smartphone, via the RFV app.


 

Not just access to data, but insight as well

 

A digital solution such as RFV not only gives you access to data, but also insight and that is exactly what this is all about. Because based on that insight, you can take timely steps to save fuel, prevent downtime and improve the engine efficiency of your fleet. On balance, this results in cost savings and CO2 reduction.

“I don’t have time to digest the data each day”

 

This is something we regularly hear from shipping companies and skippers. They recognise the usefulness and necessity of digital solutions, certainly in connection with the increasingly strict environmental requirements, but they lack the time or manpower to make it a more structural part of their operations. Besides, access to data is often fragmented.

The digital future of maintenance in the maritime sector

 

The Dutch maritime sector aims to become a zero-emissions sector. Digitisation plays a role in this, in addition to the use of new energy sources, including methanol and hydrogen.
 

However, the main role of digitisation is making maintenance more efficiently. New, better ways of maintenance are already available, such as:
 

  • insight into engine system data with Remote Fleet Vision (RFV)
  • the 24/7 Alarm Support monitoring service that allows for active and preventive responding, instead of responding reactively and afterwards

In the future, advances in digitisation will only open up more possibilities, such as condition-dependent maintenance and the prediction of failures. Pon Power follows all these developments closely. 

Regardless of what else the digital future holds, the reduction in fuel consumption and downtime resulting from RFV in combination with monitoring alone yields the necessary (environmental) benefits. It is therefore expected that more and more shipping companies and skippers will take the step from gaining insight in engine system data to the active monitoring thereof.

More information


Would you like to know more about this topic? Please feel free to contact me, Marten Jan Visser.