Advances in connectivity, cloud-based solutions, predictive maintenance and fuel monitoring data will all boost passenger ship operations
Advances in connectivity will have a positive impact on cruise connectivity.
Inmarsat’s newly announced service Orchestra will have many benefits. Inmarsat senior vice president, safety and security Peter Broadhurst tells PST, “In a traditional orchestra, the output is more than the sum of the individual components, which is what we are doing here.”
Inmarsat’s Orchestra offering includes adding a layer of 5G terrestrial hotspots and LEO satellites. It will continue its current roll out of satellites, with six more launches planned up to 2024 and is also expanding its L-band network.
Mr Broadhurst comments, “All of this combined will give ubiquitous communications for any user. We manage the service and give them the service level to meet their expectations.”
Explaining the principle behind the layer of hotspots, he says, “When cruise ships come together, the demand is huge. This is usually in ports and in significant places of interest. If we set up our own services on the shoreside in these places, we can take ourselves off satellite and meet the expectations ourselves from our shoreside facility. The cruise industry doesn’t have to worry, and we can just deliver.”
All the 5G terrestrial hotspots will have been launched by the end of 2023 and in 2024 Inmarsat will launch its first LEO satellite.
Elsewhere, Inmarsat has expanded its presence in the expedition cruise sector, with three Galapagos vessels contracts recently signed for its Fleet Xpress service. The broadband service will meet guest connectivity needs for Quasar Expeditions’ luxury yachts Grace and Evolution and the Kleintours’ cruise ship Galapagos Legend, following two contracts signed with owners by Inmarsat partner Comsatel.
Mr Broadhurst comments, “Our unique selling point is we are truly global and expedition cruise ships want to go off the beaten track. If they use us, they have global connectivity.
“Our partner Comsatel in Galapagos has a managed connectivity, which allows them to control when their passengers can use the service. This is a natural arrangement for expedition cruise ships.”
Predictive maintenance: fast-growing
Elsewhere, ABB’s cloud-based solutions for ship operators are divided into three offerings: asset management, vessel operation optimisation and fleet operation centres.
In terms of asset management, all new vessels with ABB’s propulsion solution on board are digitally enabled and connected to ABB’s assets for support, with condition monitoring and remote support capabilities installed. There are currently some 450 vessels subscribed.
ABB Marine and Ports Head of Service Jyri Jusslin tells PST, “10 years back, we established collaborative operation centres around the world. Everything is in the cloud, and with AI and machine learning, we are getting better and better and becoming more predictive, based on the data.”
Indeed, he singles out predictive maintenance as being a fast-growing, significant trend. “When you have this data, you can see what is happening in one vessel and with the fleet view too, you can predict and say ‘could that happen on other vessels?’ Predictive maintenance is now coming with the data we have.”
By knowing beforehand when something might need work, it means any work can be done at port, not during the voyage, saving both time and money.
In the vessel operation optimisation area, ABB offers its Seakeeping software to help the crew to navigate safely and to avoid excessive ship motions taking wave measurement, weather forecast, ship characteristics and loading condition into consideration.
“It constantly monitors weather changes so you can be sure both cargo and crew are safe during the voyage or during a heavy-lift operation. We have technology to follow 24/7, which gives us the opportunity to be on time,” says Mr Jusslin.
With its latest developments, ABB Marine and Ports is planning to launch a first-of-its-kind initiative with Wallenius Marine, to provide fleet support as a service to ship managers and operators.
Called OVERSEA, the partnership combines the expertise and experience by the ship management company with ABB’s digital capabilities and deploys the ABB Ability Genix digital platform.
Saving thousands through data
Meanwhile, shipowners and operators can save thousands of dollars a day by using data from fuel monitoring to cut consumption.
They will need to cut gaseous emissions from fleets through fuel monitoring and benchmarking to meet tightening environmental regulations, attendees heard during Riviera Maritime Media’s Fuel monitoring: connecting to compliance and fuel savings webinar.
This event, sponsored by FuelTrax, Innospec and Viswa Group, was held 26 May 2022 during Riviera’s Asia Maritime Webinar Week.
The expert panel was made up of Viswa Group business development manager Ganesh Natarajan, FuelTrax vice president of operations John Donovan, Wilhelmsen Ship Management head of data and performance management Øyvind Stordal and Innospec head of sales and marketing in Asia Pacific for marine and fuel specialities Martin Chew.
Mr Stordal explained why fuel monitoring and emissions management will become more important for shipowners and operators as environmental regulations are enforced.
He said IMO’s upcoming carbon intensity indicator (CII) and the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) will impact shipping costs and drive owners to lower emissions.
“Shipowners need to prepare for new regulations,” Mr Stordal said. “There could be a huge financial impact on shipping as a whole.”
Shipowners, operators and managers will need to initiate actions to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by involving crews and monitoring performance.
Wilhelmsen has introduced an active performance and compliance monitoring system for its shipowner clients to manage and plan their operations as regulations come into force.
Mr Donovan presented the benefits of electronically monitoring fuel on vessels using independent sensors and communications networks.
FuelTrax has been installed on 720 vessels, mainly those supporting the offshore oil and gas sector where chartering energy companies are keen on monitoring fuel use and bunkering.
“Charterers want standardised suites of sensors for equalised data across fleets,” said Mr Donovan. “They want data from stabilised Coriolis mass flow sensors for electronic fuel management with auditable accuracy that is independent from other ship systems.”
This way, data is not derived from crew readings in noon reports or unqualified sensors.
FuelTrax measures engine consumption, tank levels and fuel transfers. Data on the position and speed of the vessel comes from the Global Navigation Satellite System, particularly US-backed GPS, which Mr Donovan said is more accurate than the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
Ship information is transmitted in real-time over bidirectional communications L-band, particular Iridium satellites, to the FuelNet web portal. Data is sent encrypted at one-minute resolution along with remote calibration and automatic software updates.
FuelNet is a cloud-based portal, which tracks assets in real-time with automatic consumption reporting and operational alerts.
Mr Natarajan discussed how benchmarking lubricant oil and fuels can save money for shipowners and operators. Viswa Group has developed methodologies using algorithms to calculate the quality of lube oil and its potential effect on ship engines.
“We devised the algorithm with input from science, lab-based tests and instrument results,” he explained. “This algorithm converts qualitative data into quantitative for a particular oil versus another.”
Shipowners can make tangible savings from benchmarking lubricants. Mr Natarajan said owners could save more than US$700M from selecting more effective lube oil with better performance qualities to prevent unplanned maintenance and extend overhauls.
“For this instance, the savings have been calculated based on the technical specifications of a vessel with a 10-MW main engine and four 750-kW auxiliary engines,” Mr Natarajan said.
Calculated total annual savings would be US$14,680 per ship. “For a fleet of 50 such vessels this would be US$734,000.”
Mr Natarajan said a similar service has been developed for heavy fuel oil and very low sulphur fuel oils. “We are looking at energy potential from fuels, looking at the energy density, calorific value and combustion properties of fuels,” he said.
Benchmarking fuels could lead to savings in consumption and emissions of at least 5%.
Mr Chew explained how shipowners can get more efficient engine combustion by using fuels with a catalytic additive.
“Our catalyst brings more oxygen into the fuel, which means the fuel has more energy when burning,” he said, adding fuels can have up to 40% better burn because there is a more complete combustion.
“We treat fuel precombustion, making it more homogenous and preventing fuel lost as sludge,” said Mr Chew. It improves atomisation and separation efficiency at this stage.
During combustion, this fuel additive improves ignition by reducing ignition delay and raises the release of energy. Because of the cleaner combustion, there is less soot and particulates in exhaust emissions.
“Our catalyst reduces fuel consumption and makes engines more efficient,” said Mr Chew.
