Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line) has underlined its commitment to invest in digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming years
Its president and chief executive Yukikazu Myochin said K-Line would invest in AI and internet-of-things (IoT) technologies during 2020 as the group seeks to improve profitability and maintain quality.
“By promoting research and development of various leading technologies and introducing and utilising AI and IoT in our business to meet customers’ needs, we will further enhance our strengths of safety, environment and quality in both tangible and intangible applications,” Mr Myochin said in his 2020 annual address.
K-Line will continue to implement a Japanese-developed remote monitoring platform to enhance the performance of its ships in a fleet that includes car carriers, container ships, tankers and bulk carriers.
K-Line collaborated with Kawasaki Heavy Industries to develop the integrated maritime solution for predictive maintenance and ship optimisation, which has been installed on 170 ships since it was unveiled in 2018.
According to Mr Myochin, the K-IMS platform enables the organisation to monitor and analyse data from most onboard equipment.
“It is an integrated ship operation and performance management system that can collect, monitor, and analyse up to 2,000 items of operational data every 30 minutes,” he said.
“The platform will be utilised in selecting optimal routes, preventing serious accidents, and predicting failures,” Mr Myochin explained.
This technology improves the reliability and safety of K-Line’s ships. “Safety is at the root of our group’s business,” said Mr Myochin. “I believe it is our mission to achieve a vision of reliable and excellent services by making continuous efforts in increasing safety, while maintaining top-class operational safety worldwide using advanced technologies.”
K-IMS monitors engine status and analyses ship performance. It has two subsystems – ship performance analysing system (SPAS) and engine plant monitor. SPAS is an electrical log and vessel performance analyser.
K-IMS collects data from various onboard systems, including navigation and engineroom equipment.
It then integrates this to provide a full vessel performance monitoring service. It produces real-time visualisation of engineroom system performance and condition with data stored in a cloud system.
Data can then be shared between different operation teams, ship management companies and the vessels’ crew.
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