Advice on how to win the ‘race to data’ sensibly

Speaking during the Digital Efficiency Drivers at Sea panel, chief executive of Marfin Management, Alex Albertini, characterised current industry efforts as "a race to data" where merely accumulating information isn’t sufficient. "Piling up data is good, but knowing what you’re doing with the data is more important," he stated, highlighting that quality data is essential for effectively implementing decarbonisation technologies like wind-assisted propulsion.

Mr Albertini described how his company has embraced decarbonisation initiatives including "installing wings and working with ammonia," but noted these require fundamentally rethinking operations. He shared a practical example of how Marfin Management is using simple onboard sensors to collect comprehensive weather data, including wave heights and directions, which they use to challenge existing weather prediction models. Marfin Management uses OceanSync’s technology to collect real-time offshore weather data for its fleet operations and Mr Albertini is part of OceanSync’s strategic business development team.

A self-confessed IT geek, who leads his company’s integration of AI systems, he delivered a scathing critique of the digital solutions marketplace, distinguishing between promised capabilities and actual deliverables. "I think you guys are actually telling us that you are selling solutions. But you’re actually only selling tools. And us, as shipowners, we’re submerged with the amount of tools that we have to use that provide very little solutions to the big problem.

"With the rapidity of the development of AI, you can have your own AI model making your forecasts on board and pushing the safety limits and also optimising on the spot the weather route to be able to grab the wind where it’s coming," he explained.

Mr Albertini identified a critical disconnect between technological innovation and actual behavioural change, stating, "We can see everywhere innovation, but we cannot see change. And the change is a problem for the humans, not for the technology." He highlighted how AI’s potential to transform unstructured data into structured information could help "automate every mundane task" and alleviate the burden on ships’ masters who are "flooded with an amount of paperwork."

In his closing remarks, Mr Albertini challenged the panel’s emphasis on collaboration without addressing equitable data exchange. "Everybody’s talking about the ship’s data, and everybody’s talking about collaboration, and everybody’s talking about standardisation," he observed, before arguing for a more balanced approach, "You cannot pretend all the data needs to come from the shipowner, and we don’t get anything back."

He proposed treating data as a tradeable asset, "Everyone who actually creates the data is the owner of the data, and then we need to trade that data as a commodity in order to collaborate. Because the best collaboration is economy, is exchange, is commerce."

Without establishing this principle of reciprocity, "We will never exchange it in a good way which really makes sense," he said adding that meaningful digitalisation progress requires recognising and respecting the value of data contributed by each stakeholder in the maritime ecosystem.