Classification society ClassNK has endorsed Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions, developed by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group
This is the first Innovation Endorsement certificate ClassNK has handed out for products and solutions and demonstrates the trend for shipping companies to optimise fleet operations and reduce emissions.
Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions has applications for monitoring ship data and improving fuel efficiency and navigational safety. Onboard data is automatically sent from ships to shore, where it is monitored and analysed. Live data monitoring enables K Line to detect abnormalities in performance and condition early, before issues occur. Performance data can be analysed to enhance fuel efficiency through optimum navigation and economical routeing.
Innovation Endorsement was introduced in July 2020 by ClassNK to enable rapid certification of innovations in maritime in co-operation with technological front runners.
Among the categories is certification for digital equipment and software technology developed for use on vessels, which has been provided to K Line’s innovation.
To issue certification, ClassNK experts verified the functions of Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions, including operational data collection, ship-shore data communication and data transaction record and alarm. They authenticated data aggregation functions for monitoring and analysis, automatic trim, chart generation, performance calculation and analysis and weather routeing before issuing the certificate.
Kawasaki’s system has been installed on around 140 ships since its introduction in 2016.
K Line said it was using applications on the operational data automatically sent to shore for the “detection of abnormalities with live data monitoring, performance analysis to maintain and manage fuel efficiency, and optimum navigation support to maintain safe and economical routeing”.
It is part of a long-term development programme for data collation, transmission, processing and analysis that includes logging voyage information such as vessel position, distance from the next port, average speed, weather condition and bunker consumption.
That started in 2001 through an Abstract Log system. K Line has progressed much further since then with Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions.
“We will continue to promote innovative activities such as engine plant fault diagnosis with our ship’s data and the latest digital technology,” said K Line.
K Line operates fleets of container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and LNG carriers.
Learn more about ClassNK Innovation Endorsement
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