Connectivity drives digital transformation for support vessels

Ships under Anglo-Eastern management already benefit from LEO communications from Starlink’s constellation. Data consumption per vessel has risen from 160 GB a day in 2022 to 2 TB using Starlink.

Anglo-Eastern Ship Management chief information officer Torbjorn Dimblad said “next-generation satellite communications is transforming connectivity”. He said Starlink has been installed on 100 ships under the group’s management. “They are getting speeds of 100-220 Mbps over Starlink with global coverage from a constellation of satellites designed for consumer broadband.”

Crew feedback from these ships is positive with a 96% improvement in morale, more teamwork on board and more interactions with families. Seafarers spend around 1.5 hours each day online.

On the operational side, IT managers have used Starlink to patch onboard software and resolve IT issues, “It is quicker to fix issues,” said Mr Dimblad.

“We have started a programme of linking crew teams through video conference calls - talking through safety matters across the fleet.”

Other applications enabled by this digital transformation include introducing artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cameras on board for security, virtual reality headsets for enhanced maintenance, using robots for hull cleaning and Orca AI for navigational safety.

IEC Telecom Group vice president for marketing and communications Anastasia Kuzmenko highlighted the importance of LEO and having an L-band back-up with optimised applications in her presentation.

Value-added services and applications provide optimal user experiences and cyber security to prevent vessels from being impacted by online threats.

“There have been several cyber incidents on vessels, so cyber security is important,” she said. “It is about business continuity and mitigating cyber risks.”

Satellite communications need to be secure and ships need to be protected through multi-layered cyber security through firewalls, antivirus resources, network management and back-ups for rapid response during a cyber incident.

“Owners need to ensure they have training and policies for crew, and technical set up for different operational requirements,” said Ms Kuzmenko.

They need to think through these policies and support crew during this digital transition, recognising the importance of security rules and ensuring seafarers follow cyber rules.

OSV owners can also use the connectivity to monitor the health and performance of onboard systems and provide predictive maintenance to prevent issues from impacting operations.

Rolls-Royce Solutions is introducing NautIQ Foresight to monitor the health of engineroom and bridge systems.

“Digitalisation is an enabler for all our solutions for health management, for collecting big volumes of data and creating solutions for operators and crew to use across our portfolio,” said Rolls-Royce manager for marine and automation Bartosz Kowalinski.

“We are working on autonomous solutions and have equipment health management and remote monitoring to improve the uptime of machinery and provide operations support.”

Rolls-Royce uses AI and machine learning to enhance vessel operations, optimise lifecycle costs and make savings from predictive and scheduled maintenance.

“We analyse parameters to chart the most optimal route for reducing fuel and the environmental impact of vessels. There are graphical interfaces for fleet management,” said Mr Kowalinski.

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