Voyage Optimisation: How can we enable better interconnectivity and interoperability between ships and port systems?

Schulte Group and Innoport are the proposers of this innovation opportunity.

This is an industry challenge, not specific to only a single corporate, but Schulte Group will be one of the sponsors and trial partners; such as engaging the resources from Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM), a leading global ship owner and manager with over 600 vessels in operation. BSM operates many vessels that call on bulk cargo ports like Jurong Port where voyage and port call optimisation are important aspects to improve productivity and safety.

Challenges

Schedule of vessel and berth availability are not available in real-time and not optimised for stakeholders. The arrival time of vessel may not coincide with the time of berth availability, which results in inefficiencies and fuel wastage when vessel travels from port to port at a speed higher than necessary, adding to extra air emissions. Optimising speed and waiting time has a tremendous effect on the Carbon Index Indicator (CII). Accumulated lost time waiting in port for berths means lost revenues to ship owners/charterers because of lower vessel utilization rates.  This issue is particularly prominent on tramping routes which are not fixed to specific ports and schedules, therefore has less predictability.

Stakeholders

• Ship owners
• Ship managers
• Charterers
• Ship Suppliers
• Crew
• Port Operators
• Port Authorities

Desired Outcome

• Solutions for ships to links up with relevant port systems (port authorities, port operators, port service providers) to exchange key information in real-time, and also feeds information into the vessel’s voyage optimisation and weather routing systems
• Machine-to-machine data exchange from Ship-To-Shore, with strong data privacy and cybersecurity
• Interoperability regardless of the manufacturer of the shipboard and navigational hardware/software or voyage optimisation tools.
• Proposed solutions should enable voyage and port call optimisation, minimise vessel waiting times, and help towards achieving decarbonisation objective.
• Solution should not incur high overhead costs or require extensive modifications to existing hardware/software on ocean-going ships which operate globally.
• For ship owners, the less time they waste waiting in port translates to more opportunities for them to reduce fuel consumption, minimize carbon emissions through sailing at the right speed and take on more charters to increase their revenues through greater vessel utilisation.

Call for Proposals for this Innovation Opportunity is now closed.