Page 91 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - MARTIOS 2023

SMART SHIPPING Lorem ipsum
Special report sponsored by

Mr Panos Kourkountis shares his thoughts on the impact the digital transformation of only affected ship management; it has a voyage. Constantly changing parame-
shipping will have on ship safety and operational performance. also changed the concept of ship design. ters form a dynamic equation, with the
The intelligent systems used to control data continuously fluctuating.
equipment and critical communications For a meaningful optimisation of the
between the different systems installed ship’s performance, all variables should
on board improve ships significantly. In be monitored online, and the parameters
recent decades, digital solutions have should be processed and evaluated by
helped the shipbuilding industry to big data analysis tools. Data from previ-
make progress and build safer vessels,
ous voyages form the basis for the eval-
THE DIGITAL but many of these systems can still be uations and predictions.
improved. Nevertheless, the digital trans-
Investing in know-how and equipment
TRANSFORMATION formation of shipping can add value to adds to the operating costs of ships.
However, the benefits of operational
ship safety.
OF SHIPPING Big data analysis is considered vital to boosting optimisation outweigh these costs.

Especially for companies that have the
CAN ADD VALUE the operational performance of vessels. Will it advantage of spreading performance
analysis and optimisation costs across
become essential for companies to employ peo-
TO SHIP SAFETY ple with relevant knowledge to perform in-house multiple vessels, their impact on OPEX
is negligible.
evaluations of their fleet’s performance? Will
this be possible for smaller companies, or will The advantage of large fleets is not
outsourcing become a common practice? only related to performance monitoring’
Operational performance depends on economies of scale also lead to lower
a combination of factors. The charac- long-term averages in almost all cate-
teristics of the ship, its speed, trim, and gories of ship management expenses. In
cargo, the fuel quality and price, the general, companies whose fleets grow
charter rate, the voyage, and the envi- in terms of ship numbers become more
ronmental conditions are parameters efficient.
that should be considered in optimising To overcome the commercial disadvan-

The field of safety is believed to have benefited the least from
the digitalisation of the shipping industry. What factors have
led to this result, and what initiatives are necessary to make
the desired progress?
Operating ships has always been a demanding task,
requiring considerable expertise and effort, especially
from crews. In the past decades, challenging commer-
cial obligations and new regulatory requirements have
added additional burdens to ship crews and manage-
ment offices. As a result, the amount of information that
must be collected and processed is excessive. Tradi-
tionally, the workflow and processes of collecting and
evaluating the data required for ships’ safe and com-
petitive operation have been a daunting task. However,
the introduction of digitalisation has changed the way
data is collected and evaluated.
IT systems and ship-to-office connectivity enable the
collection and automatic processing of large volumes
of data and information. By creating digital workflows
and control checks, the initial validation and evaluation
of data are done within seconds. Setting routines and
standardising acceptable ranges allows data to be seg-
regated and filed while critical information is spotted
and highlighted.
by Advanced systems evaluate combinations of parameters,
Panos Kourkountis, and any deviation from the predefined acceptable cri-
Chairman, MARTECMA;
Technical Director, Sea Traders SA teria triggers a warning that cannot be ignored.
The introduction of digitalisation in shipping has not

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