Spire's Sale of Ship Tracking Arm alarms Users
French maritime data analytics platform Kpler wants to buy ship tracking company Spire Maritime, whose satellite data is a vital resource for oil traders and shipping companies, but some Spire customers fear Kpler will cut them off and have raised antitrust concerns to U.S. authorities, sources familiar with the matter say.The $241 million deal announced on Nov. 13 would give Kpler control over Spire's satellites and maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS) data stream, which tracks ships globally, particularly in the open ocean, with a refresh rate of every 15 minutes.This capability is unmatched by competitors, including OrbcommâŚ
How Digital Tech Aims to Make Commercial Vessels Safer, Cleaner, More Efficient
![Image: Bureau Veritas](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/image-bureau-veritas-155229.jpg)
The maritime industry is witnessing a technological revolution that is fundamentally changing how ships operate, improving safe and efficient performance and reducing emissions, all to meet increasingly restrictive environmental standards. Adopting cutting-edge digital technologies enables ship owners and operators to optimize fleets, boost safe and efficient performance and reduce emissions while satisfying ever-developing environmentally beneficial requirements. Digitalization lies here and on the horizon of commercial vessel operationsâŚ
Techcross Smart Platform Leverages Data for Customer Services
![Image courtesy Techcross](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/image-courtesy-techcross-139767.jpg)
Techcross reports positive responses from its customers in the service sector premised on it providing proactive services and troubleshooting through the Techcross Smart Platform. The Smart Platform, launched early last year, is a service platform that collects and analyzes all log data of BWMS in real-time.Customers can receive proactive solutions from Techcross through the Smart Platform before any issues related to equipment failures, malfunctions or maintenance arise. In the past yearâŚ
Navtor, Hoppe Marine Link for Big Data Drive
![Image courtesy Navfleet](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/image-courtesy-navfleet-136190.jpg)
NAVTORâs NavFleet performance management and optimiation platform will now be able to access the data collected by HOPPEâs onboard vessel technology, after the two signed a new collaboration partnership that allows customers of the firms to feed real-time operational data into the NavFleet application, giving onshore teams complete awareness, understanding and control of their maritime assets.It is, says Arild Risholm SĂŚther, CBDO NavFleet, NAVTOR, âthe key to better business decisions that impact on performance, profitability and sustainable fleet management.
ClassNK Certifies NAPA Fleet Optimization Solutions
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ClassNK certified NAPA Fleet Intelligence and NAPA Performance Monitoring and Optimization, developed by NAPA, as its Innovation Endorsement for Products & Solutions, after the solutions demonstrated support for saving fuel and optimizing voyages for Japanese shipowner Nissen Kaiun. Following the certification, the society has upgraded notations for all the Nissen Kaiun vessels in its fleet using the solutions.NAPA Fleet Intelligence is a cloud-based solution that combines actual online data on board and weather data with NAPAâs 3D model database to assess and optimize performanceâŚ
SP80: 80-knot Sailboat Demands High-Performance Sensing
![3D rendering of the SP80 sailing on water. (photo courtesy of SP80)](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/3d-rendering-of-the-sp80-129639.jpg)
Fischer Connectorsâ solutions support the transmission of sensor data for the wind-powered SP80 boat setting out to reach the phenomenal speed of 80 knots, which if achieved will break the long-standing world sailing speed record of 65.45 knots.During the development of its boat that is now close to its final design phase, the SP80 team has chosen Fischer Connectors for the data-transmission solutions interconnecting the various sensors that will equip the boat and its pilot to break the world sailing speed record.
'K' Line Joins Data Sharing Platform
![From right: ShipDC President Yasuhiro Ikeda; âKâ LINE Vice President, Executive Officer Atsuo Asano; ClassNK President & CEO Hiroaki Sakashita and âKâ LINE Associate Director Joichi Sasaki (Photo: ShipDC)](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/from-right-shipdc-president-yasuhiro-119974.png)
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (âKâ Line) and Ship Data Center Co., Ltd. (ShipDC) have agreed to share operation data of all âKâ Line fleet equipped with Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions through IoS Open Platform (IoS-OP), the ship IoT data sharing platform promoted by ShipDC.âKâ LINE had so far stored operation data collected from several vessels equipped with Kawasaki Integrated Maritime Solutions to IoS-OP, and has now agreed to expand the sharing for all its owned fleetâŚ
Yxney Maritime, Inmarsat Strike Data Deal
![âThrough the partnership with Inmarsat, we´re excited to provide vessel owners and operators with a plug-and-play solution to feed actual asset data into the Maress software to make better strategic decisions on how to reduce emissions footprint,â says Gjord Simen Sanna, Yxney CEO.](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/through-the-partnership-with-inmarsat-119280.jpg)
Norwegian-based scale-up Yxney Maritime and Inmarsat signed an agreement for Yxney Maritime to join the group of certified application providers to provide a dedicated application for Inmarsatâs Fleet Data service.Fleet Data collects data from onboard sensors, pre-processes that data, and uploads it to a central cloud-based database, equipped with a dashboard and an Application Process Interface (API).Yxney Maritime has developed the Maress software, a solution for data-drivenâŚ
Høglund, DNV GL Ink 'big data' MoU
![Jon Rysst (L), Senior Vice President and Business Development Leader of DNV GL along with Børge Nova, CEO of Høglund Marine Solutions (R) (Photo: DNV GL)](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/jon-rysst-l-senior-vice-108158.png)
Høglund Marine Solutions and DNV GL have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help generate and export big data from ships.This is a step towards greater digitalization of the marine industry, providing Høglund with the opportunity to further develop their automation expertise and systems and DNV GL the potential to enhance their classification services.âThe digital transformation of shipping is finally happening and opens the door to many long sought-after advantages and necessary progressâ, says Børge Nova, CEO of Høglund Marine Solutions.
Baltic Exchange, GeoSpock to Track Emissions
Cambridge-based data visualization company GeoSpock is collaborating with the Baltic Exchange to build the worldâs most advanced maritime spatial database."This digital initiative will have a specific focus on shipping emissions, enabling members and the wider maritime market to have unrivaled access to data insights and visualizations," said Baltic Exchange, which is a membership organization for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts.Baltic Exchange CEO, Mark Jackson said: âAs our market embraces digital technologies, the Baltic is in a unique position to facilitate the industryâs digital growth.
ABS, MSC Showcases Condition-Based Class
The landmark ABS condition-based class program with the U.S. Navyâs Military Sealift Command (MSC) was the focus of a keynote presentation at Mega Rust 2019.Rear Admiral Dee Mewbourne detailed progress on the pioneering project in a presentation to the American Society of Naval Engineersâ annual conference focusing on Navy corrosion issues.As part of the condition-based class program, ABS has defined a digital asset framework that encompasses everything from data collection and pre-processing, to a digital twin that maintains and analyzes the data, to visualizations and outputs that support risk-based decision making.âCondition-based classification will enable Operational Commanders to objectively assess risk andâŚ
Greek Shipping Leaders Address Key Challenges
Leaders of the Greek Shipping Industry met to discuss decarbonization, capitalizing on data and digital technologies and vessel automation at the annual ABS Hellenic National Committee meeting.âWe have deep relationships across the Greek shipping industry, which reflects our extensive investment in serving the needs of ship owners and operators here. Not only is our office in Piraeus the largest ABS office in Europe, but it is home to our Global Ships Systems Center and an extensive team of experts on call 24 hours a day to assist with whatever challenges they face,â said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO, who actively participated in the Committee program.ABSâŚ
OREDA Goes Digital
The offshore and onshore reliability data project by Norwegian Petroleum Directorate(NPD), OREDA goes digital with new collaboration to improve accessibility and efficiency for oil and gas industry reliability data, said DNV GL.Vast amounts of offshore and onshore reliability data are to be made available through Veracity as OREDA provides access to their new and updated electronic version through the marketplace on DNV GLâs data platform.For almost 40 years now, the OREDA consortium formed by several oil and gas majors and supermajors with worldwide operations has been collecting and exchanging offshore and onshore reliability data, with the main aim of improving safety, increasing availability and reducing maintenance costs.
EU Shipbuilders Collaborate on Connectivity
![Photo courtesy of Damen](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/photo-courtesy-of-damen-99279.jpg)
European shipbuilders have announced a new cooperative initiative to develop and demonstrate a connected vessel platform. This project is named Code Kilo.In order to meet the digitalization challenges of a diverse audience of stakeholders, in a robust, secure and cost-effective way, EUROYARDS members (Chantiers de lâAtlantique, Damen Shipyards Group, Fincantieri, LĂźrssen, Meyer Werft, Naval Group and Navantia) joined forces to harmonize data management solutions and standards.