NAVTOR and Danelec Partner to Unlock Big Data Value

NAVTOR has teamed up with Danelec in a partnership that will help shipowners and operators translate onboard data into business value, unlocking enhanced commercial and operational decision making.

The agreement will bring together the wealth of data collected by Danelec’s advanced internet-of-things (IoT) vessel infrastructure with NAVTOR’s NavFleet performance management and optimization platform. This combined collection and analytics solution will, the partners explain, allow users to empower new standards of sustainability, compliance and cost-efficient operations.

“Danelec, through its decades of expertise with VDR (Voyage Data Recorder), Ship Performance Monitoring (via Kyma) and ECDIS technology, is a world leader in collecting a comprehensive range of critical vessel operational data,” comments Arild Risholm Sæther, CBDO NavFleet, NAVTOR. “On the other hand, we at NAVTOR have built our reputation delivering digital innovations that make shipping simpler, safer, smarter and more efficient for our customers. NavFleet is the epitome of that.

“Bringing Danelec and NAVTOR’s specialisms together allows NavFleet to turn a wealth of real-time data into better operational understanding and business performance. Suddenly teams on shore and vessels are working as one, with full operational insight and awareness, and the ability to constantly manage, refine and optimize performance. It puts management firmly in control of their worldwide fleets, empowered by high quality, validated data and the analytical tools to really utilize it. Administration duties are also slashed, with automated reporting, and compliance is simplified. We see this as nothing short of a gamechanger.”

Danelec’s data collection and connectivity modules, installed on over 10,000 vessels worldwide, collect real-time data ranging from ship AIS, to radar, main alarm systems, engine and propeller performance, speed logs, anemometers and much more. It’s agnostic IoT infrastructure can interface with any sensor-data source. NavFleet, meanwhile, will use that data to help on-shore teams continually monitor and optimize performance – refining operations, trouble-shooting and benchmarking across entire fleets.

In addition, the collected data is auto-populated into reporting forms slashing administration, eradicating human error, and making compliance easy and robust, with high frequency data collection. NAVTOR also applies an industry-unique process of dual layer validation for data, with machine validation followed by human validation, with engineers checking for reporting errors or instrument calibration issues.

“Decisions are only ever as good as the data they’re based on,” Sæther adds, “and we want to ensure our customers have the market’s most reliable information at their disposal, for optimal competitive advantage.”

Speaking of the decision to partner with NAVTOR, Christian Kock, Chief Commercial Officer at Danelec, comments: “We have focused on creating the industry’s leading highly flexible, low-cost onboard data acquisition and 2-way IoT communications and cloud-based infrastructure. That is our specialism. We therefore look to collaborate with external experts to help our customers take the next step – unlocking the value of auto-logged data and releasing operational benefits, on board or on shore, for decarbonization, maintenance, fuel savings and many other purposes. NAVTOR seems like the ideal choice in that respect.

“We look forward both to working together, and to seeing the benefits our customers can realize from this partnership.”