Leading ship classification society, ClassNK of Japan, has confirmed the type approval certification for SMARTShip, the patented digital shipping solution developed by Singapore-based Alpha Ori Technologies.

Alpha Ori Technologies is a B2B Technology company operating in IoT (Internet of Things), ShipERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Big Data science.

Onboard operation

The company uses cutting edge technologies to solve real-world issues for ship owners, managers, operators, builders, registries, port management, surveyors, P&I (protection and indemnity) clubs, and others.

SMARTShip is an IoT platform that enables the onboard operation of multiple systems with varying degrees of autonomy and has been installed on more than 30 vessels. Another 60 are at various stages of doing it.

ClassNK's certification covers approval of the solution as a 'computer-based system’ which conforms to the Class Society’s rules governing a product performing remote monitoring and diagnostics, situational awareness and decision support systems, both onboard and ashore.

Hourai Maru, a mid-sized gas carrier delivered recently, was the first ship certified with SMARTShip, said Capt Rajesh Unni, Co-CEO of Alpha Ori and CEO and founder of the Synergy Group of Singapore.

ClassNK's approval provides quality and reliability assurance for SMARTShip solutions, especially to Japanese clients and many of Alpha Ori's maritime customers located around the world.

Visualisation dashboard

Features such as the optimisation of total fuel consumption and the creation of intelligent alerts and leading indicators are an integral part of SMARTShip.

For example, a quick visualisation dashboard for critical assets and their parameters is available with drill-down options showing all related information in list and graph views.

"SMARTShip’s remote monitoring and diagnostics provides clients with the capability to troubleshoot remotely. This generates huge savings on the usual cost required to send a service engineer to the actual location of the ship for troubleshooting," said Capt Unni.

Alpha Ori's approach to tackling pain points and enabling rules-based decision-making gives clients added transparency and delivers multiple operational, financial and environmental benefits.

Data is collected from all parts of the ship to create a platform which connects disparate systems. Continual data monitoring and collection of data helps crew and managers make rules-based decisions.

“SMARTShip leverages Alpha Ori's proprietary hardware and software and cloud-based infrastructure to collect and transmit more than 5,000 data points from various systems on board,” said Capt Unni.

Competitive advantage

The solution utilises the data to create value for stakeholders, often including additional information such as weather overlay, statutory and regulatory information.

Martin Ackermann, CEO of BW LPG, a leading client, said that with digitalisation disrupting entire industries, they seek to realise the competitive advantage it can bring to them, and, in turn, their customers.

The SMARTShip solution enables BW LPG to combine vessel operational data with a range of external data so that in real-time performance on single vessels and across its entire fleet can be optimised.

"We see great potential in improving safety, reducing costs and enhancing performance for the benefit of all our stakeholders," Ackermann added.

Capt Rajeeva Mathur, COO of Southern Pacific Holding Corporation under Kumiai Senpaku Co, said that SMARTShip has introduced a whole new vision in the approach to ship operations for his company.

“We certainly feel that its transparency and the reliability of information it gives us makes it a very efficient and effective tool in improving commercial and operational enhancement. Our expectations have also been met on fuel the optimisation and predictive maintenance counts. Our charterers and managers will continue to benefit from this," Mathur explained.

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