Data from an industry survey released this week by Sea Asia has revealed that 9 in 10 (94 per cent) of the leaders surveyed believe the industry to make the move towards smart shipping is now.
The survey also revealed that 81 per cent of those surveyed recognise the importance of Big Data to the future of the shipping and maritime industry. Participants also highlighted that new technological developments are crucial in helping industry players transform the way their businesses operate sustainably.
The Group Chairman of Taiwan’s U-Ming Marine Transport Corp, Douglas Hsu, believes that the industry is still at the beginning of this journey.
He said: “A small number of industry players are shifting towards smart shipping. However, with technology developing at a fast pace today, it is important that the industry adapts quickly. To encourage this shift, industry players need to realise the benefits of welcoming technological changes in the industry,”
Across Asia, the industry is working alongside government and private sector partners to drive the development of technology and innovation to help ensure it is well positioned to capture new opportunities and navigate new trends and challenges.
In Singapore, for example, the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore’s Maritime Innovation & Technology (MINT) Fund has been enhanced to include the MINT-PD (Product/Solution Development) scheme. This scheme supports up to 50 per cent of qualifying costs for projects that seek to develop technology products or solutions for the maritime industry. Through this scheme, companies are encouraged to build on existing research and development (R&D) activities and harness technologies from other industries to develop new innovations for the maritime industry.
Meanwhile, China is encouraging the development of smart ships. In May last year, the State Council announced the “Made in China 2025” policy, which highlighted the development of the world’s first smart ship as a priority development.
Big Data is another area where the industry is working with various Governments and other partners in the Asia region.
In Indonesia, for example, the Government is bringing together data from 24 ports to monitor performance and ultimately reduce waiting time for ships and cargo. This data will also allow ship owners to monitor their containers in real time, enabling them to see if they have arrived safely and on time to destination ports.
In Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) is collaborating with IBM to create a unified platform which will integrate real-time data and provide a consistent view of data points across MPA. This platform will collect information such as vessel positioning and weather data.
Leaders surveyed said that while there are significant benefits from this technology, the initial cost of integrating it is a barrier to adoption.
Technological developments in maritime, smart shipping and the utilisation of Big Data will be one of the topics of discussion at Sea Asia 2017.
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