Author: Alison Jarabo, Fathom Maritime intelligence
The maritime industry is not beyond the reach of disruptive technology says Oskar Levander, Rolls Royce at the Fathom Smart Operations conference today in Rotterdam.
Disruptive technology has been seen throughout society and shipping will be no different, says Levander.
He envisages that an Uber style ‘digital’ company could draw together the single vessel and small operators to provide the same efficiencies enjoyed by the largest operators.
The greatest opportunities for efficiency lie in the optimisation of the whole of a maritime operation not just with vessel modifications, he stated.
Ships will no longer be treated as single individuals at sea, the whole fleet will be managed and optimised, not just internally but for the end users also says Levander.
In the future, Levander speculates, every ship owner will have their on shore control area where they monitor all aspects of every one of their vessels. The crew at sea and the crew on shore will work together as a team.
To do this however is technology intensive. Therefore companies will need to consolidate says the Rolls Royce representative.
Or this is where shipping’s ‘Uber’ will enter the market. A digital company and application that can draw together operators under one umbrella with access and interaction optimised for the end user.
This would be disruptive and this could bring about one of the greatest changes to the maritime industry since the introduction of the container ship.
