Wärtsilä successfully implements and tests a new solution for just-in-time sailing
Technology group Wärtsilä Navi-Port, together with project partners Carnival Maritime and HVCC Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (HVCC), have announced they have successfully implemented and tested a new solution for just-in-time sailing.
Wärtsilä said in a statement: “Together, the partners have achieved the seamless exchange of data between ship and shore under real-life conditions, thereby enabling optimal port arrival.”
It added: “Furthermore, the applied solution, Wärtsilä Navi-Port, has received approval in principle from Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore for meeting the classification society’s cyber security requirements.”
Just-in-time sailing solves the problem that arises when ships sail faster than necessary in order not to miss valuable berthing slots, only to find themselves having to wait at anchor before the pilot station.
This queuing is the result of a lack of relevant data sharing between vessels and their destination ports.
The financial impact of this is considerable, while the unnecessary burning of fuel at higher speeds also adds to the levels of harmful emissions being exhausted into the atmosphere: “This project therefore targets avoidable excesses of speed, on the basis that timing is everything.”
Wärtsilä Navi-Port is a middleware which will be hooked up to Wärtsilä’s Fleet Operations Solution (FOS) system. FOS is essentially an online infrastructure designed to enable 360° ship-to-shore reporting and fleet performance management. It combines individual processes that are otherwise separated, to optimise voyage planning, weather routing and fuel consumption, taking into consideration charter party compliance, speed management, as well as the condition of the hull, propeller and engine.
Wärtsilä Navi-Port now also facilitates the exchange of accurate arrival times between ports and ships, enabling vessels to automatically adjust speed to achieve a just-in-time arrival. Dynamic, real-time data sharing improves co-ordination, allowing for modifications to course and speed should conditions at the port change during a voyage. For the ports, the Wärtsilä system enables better and more efficient planning of port and terminal operations.
Wärtsilä Navi-Port is the first commercially available ship-to-port communication platform that has applied the port call message standard as defined by the Sea Traffic Management (STM) validation project.
For more information visit www.wartsila.com
24th January 2020
