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1. ADVANCEMENT OF SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IN SHIPPING
Cdt. N.I Shaikh
INDIAN MARITIME UNIVERSITY MUMBAI PORT CAMPUS, MUMBAI

2. • The shipping industry transports over 90% of the world trade. But, the industry lags
behind in adopting latest tech into its system.
• The sensor technology is the paradigm in which the devices help us gather information from the
surroundings and help us in decision making. The advancement in this field is that connecting all the
sensing devices with one another and processing data acquired from it with help of an processor and make
more effective decision on the human behalf. One such example is the use of Internet of things.
• This sensors technology could help in efficient shipping and faster decision making that can highly make
this sector agile. As many ships have already been fitted with state of the art sensors which can collect
enormous amount of data.
• Technologies like IoT which would help in analyze data which is provided by sensors would help us govern
the sail and halt of ship effectively. The systems like ship to ship connectivity and ship to port connectivity
would help in lessen accidents and also fasten the process of loading and unloading.
• This technology would also appeal to the ship owners as it will help to cut cost in many ways.
• There are also some challenges which this adoption faces in applications to maritime industries.

3. • PREREQUISITES FOR IoT
• THE APPLICATION OF IoT IN THE THREE SECTORS OF
MARITIME INDUSTRY:
• SHIP BUILDING
• SAIL
• PORT
• CHALLENGES
• CONCLUSION
• QUESTIONAIRE

4. • There are certain requirements which we need to address before moving towards the
applications of sensor technology in maritime sectors.
• It comprises of 4 general systems which are needed to help us set up IoT in this sector. They are sensors/devices,
data connectivity, data processing and user interface
• As we know, now a days ships have already being fitted with state of the sensors and devices which interact with the
environment and collect the data to be processed. They could be in form of sensors, actuators or IoT gateway
devices and many more. This would help us open doors to digitalisation of maritime field.
• The most important and one of the challenging component to set up is communication protocols in the vessels and
get a stable connectivity between ships as well as the ports. Also, we have to pay attention on cyber security of the
data as it can be prone to the phishing and cyber attacks. This could cause a big loss to the industry.
• Of course, there is satellite communication which could help to achieve the connectivity needed. Also, there is a
need for encryption at the user end which would lessen the probability of cyber attacks.
• The other component is data storage, which is needed so as to compute and process data for stipulated output.

5. • Storing data in a offline server would take much time as well as cost to maintain from
into wrong hands. Hence, the preferred solution for storing data is cloud storage which can be
accessed by any device which has correct credentials and is connected to the networks.
• Cloud computing is the data processing platform that offers services, applications, storage and computing
through the internet. Thus, using cloud storage would be ideal for maritime industry.
• The major advantages of this system are that it helps in enhancing computing power with high storage
capacity . Also, it has a multi core architecture which would come handy in case of emergency. Thirdly, it is
much more secured against the cyber attacks.
• There has being an ongoing research of using cloud computing to deliver a communication network for
monitoring order and improving performance to handle scheduled issues. the proposed approach to the
cloud is done via SDN (software defined network)

7. • This sector comprises of ship design, engineering and building. IoT has vivid applications
in all of this divisions. As we know, with advent of industry 4.0, it is really necessary to introduce
IIoT(Industrial internet of things) in a shipyard.
• This would help in increasing efficiency and connectivity of workshops. This would also support the
upcoming innovations of the future. Ship building process would be more agile and safe.
• The main application of IoT is offering different solutions for existing industrial system and transform it
into a digital platform making it more productive and innovative.
• Some technologies like additive manufacturing, horizontal and vertical integration, and simulation can help
us advance this industry to newer heights.
• There are some studies which imply that this applications can handle complex engineering projects in
upcoming future.

8. • There has been some attempts to use sensors technology to make ships under a old method of ship block
assembly.
• This technique uses a laser optical device for real time monitoring of locations of parts and track down
block movement until properly fitted. This sensor-based monitoring system helps how precise work we can
get to do using sensor technologies.
• This adoption would help integrate the three major components of ship building namely, ship design,
engineering and testing.
• There are some examples in the maritime market who offer software solutions for ship building projects
such as siemens nx and many more.

10. • Smart ships are the unmanned or remotely controlled vessels with all the state of art devices and sensors
which in future, can easily help us to make the vessel autonomous with the help of evolutions.
• The smart ships are one of the general applications of advanced sensor technologies and IoT. This ship
supports software-based decision making and sensors to help with maintenance.
• The companies like rolls Royce have even tested a remotely operated vessel in their local waters in 2020
and envision to send one into the open sea by 2025. To understand these advances in the smart ship, there
are 4 main elements to be understood namely, navigation, guidance, physical ship and control.
• This type of sailing would help in lower fuel consumption and lessen the human intervention which will
indeed lower the costs of operating the ships. This sailing would help to avoid unnecessary idle hours on the
ports and would make better use of the acquired time. There would be a large employment shift from sea to
shore and hence personnel with algorithmic skills would acquire plentiful jobs.
• Sailing through the locks and bridges would be very efficient as the coordination between the ships and
locks and bridges would be achieved through sensor technologies. The communication between a smart
ship and smart lock/bridge help as the sensors would inform the exact status of the ship such as time of
arrival and sailing schedule to book a slot prior to the travel. Now the lock/bridge would communicate back
with the full proof plan. This would make the operations smoother.

11. • There have been studies going on about using a mobile middleware for providing aids ship navigation based
on sensors and IoT Technology. This will help in exchange of information between ships which would help
in cases of emergencies as well as would help in avoid collisions. Cargo tracking is also a way to a track
supply chain location, security, status and settlement data of cargo for customers.
• The major parameters to make the sail through the seas and oceans better are:
• The ship, including its current status, position, direction and speed
• Ship to ship interaction
• Sailing environment

13. • A smart port is an automated port using data processing to make right business decisions and run operations
effectively. This concept of use of smart technology to improve port performance and competitiveness
• This concept of use of smart technology to improve port performance and competitiveness. The OECD had
predicted that global container handling in ports would be 4 times higher than current levels by 2030.
• The major ports are generally crowded with ships this causes wait time and increases costings. Thus, we can
lessen it by using sensors technologies and establishing a direct connection between port and ships
• This would allow the port to acquire the exact status of the ship and already prepare for the arrival. The
process of loading and unloading could also be digitalized by this sensor technologies.
• There are some studies and articles which have designed a system based on IoT using RFIDs with the aim
to have a better port warehouse management.
• By 2025, Rotterdam would be Europe’s largest port and will host connected ships. It will use sensors to
analyze real time data and alot berths and also will look at weather, tides and many more.

15. • The biggest challenge for implementation of IoT in maritime sector is safeguarding the highly sensitive
data from cyber attacks and phishing attacks.
• For example, Maersk suffered a computer virus attack (NatPetya) in 2017 that froze port operations in many
countries. Also, privacy and compliance have to be ensured as well as how the data had to be collected and
enhanced.
• The major solution to this is the introduction of encrypted human interface networks which comply with
biometrics.
• The other major challenge for the technologies to successfully help this sector to be for efficient is that it is
very much capital intensive and would also lack in human resource needed to get going.
• According to the report made by INMARSAT, there are 25%of the surveyed companies are ready to invest
lumpsum amount (about $3 million) over the period of next 3 years for the implementation of IIoT. The
other 15% would allow only $100,000 to be invested over the same period.

16. • The main conclusions which can be derived from this research is that:
• It is very much essential to adopt a protected IoT based platform to help maritime industry to compete with
other industries without compromising the fact that it would face a challenge from cyber or phishing
attacks.
• It is to be understood that IoT can be the reason of economy boost in the maritime industry. As the report
says the application of IIoT based solutions would help in 14% of predicted cost savings within the
timespan of five years.
• Automation of shipping is relatively straight forward compared to the traffic or aviation. SmartDock is
example of a system developed by Finnish tech giant Wartsila
• The use of sensors will provide an excellent opportunity to improve the efficiency and safety of ships.
Collecting high quality ship data with reliable sensors would helps in optimizing life cycle of the vessel.
• There would be a great employment shift from sea to shore.
• The integration of neural networks will help in certain level of intelligence for industrial control systems
which are based on wireless communication channels

17. THANK YOU