ShipCrunch

SmartShipping - How 'bout it?

Finally, an event dedicated to preaching the beauties of big data to big shipping!

By Ryan Skinner (email)

A couple months ago I was talking to a very clever guy at The Containership Company who was describing for me the challenges of using data to improve ship operations. He basically said: the equations get too complex, too quickly and the solutions aren't sophisticated enough to calculate knock-on effects fleetwide. In short, data's great, but we're not where we can act on it yet.

Contrast this with the pleas from god-knows-how-many entrepreneurs and small businessmen with analytics tools promising shipowners to create massive efficiencies through smarter decisions. If only...., then my man John Konrad (@gCaptain) came through:

One compelling entrepreneur, Tom Stitt of Staxxon (you know, those ingenious folding containers), took the data challenge to the heart of geekville: SXSW Interactive. This annual event in Austin, Texas draws the who's who of nerds and the marketers who cling to them. He wanted the geeks to see shipping as a kind of social media, and apply their algorithms to containers as if they were facebook friends or twitter connections.

Pin a medal on Stitt, somebody. While 99.9% of these coders are more interested in LOL-cats than container traffic, all it takes is to light a fire in the fingertips of one of these dudes and you can change an industry. If Stitt's managed to do just that, we have good things to look forward to.

With all the efforts of the kinds of entrepreneurs I've talked to here at ShipCrunch, the ground may slowly be moving.

With an event this autumn, I'm hoping for an earthquake. I caught wind of a new event from Jon Chaplin of TradeWinds months ago, and now it's a reality: SmartShipping. If I've read the signals from TradeWinds and ShipServ (the team behind it) correctly, they're eager to put the focus on big data. That is, how can we accelerate all of these efforts to use data and analytics to leap ahead, in terms of fleet efficiency?

I particularly fell for the words of ShipServ CEO Paul Østergaard: "I think SmartShipping has nothing to do with size. It's not about being the biggest; it's about being the smartest. In fact, a lot of the technologies we're looking at enable smaller companies to gain some of the scaling advantages of larger companies." Words to warm enterpreneurs' hearts...

Here's the full video:
  

That ShipServ and TradeWinds are behind this can be no accident. What ShipServ is doing to apply data to the supplier side of the industry (traderank, peer review, etc.), TradeWinds seems willing to do for operations. At least, it may be a start for TradeWinds.

It's going down in Singapore in October, and it's apparently where the smartshipping crowd will be. Wish I could be there.

Contribute to the ShipCrunch community?

If you've got original thoughts about shipping, this may be a place where you can share them.

By Ryan Skinner (email)

I'm going from a day-to-day shipping mindset to a day-to-day digital PR mindset. That means I'll be blogging less about shipping. That means an opportunity for you.

I'm convinced ShipCrunch can go from a one-man blogging affair to a community think/do-tank affair.

Hundreds of profoundly intelligent and knowledgeable people in and around shipping read this blog. Their contacts number in the thousands. That's you and your network. Here's my proposition:

Maybe you've thought about blogging, but the trouble of building and managing the platform discourages you. You doubt you'll be able to post often enough. You wonder how it might impact your day job.

I'm offering you this platform to share your ideas and opinions. I like to think that the readers of this blog are industry trend-setters, particularly in terms of technology and innovation.

This is a chance to throw your original thoughts and ideas* in front of a dynamic audience, and see what traction you get.

Taking part in the ShipCrunch community includes feedback on your article, from advice on your angle and approach, to simple copy-editing. And the final post will deep-link to your own profile or site - an excellent SEO booster!

So, how do you get started? Just send me an email expressing interest, and we can discuss. Or fire through a submission for the blog. I'll get back to you right away.

The only thing we can count on is change. And I think that this is a boon for ShipCrunch and the community of people around it. Welcome!

*When I say original thoughts, I mean original thoughts. Do not send through your press releases and expect them to be syndicated here. This is about sharing what you've got on your heart, not on your sales calendar. 

Announcing Portfire 1:40 - The Banksy of shipping?

The person deemed most worthy of inclusion in the Portfire40 is a man (or woman) of mystery.

By Ryan Skinner (email)

After a considerable nominations process and then voting, the first winner of Portfire40 was selected! Months ago, in fact.

Unfortunately, this first honoree is a shy man. Months of attempts to get him to talk manifestly failed. Finally, Peter Mello of Sea-Fever proposed we consider him as a little like the Banksy of shipping - a mysterious, influential figure.

You see, he calls himself HAUS. He seems to be a seafarer. And he edits Wikipedia articles.

That's it.

Some of you may ask: "How does this qualify him for inclusion in Portfire40, which is about people who are having a lasting impact on the industry by the novelty and vigor of their thinking, the strength of their passion for improvement and the impact they have on the community?"

Lloyd's List vs. TradeWinds: Two visions of shipping news

What news do shipping professionals really want? What do they really need? Two answers?

By Ryan Skinner (email)

It's all about this: Be the go-to source of information for the kinds of decision-makers who lead the industry. Any one pitching a story at a Lloyd's List or TradeWinds editor (and I've done it not a few times) will often hear them say: "If it doesn't interest the big shipowner boss, it doesn't interest us."

The shape and speed of what interests big shipowners may be changing, however.

The mother company of Lloyd's List, a pretty large media company called Informa, recently announced its annual results. Note how two aspects of this report play together:

1) "They are still benefiting from cost control measures implemented across the business." - Basically, they've slashed expenses related to news production, among other things.

2) "Informa were concentrating on premium intelligence and increasingly looking at enterprise sales of subscription content." - They're betting on supplying data to businesses.

An induction: Informa cuts Lloyd's List's budget down to less than it needs to survive long-term as a newsroom. It lives off of past glory and decent distribution only long enough to build up its data and decision-support business - Lloyd's List Intelligence. This is where the future lies.

Shipping technology picture by 2020, briefs from DNV

DNV published a nifty book on technology recently. Here are shipping's outtakes.

By Ryan Skinner (email)

This week I was at Høvik HQ and a DNV person shoved a fresh little publication in my hands. The tome's called "Technology Outlook 2020". Its remit was broad, from global megatrends to oil and gas, but there was a sweet spot on maritime technology. Here is the highly, highly condensed version. For the whole enchilada, see below.

The low energy ship
"Multifunctional ship types and or technological advances in drag reduction, propulsion, and materials herald new ship concepts"

• Air bubble lubrication: Uncertainties in the physical mechanisms, and the scaling and technical feasability of this system, need to be solved by 2020. Negative interaction between bubbles and the propellor must be addressed.
• Air cavity systems: 10% fuel consumption decrease is possible. Negative side effects include destabilizing free surface under the hull, and energy loss when bubbles pass through the propellor inflow.
• Hybrid materials: Widespread adoption by 2020 is unlikely, due to high costs, manufacturing and recycling challenges, and fire resistance issues.
• Hybrid propulsors: Though capital costs are high, these can cut fuel costs by 10%, depending on utilization and ship type.
• Ballast water free ships: Even after 2020, ships without ballast water will be more expensive to build and have construction challenges. Competition from onboard treatment and port facilities will be tough.

The green-fueled ship
Implementation of technologies like LNG, biofuel, wind or nuclear face significant technical and economic challenges, and the time frame ranges from a few years for LNG to decades for nuclear.

• Natural gas: Changes in CO2 emissions range from a 20% cut to a net increase. Newbuild costs are on average 10-20% higher than diesel ships. Within 10 years, a considerable share of new ships (particularly short-sea) will use gas fuel.
• Kites: These can substitute up to 2000 kW of propulsion power, and require little of the crew (but can foul deck equipment). Expect to see retrofits over the next 10 years.
• Biofuels: Biodiesel and crude plant oils are most promising, but challenges include fuel instability, corrosion, microbe growth and poor cold flow. Price and availability will probably decide.
• Nuclear: "....will not be commercially available for civilian shipping by 2020." Barriers: nuclear proliferation, investment costs and societal acceptance.

The electric ship
"Supply vessels and ferries with high fluctuations in power demand are the most suitable candidates..."

• Hybrid ships: By 2020, these will mix conventional and superconducting motors and generators, fuel cells and batteries, first to service, passenger and small cargo ships. For larger ships, probably only as auxiliary power.
• Marine fuel cells: Initially, auxiliary power, such as hotel loads, then supplementing propulsion in hybrid electric ships. "During the nexst decade, fully commercial marine fuel cells will become available."
• Batteries: By 2020, a battery pack of 0.4 MWh, with a 4 MW peak load, could weigh 2-4 tonnes and take up one cubic meter. Nano-technology advances may lead to a breakthrough here.
• High-temperature superconductors: These could massively reduce engine size, but require complex cooling technology. Redundancy will be an issue.
• Cold ironing: By 2020, standardised connections will be available in many ports, and on both newbuild and existing ships. Hurdles are sufficient grid capacity on land (for big ports) and infrastructure (for small ports)

The digital ship
"While some e-Navigation technologies are presently in use by front runners in shipping, by 2020 the majority of the fleet will have followed."

• ECDIS: A key e-Navigation technology, coupling to non-navigation systems could extend its potential to port scheduling and customs clearance. Competence on ECDIS will be vital.
• Advanced weather routing: Towards 2020, accuracy and resolution of met-ocean data will be better, along with data collection from ships, and reductions of fuel consumption up to 10% common.
• Piracy detection and deterrence: High-performance radars reaching up to 10 Nm by 2020 will be key. Service providers will use satellite info to provide advanced warning services.
• Ship-port synchronization technology: "By 2020, berth planning algorithms, using satellite tracking and weather routing, will be integrated into ship-port communication systems."

The arctic ship
"Increased demand for seaborne trade in the Arctic will lead to the introduction of larger vessels that require novel icebreaking services."

• Novel icebreakers: Over the next decade, oblique icebreakers (sideways operation in heavy ice) are expected to be widely adopted for Arctic operations.
• Iceload monitoring: These are expected to become prevalent by 2020, so Arctic vessels know when to slow down, and when to find alternate routes, to prevent damage in ice.
• Arctic evacuation vessels: Special lifeboats for evacuation in Arctic conditions will employ an Archimedes' screw concept for movement, with two large, screw-like pontoons on each side of the vessel.
• Ice routing software: Such software will by 2020 provide routing based on ice conditions, from sat images, weather observations, ice charts and weather and ice model forecasts. This will allow navigators to programme ideal routes.
• Ice navigation training simulator: Given the lack of competent personnel, these are expected to gain broader usage. Challenges include modelling ship behaviour in different conditions.

The virtual ship
"To manage the complexity and risk inherent in innovative solutions, there is a drive towards use of advanced, model-based techniques for assessing novel concepts and technologies....from a lifecycle perspective."

• Integrated ship design tools: By 2020, these will support distributed, parallelised and coordinated execution of design tasks using multi-processor architectures and internet infrastructure. A crucial factor will be access to reliable data.
• Model-based ship machinery design: "Modular computer tools will be available to model, simulate and optimise the operation of machinery systems under realistic operational profiles."
• Model-based hull design: By 2020, hull design tools will allow design towards sub-optimal operating conditions, compared to today's systems, which are based on still-water conditions and design loads.
• Large-scale demonstrators: Showcase projects combining industrial and shipowner partners will accelerate innovative technologies to commercialisation.

That's it. If you want the whole book, drop a comment and I'll put it in the post to you!