Digitalisation is a “buzzword”, as is decarbonization.
In fact, these two are sometimes referred to together or described as the "two D's". However, the opportunities and challenges of digitalization in the maritime sector require a proper explanation and a unique understanding. This article explains how digitization will impact the industry across the asset lifecycle, permeating many technical and commercial business processes.
Is Digitalisation a Challenge or Opportunity for the industry?
Digitalization offers one of the greatest opportunities in terms of environmental, safety and performance improvements. The potential benefits across shipping companies range from improving business lifecycle processes by replacing traditional design, construction and warranties techniques, to embedding digital elements directly into ship systems.
Digitalisation in Context
Perhaps unfortunately, Digitalisation is one of those words that means many different things to different people and in different contexts. To ensure a common and basic understanding for the reader a focus on just two contexts shall be analysed:
1. Digitalisation of business and engineering processes
2. Digital technology embedded in assets and systems
Process Digitalisation
Digitalising our processes, and their supporting tools, enables us to re-engineer the way in which we do everything – business and commerce, infrastructure, workforce requirements, etc – and importantly, in our context, the engineering, manufacturing, and operation of ships and their systems; and also the regulatory and standards regimes that safeguard these assets. Data and computer science transformations have enabled a through-life digital thread for any asset, a digital twin as the basis of a lifetime biography of any asset and the basis for improved decision making and assurance – all of which supports increased effectiveness and efficiency of our processes and should also enable improvements to the cost effectiveness of our enterprises.
The capability to properly model and analyse complex and hazardous arrangements provided by digital engineering techniques enables simulation of many `what-if` operational scenarios at the early design stage as part of the risk assessment mentioned earlier and achieve optimum solutions.
A new generation of engineering tools may require a new generation of engineers – skilled in the use of digital tools and knowledgeable in the engineering practice and know-how that they enable.
In addition, new arrangements for digitalised data/information sharing between stakeholders need to be put in place respecting all applicable copyrights and confidentiality requirements.
So digitalisation is clearly a key enabler in the processes surrounding the design, build, and operation of a complex asset – and as such provides some defence against the relentless pressure on service and cost.
Digitalising maritime assets
There are many strong reasons for embedding digital technology into the ship systems as part of the fabric of the vessel. These may include ensuring the human operator need not visit hazardous locations and keeping them from harm’s way or potentially not needing to be on the ship at all in the case of levels of autonomy; it may be that there is an efficiency saving in automating certain functions; or it may be that the system complexity is such that it is not reasonable to expect a human operator to make decisions and respond safely in a timely manner. Having said that, confidence in the dependability of the digital system is essential.
As previously mentioned, we must also consider the human element and go beyond the traditional provisions to ensure the system is safe to operate and ensuring that the human operators, passengers or surveyor are not exposed to hazardous situations or locations (mitigation against slips, trips and falls is a classic example). When considering the highly digitalised system, we also need to consider how the asset will be operated safely in the manner envisaged when it was designed. This consideration must take into account those who interface with the system directly or remotely, what might reasonably be expected from them in terms of the human-system interface, and the skills and training they require. The operators need to not only deal with ‘normal’ operating conditions – when they may only be undertaking a passive role, but also reasonably foreseeable ‘abnormal’ operating conditions – where they may be expected to intervene in an active role to address the abnormality; in this latter case, the ability to respond to such conditions safely and in good time is also a key consideration. And don’t forget that the real ‘operator’ in certain functions may actually have been the system designer or those who produced its original specification!
So, like decarbonisation solutions, the engineering challenges to ensure the digitalised system is both safe to operate and can be operated safely by those persons the owner is prepared to train and place in charge are all surmountable – with commitment of the appropriate skills and resources, and time and money.
Conclusion
Digitalisation offers broader benefits in terms of process efficiency and efficacy, as well as providing new opportunities for the ship systems. In both respects, digitalisation may provide routes to implementation of decarbonisation solutions amongst many other potential benefits. But, as for other new technology deployments such as decarbonisation, some solutions introduce new hazards, risks and large-scale potential consequences that can only be safely overcome though commitment to solid engineering, also requiring skills that may be new to the maritime sector.
The safety challenges of digitalisation can be addressed by thorough and considerate engineering. All of this represents additional work and comes at a cost – nothing that is insurmountable, but it does require commitment and understanding from all involved.
*Cyber Security Technical Leader Bureau Veritas, Marine & Offshore