Bureau Veritas (BV) has released a new report exploring the benefits of digital collaboration in the maritime sector, and the potential gains available from increased data sharing among stakeholders.
Written by consultancy Thetius, the report, titled Common Interest, aims to benchmark shipping’s progress in the use of technology to support collaboration on decarbonisation goals and looks at how industry frontrunners are dealing with the technical, legal, financial and cultural barriers to digitalisation.
The publication identifies a number of key areas where the authors believe that digital collaboration has the potential to open new opportunities for growth and optimisation.
These include greater collaboration between different software providers and ship operators to improve ship performance analytics, better synchronisation of the shipping ecosystem to reduce ‘sail fast then wait’ practices, improved data sharing for ‘just in time’ port visits, and more accurate modelling of ship performance using data pooled from multiple ships.
The report also identifies four primary obstacles to effective data sharing in the maritime sector: competition law; data siloes; cost; and cultural and behavioural resistance.
“It should be viewed as an opportunity that shipping is simultaneously confronting the challenges of decarbonisation and digitalisation,” said Laurent Hentges, Vice-President, Digital Solutions and Transformation, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore.
“This report shows that the time, technology, and trading environment are right to use digital collaboration to evolve and grow. Shipping can achieve its decarbonisation goals and deliver a greener maritime future by recognising the scale and depth of its common interests.”
“Collaboration is possible, practical, necessary, and mutually advantageous. It is a powerful opportunity, if we can identify and remove barriers that inhibit data sharing, and one that should inspire optimism for the decarbonisation journey ahead.”
