Data sourced from monitoring systems onboard merchant vessels operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (‘K’ Line) is to be provided to the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) for analytics purposes under a new agreement.
The data will be delivered via the Internet of Ships Open Platform (IoS-OP), a vessel IoT data sharing platform managed by ClassNK subsidiary Ship Data Center (ShipDC) that is already used by each of the Japanese shipping companies to collect and store data.
The IoS-OP was originally developed by Japanese maritime stakeholders to enable the sharing of data, harmonised to ISO standards, among shipbuilders, manufacturers, and related service providers in a manner that protects the commercial interests of all parties.
Since its launch in 2018, the consortium of members of the IoS-OP has now grown to include more than 60 organisations, including the three major Japanese shipping lines.
The JCG previously relied on MOL, NYK, and ‘K’ Line voluntarily submitting data on an ad hoc basis, which was then manually integrated into its own systems. Linking with the IoS-OP will instead provide direct access to data from approximately five hundred ships operated by MOL, NYK and ‘K’ Line, effectively connecting the coast guard to one of the world’s largest operational vessel IoT databases.
The JCG says that it plans to use this data to enhance tidal current prediction accuracy, to improve marine safety and assist vessels in operating more efficiently in Japanese waters.
