Compliance and efficiency are driving the digital revolution in shipping

The right software can help operators manage the dual demands of regulatory compliance and commercial opportunities, writes Staci Satterwhite, CEO of ABS Wavesight

The shipping industry faces a once-in-a-generation challenge: it must gradually reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships while improving cruise efficiency. The ability to achieve this type of transformation requires changes at the organizational level and appropriate support from stakeholders with a solid track record of execution.

The tools fleet operators need run the gamut of data and technology, but the important part is the ability to turn disparate information into actionable insights that help make better business decisions.

The ability to achieve performance improvements from a single floating asset to an entire fleet is an essential element of a digital strategy. The need for improvement extends from daily operations and maintenance to the commercial drivers behind investment and charter decisions.

Another important element is the ability to demonstrate compliance with increasingly stringent regulations. As regulation moves away from prescriptive standards towards incentives and financial penalties, operators need to understand where the risks lie and how to manage them.

Understanding the challenge

Supporting operators with solutions that help increase efficiency and ensure compliance requires a standardized approach to data – something largely missing in the industry – that can draw from diverse sources and present the information and insights that come from it.

This allows users to identify where data gaps may occur and identify inconsistencies. The industry will only have an opportunity to invest if the platform can demonstrate credibility, reliability and trust.

There is also a need for a modern system architecture that will be able to provide the best solution in the shortest time. This demand is underpinning the shift towards a software-as-a-service (SaaS) approach, which lowers the total cost of ownership for the buyer because they can subscribe to the platform without having to maintain it, which is especially important in the face of constantly changing regulations. landscape.

Open APIs enable connectivity and aggregation from disparate data sources, and when users spend less time figuring out how to work with something, they can spend more time sharing information and knowledge.

Compatibility

As shipping regulatory compliance requirements continue to increase, they become more complex for operators. The industry has no problem reporting historical emissions data, but the burden on ships and land will increase when the EU Emissions Trading Scheme becomes fully operational.

In addition, the EU Maritime Fuel Regulation creates a more complex operating landscape, with many opportunities for compliance. From 2025, ships operating in the EU with greenhouse gas intensity will have to meet emission limits equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions under the Well-to-Wake program or face financial penalties.

The threshold will be reduced on a sliding scale every five years. Compliance surpluses – created when ships do not exceed the GHG intensity limit – can be linked to other ships with a negative balance that have therefore created a compliance deficit. These surpluses can be sold to other operators or used to extend the viability of older parts of the fleet in a process called pooling.

One thing is certain: decarbonization strategy 1.0 was a relatively simple affair focused on managing and accounting for CII; in the future, decarbonization 2.0 will be much more complex, focusing on wake-up carbon equivalents per megajoule of energy and compliance flexibility. ABS Wavesight is built to meet both performance and compliance.

Efficiency

At this point in the digitalization and decarbonization cycle, ship operators may be wary of the products sold to them.

It is understandable that adoption has varying degrees of maturity; some operators have their own systems; others have invested in third-party solutions. However, it is likely that most companies are still wondering how to find and implement a solution that fits their profile.

Some of the most common complaints we hear include: “I see the data, but so what?” Displaying the data is the easy part, and the value is in making it useful enough to make business decisions. There are many potential outliers and confounders in accurate data that users need to recognize in order to easily interrogate and investigate.

A huge contribution to success is the ability to connect land-based personnel with the fleet in as close to real-time as possible. Not having to wait until all the data is collected before taking action creates opportunities for better and more transparent decision-making.

Preparing for decarbonization 2.0

As the pressure for higher performance and regulatory compliance increases, we’re listening and considering how we can help customers adopt a platform that meets both challenges. ABS Wavesight was founded to combine the deep industry knowledge of a class leader with software excellence. In this way, we were able to help customers gather data that provides visibility into their fleets and influences decisions regarding compliance and daily shipping operations.

ABS is based on regulation, certification, compliance and safety; we can confidently help customers meet their fleet efficiency and optimization needs.

My Digital Fleet by ABS Wavesight is powerful and secure fleet management software that combines comprehensive operational data with ABS’s environmental, class and regulatory insights to quantify risk and make confident decisions. It helps you increase operational efficiency, achieve fleet decarbonization goals and improve regulatory compliance – all within one platform.

SaaS architecture provides reliable access to the data users need, along with valuable insights to support better decision-making.

In the near future, these insights will move from forecasting to supporting predictability, reflecting the ability to create what-if travel scenarios that can be played out in real time.

We believe better data-driven decisions are needed, from ensuring more competitive charters to maintenance scheduling and the ability to predict compliance costs.

Staci Satterwhite is CEO of ABS Wavesight.