Broadband/Connectivity Maritime News

Inmarsat signs deal with ABB Marine & Ports to drive maritime digitalisation

The agreement recognises ABB as a certified application provider to work with Inmarsat’s Fleet Data which collects information from onboard sensors and uploads it to a cloud-based database.

Inmarsat and ABB Marine & Port have signed a milestone Master Supply Agreement to drive maritime digitalisation. The implementation of the agreement tackles an obstacle identified by the ship owners which has stopped them using IoT (Internet of Things) technology.

A recent 2018 Inmarsat survey of 125 owners found 51% identifying an inability to get data off ships in real-time as their obstacle to IoT adoption.

The agreement recognises ABB as a certified application provider to work with Fleet Data, the IoT platform developed by Inmarsat and Danelec Marine which collects information from onboard sensors, pre-processes it, and uploads it to a secure cloud-based database.

The new Certified Application Provider (CAP) agreement means analytics, monitoring and decision-support software, developed by ABB Marine & Ports, can seamlessly integrate with a database via the Fleet Data Application Programming Interface (API).

Commenting on the agreement, Stefano Poli, Vice President Business Development, Inmarsat Maritime, said: “As respective leaders in the field of mobile satellite communications and marine power, control and automation technologies, Inmarsat and ABB combine connectivity and enabling applications at a scale that can be truly transformative. This deal provides further evidence of the power of Fleet Data to rise to the challenge. As a digital enabler, Fleet Data can support a myriad of applications, so it is no coincidence that Inmarsat has signed agreements with digital technology majors as well as start-ups intending to shake up the industry. Both groups recognise that developing a digital culture is about downloading and updating, not expensive ship visits and installation time.”

Antto Shemeikka, Vice President Digital Services ABB Marine & Ports, added: “Collaborative operations that put our cumulative engineering knowledge, leading-edge products and remote support at the disposal of those at sea and ashore are core to the ABB Marine & Ports Service offering across a wide range of vessel types. We see the potential for faster digitalisation enabled by continuously evolving connectivity.”