Kongsberg Digital and engine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions are entering into a strategic digitalisation partnership, formalising the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two companies in October 2019. The first project undertaken by the partnership will be to deliver joint digital infrastructure to Höegh Autoliners, marking the first step in their stated aim to work together in accelerating the rate of digitalisation in the maritime industry and securing greater value for customers on both sides.
The agreement to collaborate in developing digitalisation solutions for the maritime sector came about as the two companies realised that their separate efforts in this space were complementary. Kongsberg Digital’s recently launched Vessel Insight – a new, cost efficient data infrastructure solution for the maritime market – is a natural match with MAN Energy Solutions’ PrimeServ Assist digital solution for optimisation of engine use and maintenance.
Vessel Insight captures contextualised data from vessels and fleets for use in value generating applications for ship owners and operators, so by integrating the data from PrimeServ Assist will be able to provide a more holistic picture for the majority of vessels with MAN Energy Solutions’ two-stroke engines on board. With two major maritime vendors collaborating on a common data infrastructure, customers will benefit from interfacing with one system instead of many, automated data integration, and a larger selection of digital solutions. This will make the digital transformation faster and more cost efficient for customers in the maritime sector.
“The engine is the most critical component onboard a vessel, and this strategic collaboration will ensure optimal operation and maintenance of the engine,” says Hege Skryseth, President, Kongsberg Digital. “This will generate significant value for our customers. We look forward to working together with MAN Energy Solutions and our customers to ensure that they get the digital solutions that fit their capabilities and needs.”
The maritime industry is in a transformational phase and is still learning new ways to extract additional value from digitalisation, and with two major vendors now working together to further develop a powerful, safe and open infrastructure, this transformation will accelerate. For vendors of digital solutions and services, developing value adding applications and software for customers will be easier and more cost efficient, which in turn leads to a broader selection of available solutions. This will speed up the ability to digitalise and gives ship owners and operators a quicker return on their digital investment.
Per Hansson, Head of Digital and Strategy, MAN Energy Solutions, says, “We are constantly searching for opportunities to bring the benefits from digital development to our customers faster and more easily. Our advanced analytics and support services are areas where we can provide unique benefits to our customers’ businesses – further optimising the operation, maintenance and availability of their vessels. Working together with renowned industry partners like Kongsberg Digital gives us one more way to provide our services to our customers, and to jointly further digitalisation within the maritime sector.”
The inaugural project with Höegh Autoliners is currently in a testing and validation phase, with a goal to enable real time engine monitoring and digital assistance for optimisation, while reducing digital equipment onboard. Kongsberg Digital will provide its data infrastructure solution, Vessel Insight, for real time data transfer while MAN Energy Solutions will deploy PrimeServ Assist for engine data analysis.
Geir Frode Abelsen, Head of Technical Operations in Höegh Autoliners says, “For us at Höegh Autoliners, this collaboration is an important step towards the utilisation of digital solutions in optimising the running and maintenance of our engines in a safe and effective way.”
