Technology has transformed the maritime industry from what it used to be way back in the 1970s, to a highly evolved level today. From Artificial intelligence, simulators, logistics, and ship-board and ashore operations to navigation, marine education, and procurement, technology has been embraced in a very big way in the maritime domain.
The Technology in Maritime (TIM) Conference held in Mumbai on 29th July organized by The Naval Connection, spearheaded by Captain Shoukat Mukherjee, brought together a broad view of how the shipping and maritime industry as a whole have changed, as seen through the eyes and experiences of eminent industry veterans, who touched upon key technological transformations.
Addressing the inaugural panel, Mr. Deepak Shetty, I.R.S, former secretary to the Government of India & former Director General of Shipping, gave insights to whether we are ready to take on the new technology and what’s on the way ahead.
HARNESSING THE DATA BOOM
Capt. Sankalp Shukla, Chairman of FOSMA, drew on the latest technological advancements. He said, “The maritime industry has some of the best technologies today, like the fleet performance centers integrated with fleet monitoring, used for real-time observing of data from ship operations.
“Ranging from engine and navigation parameters, weather, and routing for an entire fleet of ships, based on software and sensors which give real-time data, these technologies lead to fuel saving and also help the masters on the ship to get advice from ashore about real-time weather routing.”
He added, “The only limitations these systems have are that the masters and captains are not software engineers and these require a lot of software monitoring, putting a lot of burden on the ship staff in order to give regular feedback. Also, arises a concern about what are going to be the insurance costs for autonomous and semi-autonomous ships, which have become a reality but need a complete change in the regulatory system.
“While the availability of live streaming on Netflix for the crew’s entertainment and chatting apps like WhatsApp on the one hand help the crew to connect to their families, they also lead to violations of their rest hours!”
OF HUMANS & TECHNOLOGY
Capt. Mahendra Pal Bhasin, Chairman of MASSA, took the middle path of keeping the right balance between adopting technology and at the same time not ignoring the human factor. He said, “Technology in maritime is the need of the hour to tackle issues like global warming and climate change that we need to tackle with the help of technology. Data is today’s Gold, which is gathered with the help of the latest technology, software, and of course from seafarers onboard.
“We cannot ignore the human factor who have to comply, use the software, and give the data. In our times we had a paper chart but now the latest technology gives us correct and real time information, to both the providers and the shipping companies.”
Captain Pradeep Chawla, MD QHSE & Training AESM Hongkong, talked online about the evolution of the maritime industry since the 1970s. He said, “Earlier we used to have Cargo ships, with engine control rooms and navigation bridges, which are now replaced by today’s modern vessels, modern engine control rooms, and integrated bridges with the latest technology.”
Highlighting the changing workforce he said, “The world has also been disrupted in terms of a changing workforce, and by 2025 marine the industry will have at least 75% of the millennials. This generation is very tech-savvy and has very individual personalities, approaches, and skillsets. For them, the training systems also need to be much more evolved as compared to the way many of us were trained.”
Talking about the next-gen offshore Ship Management Systems, Captain Chawla added, “When we started sailing, we used to send a message once in four days, but today our companies are connected by the vessel managers by WhatsApp, 24×7. Today, the ships are equipped with high-tech fleet operation centers, live machinery data, and live shore monitoring. We can access data on our phones to monitor docking operations to Navigation which are real-time. Algorithms and high-end modern camera systems can locate the target even at night with a range of up to 3 miles. The auto intelligence routing systems can gauge the unexpected coastlines, and can provide the speeds at which nearby ships are sailing towards the navigator.”
Technology today plays a great role in bringing the necessary changes towards decarbonization in the Maritime industry. Kaushik Seal, Market Development Manager Alfa Laval StormGeo, Singapore, threw light on StormGeo’s S-Suite transformative environment-friendly technology. This one-stop digital solution is ideal to solve regulatory challenges like Carbon intensity indicator (CII), which helps the shipping industry move rapidly towards decarbonization.
Seal said, “StormGeo’s CII simulator is a powerful tool which helps the vessel owners and operators to collaborate on operational deployment and achieve the desired CII ratings. The CII helps monitor the carbon levels, and as an end-to-end energy service provider we feel passionate to protect the future of our planet.
“Today, Data is the new ‘oil’ and we make sure that we provide secure data quality to our clients. We also support them in decision making and also advise them to execute actions towards the environmental performance of their vessels along with the voyage performance.”
Talking on ‘Mind to Marketing’ Captain Yashovarman Sharma said, “The human mind is the best-designed machine and human intellect is at the same level between various populations because it’s of equitable distribution across the world.
“Some of the best technological solutions for the maritime industry have been developed in our own country. All you need is imagination, inspiration, and aspiration, as when it comes to Technology and intellectual property, all you need is passion and perseverance to develop it.”
Capt. D.C Shekhar in his presentation threw light on innovative river and lake cleaning technological solutions. He said, “To clean the rivers and lakes is what an average mariner can do to make the earth a better place, and so I decided to develop a river cleanup technology: ‘Alphameres’. We have stopped around 22000 tons of trash, including 2200 tons of plastics, from reaching the sea in 2018, in its first year of installation, which is now deployed in 8 cities in India. We have also developed hydraulic robots to sweep the crude oil tanks. We have developed energy harnessing devices and an unmanned wave-powered boat, which harnesses the waves with remote controls, used with silt traps to clean rivers, lakes, and oceans.”
Addressing the concerns for futuristic communication needs for maritime vessels, Mr. Avinash S. Vaze, Sr. Surveyor, Indian Register of Shipping, said, “Onboard integration of maritime systems today include power generation and navigation, but how data can be used for other purposes is still to be assessed, since till date the data is not captured to its fullest utilization.”
Mr. Vaze further showcased the basic communication setups with sensors contributing to onboard integration and how this equipment can be utilized for the purpose of navigation and for remote maintenance services for maritime autonomous survey ships.
He also talked about the 4 levels of autonomous regulations brought by IMO which include level 1-Decision support system, level 2- Remotely controlled vessels with seafarers onboard, level 3 -Remotely controlled vessels without seafarers onboard, and level 4 – fully autonomous vessels.
Mr. Amar Singh Thakur addressed the occasion on behalf of the Maritime Union of India, and said, “With the digital India movement our seafarers can access the MUI app which was launched in 2016, and update themselves about our activities and pay online fees from anywhere around the world.”
Capt. Shiv Halbe, CEO of MASSA gave insights on the idea of linking the rules to practical application, and how to analyze situations and then apply the rules, while Mr. Shankar Raghavan concluded the conference with his insights on addressing crew management challenges through Marine Apps solutions.

Marex Media