Stress-free operation with big data analysis

TOKYO—Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) today announced that MOL, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., and Weathernews Inc.  jointly released “Fleet Viewer,” as part I of MOL’s  “FOCUS” Project intended to enhance the collection and application of ship operation data.

Ensuring safe vessel operation, and in turn safeguarding the transport of people and cargo is the foundation of the ocean shipping industry. For the most part, however, maintaining safety and addressing problems onboard have relied on the skills and experience of seafarers on the front lines, because ships travel such great distances, and while they could maintain radio or telephone contact with shoreside personnel, physical distance and telecommunications limitations meant they could not be “watched” from shore. A similar situation would be a doctor at a local clinic telephoning a hospital for an advice on treating a patient.

The Fleet Viewer is designed to prevent problems, with the option of switching to “treatment” in case of a failure, and share know-how between the “hospital” on shore and the “clinic” far out at sea. In other words, not only the crewmembers onboard while under way, but also ship management superintendents on land can observe, diagnose, and treat the ship’s operating status if external help is required. It enables MOL to offer safer transport services to customers by sharing the knowledge gained by analyzing accumulated Big Data throughout the fleet via the FOCUS Project.