Maritime leaders are urging the shipping industry to adopt new technologies to capitalise on opportunities and navigate today's increasingly complex operating environment, a new survey by Sea Asia has found.

Nine out of 10 leaders polled believe that it is time for the shipping industry to make the move towards smart shipping while another 81 per cent recognise the importance of Big Data to survive in today's digital and transform the way their businesses operate sustainably.

Group chairman of China Taiwan's U-Ming Marine Transport Corp, Douglas Hsu, said: "A small number of industry players are shifting towards smart shipping. However, with technology developing at a fast pace today, it is important that the industry adapts quickly."

Across the region, the industry is working alongside government and private sector partners to drive the development of technology and innovation.

In Singapore, for example, the Maritime & Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore's Maritime Innovation & Technology (MINT) Fund has been enhanced to include the MINT-PD (Product/Solution Development) scheme. This scheme supports up to 50 per cent of qualifying costs for projects that seek to develop technology products or solutions for the maritime industry.

The MPA is also collaborating with leading IT company, IBM, to create a unified platform which will integrate real-time data and provide a consistent view of data points across MPA. This platform will collect information such as vessel positioning and weather data.

China is encouraging the development of smart ships. In May last year, the State Council announced the "Made in China 2025" policy, which highlighted the development of the world's first smart ship as a priority development.

In Indonesia, the government is bringing together data from 24 ports to monitor performance and ultimately reduce waiting time for ships and cargo. This data will also allow ship owners to monitor their containers in real time, enabling them to see if they have arrived safely and on time to destination ports, Sea Asia said in a release.

Source: shippingazette.com