As digitization progresses, so does the volume of data on board. Only if they are processed in a meaningful way, they provide useful insights. Against this background, the company Siemens Energy has developed the monitoring and control system Siship Ecomain Suite
Shipowners and ship operators rely on numerous software and hardware systems to answer ever more complex challenges in their daily business. With Siship Ecomain Suite, they can use data from any number of systems on board in a uniform platform to make better decisions and save costs, Siemens Energy says.
Today, ships use numerous sophisticated installations and systems on board, each delivering data on their status, performance, and efficiency. However, this data is of a proprietary, inconsistent nature and, therefore, cannot be used for process optimization. Furthermore, it is impossible to compare the performance of similar ships under different circumstances or to discover best practices for competitiveness or best operational results within an entire fleet.
The intelligent intelligence system
Due to Siemens Energy providing information in consistent format is the basic idea of Siship Ecomain Suite. To this end, the system collects the entire ship operational data and consolidates and stores it in a database. By integrating data via modular and flexible interfaces (industrial standards such as Modbus, NMEA, Profibus, OPC, etc.) Ecomain can provide data access for analysis regardless of the supplier of the original systems. Any actual and historical data may be retrieved from this database with the help of a standard application interface (API), and calculated data can also be returned.
Easy installation
The solution is based on the iPhone/app principle, and applications are installed in virtual machines on an Siship Ecomain web/application server. A unique graphical user interface (GUI) serves to visualize the apps and may be configured according to individual needs. Apps like Data Explorer can be used to select and display individual data in a graphical format for immediate fault tracking on board or in a table for further analysis ashore. For data security reasons, the system is protected by a user management and login procedure. In addition, onboard and ashore (fleet management) web clients are served by the Siship Ecomain suite web server via an encrypted internet connection. The versatile system is open for future applications introduced by customers or developed by Siemens Energy or third parties.
According to the manufacturer the system complements the company‘s marine environmental portfolio and proves invaluable for decision making, because it allows for realtime monitoring and analyzing of the entire energy flow on board. A tailored app helps to optimize energy consumption and online emission tracking by making the right decisions and addressing navigation (route optimization), power generation, propulsion, trim, waste heat, and HVAC. Other apps take care of bunkering fluids, service schedules, documentation, and information management, etc. The optional realtime transmission of performance data on the internet inspires transparent ship operation and facilitates a land-based preventive maintenance system as well as consistent ship documentation and best practice sharing.
Due to Siemens Energy future extensions are easy, since the apps do not require dedicated hardware, and existing workstations (e.g. administrative network PCs installed with a web browser) can be used as Siship Ecomain clients.
The digital ecosystem generates the flexibility to combine different solutions, both those from Siemens Energy’s businesses or in partnership with highly specialized third parties. The solution delivers additional benefit to maritime customers as all components are perfectly orchestrated, which ensures the best results for transition to the highest efficiency of the assets, the company states.
But not only decarbonization or sustainability target are addressed, but digitalization is also the backbone to make in future autonomous ship operation possible. To operate a vessel autonomous, it is important to know the technical status of all assets onboard, to know if it is technical possible and the reliability is given. Siship Ecomain Suite with the condition monitoring features is consequently developed into this direction.
»We are serving our customers«
Why should a shipowner use Siship EcoMain?
Patrick Müller: Siship Ecomain is an open digital ecosystem which helps shipowner to optimize their entire fleet. Different aspects of optimization possibilities will be addressed and helps on the journey of decarbonization as the generated transparency is the key for success.
What is the difference to other systems on the market?
Müller: The openness and scalability of the ecosystem. Openness by the possibility to collect any kind of information onboard a vessel as well onshore in the cloud-based fleet management system. Openness by combining perfect orchestrated applications, from Siemens Energy or from partner companies. Once the onboard and onshore data acquisition system is installed the shipowner could increase the functionality by adding more and more applications which makes the solution scalable and well adopted to the individual needs.
What has a shipowner to do to implement the system? And how much does he need to spend?
Müller: We are serving our customers with different price models which reflects the flexibility and scalability of the Siship Ecomain. From the one time cost for the basic system over software as a service concept to saving sharing models and a combination out of these three models are possible. We try to address and reflect the customer needs.
