{mprestriction ids="1,2"} The purpose of the agreement is to tackle the difficulty shipowners have in getting data off ships in real-time. A recent 2018 Inmarsat survey of 125 owners found 51 per cent identifying this as their main obstacle to IoT adoption.

As a certified application provider, ABB will work with Fleet Data, which collects information from onboard sensors, pre-processes it, and uploads it to a secure cloud-based database.

The new Certified Application Provider (CAP) agreement means analytics, monitoring and decision-support software, developed by ABB Marine & Ports to benchmark fleet performance as well as enhance ship efficiency and safety, can seamlessly integrate with a database via the Fleet Data Application Programming Interface (API).

“As respective leaders in the field of mobile satellite communications and marine power, control and automation technologies, Inmarsat and ABB combine connectivity and enabling applications at a scale that can be truly transformative,” said Stefano Poli, vice president business development, Inmarsat Maritime.

“This deal provides further evidence of the power of Fleet Data to rise to the challenge. As a digital enabler, Fleet Data can support a myriad of applications so it is no coincidence that Inmarsat has signed agreements with digital technology majors as well as start-ups intending to shake up the industry,” he said. “Both groups recognise that developing a digital culture is about downloading and updating, not expensive ship visits and installation time.”

“Collaborative operations that put our cumulative engineering knowledge, leading-edge products and remote support at the disposal of those at sea and ashore are core to the ABB Marine & Ports Service offering across a wide range of vessel types,” said Antto Shemeikka, vice president digital services ABB Marine & Ports. “We see the potential for faster digitalisation enabled by continuously evolving connectivity.” {/mprestriction}