"With the launch of SkyLight, a cost-effective, next-generation fleet performance monitoring service, Eniram and Wärtsilä harness connectivity and the Internet of Things to enable commercial ship operators to manage their business intelligently."
In September, Eniram and Wärtsilä released SkyLight, a fleet monitoring service that facilitates the optimisation of a vessel’s performance. This next-generation solution offers vastly improved and more accurate information compared to manual performance reporting with the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which is common amongst providers offering similar services. SkyLight also makes Charter Party monitoring transparent and nearly real-time, monitoring the vessel’s voyage and comparing the fuel and speed performance of the vessel to the terms of the Charter Party.
What before took several man-hours, plus information from up to three providers, for the operator to investigate, SkyLight now solves in one report. It will also deliver an enhanced, normalised fuel curve that can improve the optimisation of commercial operations, giving the customer an accurate insight into the vessel’s fuel consumption. This forms the basis for all ship and performance optimisation.
Not only does SkyLight allow for faster and more effective planning, but it also creates transparency for possible, money-saving cuts in Charter Party margins. The cost-effective approach of SkyLight makes energy and performance management accessible for all operators, owners and charterers, regardless of the size of their fleet.
With SkyLight, commercial operators can cost-effectively monitor their fleet and compare in detail the fuel, speed and nautical performance between their vessels. The software keeps records of the ships’ performance, enabling more prompt reporting, planning and cost optimisation.
As with any type of monitoring, both tracking and measuring variables make it possible to control them. Real-time access to fuel, speed and nautical performance data increases visibility and supports the overall optimisation of the vessel’s performance. “In this way, ship operators can manage their business more effectively, resulting in money saved, instant insight in the performance of their assets and time reduced to supervise their day-to-day operation,” says Jan Wilhelmsson, Vice President Commercial Shipping at Eniram.
Wilhelmsson adds, “Delivering performance monitoring through portable equipment as a service enables operators with shorter business cycles, like dry and wet bulk operators, to get the benefits of advanced data analytics. As satellite connectivity is rapidly improving, this type of service is a natural first step in the use of real-time data for fuel performance optimisation.”
SkyLight is a subscription-based service delivered via a portable two-way transponder, which is attached to the rail of the ship by the crew. The customer has instant access to the collected and analysed performance data via Fleet, Eniram’s cloud-based software interface. In addition, reports are sent to the customer in PDF format for easy storage.
“With opportunities created by connectivity and the Internet of Things (IoT), we can provide intelligent sensors, integrated satellite communication and web-based analytics tools for optimising ship performance at cost levels never seen before. This, combined with the vast amount of data Eniram has collected over several years, makes us able to deliver advanced modelling off the shelf as well as bring cost savings to our customers and help them make the right business decisions,” Wilhelmsson concludes.
Already before the launch in September, SkyLight attracted attention and brought in customers who signed up for trials, which confirms an existing gap in the market for cost-effective, high-quality performance-monitoring solutions sold as a service. By the end of November SkyLight had reached its sales target, and the potential for fleet-wide roll-outs in 2017 could employ 10 times the number of units that are on the market today. With a merchant fleet of around 40,000 vessels worldwide, the potential of SkyLight is enormous.
Setting the commercial progress aside, the technological development of Eniram’s innovation continues, and we can soon expect to realise the true potential of SkyLight. Abstract concepts such as virtual sensing, real-time monitoring and low-cost connectivity, which not long ago seemed like science fiction, are already incorporated into SkyLight today and are yesterday’s news. Below are examples of new services that will be included in the SkyLight offering during 2017:
• Fouling analysis, giving the customer insight into the effectiveness of the vessel’s coating and allowing for more efficient dry dock planning
• Route benchmarking to assist economic voyage planning
• Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) readiness, assisting the customers with their emission reporting requirements under the new EU regulations
• Interactive apps for immediate alarm notification and predictive analysis, giving the customer the ability to take instant action when needed
This and much more will be added to SkyLight during this year. Other features, like nautical maps in the software interface, will also be available soon. 2017 will indeed be an exciting year for SkyLight customers.
