Maersk to use Inmarsat API to optimise battery usage

Maersk Supply Service has selected Inmarsat Maritime’s Fleet Data IoT platform to assist in optimising the performance of its first battery installation on board the offshore supply ship, Maersk Minder. An application programme interface (API) will gather data from shipboard equipment, automatically organising the information with time-stamps, synchronising it, and uploading it to the customer’s visualisation tools.

The API will not only support in-house reporting and analytics, but it will also make data available to original equipment manufacturers to improve performance and reduce carbon emissions. One example is Oslo-based bunker fuel testing specialist, VPS, whose data-driven decarbonisation system, Maress, provides real-time vessel performance information to help cut fuel consumption and emissions.

VPS Decarbonisation chief commercial officer, Sindre Bornstein, commented: “If the maritime industry is to achieve its emissions-reduction targets, it will rely on transparency, smart use of data and collaboration – and the Maersk Minder project combines all three. By providing an open platform for data analytics, Inmarsat enables Maress to deliver actionable insights, which in turn help Maersk Supply Service to enhance vessel efficiency in the short term and decarbonise its fleet through optimised battery-enabled operations in the long term.”

The system will provide visibility into the performance of the vessel itself as well as its hybrid battery system, enabling Maersk to keep pace with evolving environmental regulations. The company revealed that one of its clients has already stipulated the use of battery power in certain offshore operations. This underlines the competitive advantage gained by sharing real-time data on the impact of shipboard battery systems on vessel efficiency and emissions with charterers, the company said.

Inmarsat Maritime is a subsidiary of Viasat, a global communications company.