Wärtsilä & Microsoft to bring connectivity to the high seas

Wärtsilä has partnered with Microsoft in a bid to bring its cloud-based Azure IoT Edge platform to the shipping sector as the sector looks to fully embrace the digital transformation.

The deal is to be done through the former's tech venture, Wärtsilä Voyage. If successful, the platform could make the remote operation of vessels easier, allow for the sharing of data between platforms while providing cutting-edge cybersecurity and increasing overall safety.

Read more: Self-propelled ship Yara Birkeland completes maiden voyage

Moves towards autonomous shipping have become a hot topic within the sector of late. The coronavirus changed the workplace beyond recognition with the rise of remote working and increasing environmental consciousness have led to any measures that could cut emissions and human costs. 

“The maritime world is entering the digital era where mutualising our investments into common platforms and standards are a prerequisite to successful innovations for a more sustainable and efficient maritime industry,” said Sean Fernback, President, Wärtsilä's Executive Vice President.

“The Wärtsilä common platform will act as an enabler to deploy future technology for autonomy and emissions reduction. We want to focus our efforts on those fields with commonly shared standards that give vessels easier access to innovative solutions", he added.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a concept which details a higher degree of interconnectivity between platforms connected through networks and forms an essential component in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), which are both considered key in the digital transformation.

However, security issues have plagued the adoption of IIoT for years, with criticism being levied at how the concept opens up industry to new forms of cyberattacks. Fully embracing the idea would also mean data sharing and collaboration between companies would face virtually no barriers.

Wärtsilä hopes that increasing its digital offering will allow for greater collaboration between shipping companies and maritime stakeholders, with Voyage's Vice President likening the process to the way smartphones work in our daily lives.

“The same way smartphone and some automobile manufacturers are able to update, deploy new features, and improve their systems remotely, the new generation of digital ships needs to constantly adapt, update to keep up with their evolving ecosystems while staying cyber secure at all times", said  Pierre Guillemin, Boyage's Vice President for Technology.

It hopes that by delivering instant updates to the various systems in play, things such as onboard tech maintenance and deployment times could be drastically reduced, while vessel uptime - and therefore profits - can be increased.

Most importantly, Azure will be able to provide constant security updates, potentially alleviating a major concern with current IoT technologies.

Ventures into autonomous shipping are also considered vital to reducing sector emissions, through route and fuel optimisation and hazard perception diagnostics, which can minimise the risk of collisions or obstructions. This will be vital should the sector hope to meet its goal of becoming net-zero by 2050.

Microsoft has been hoping to use its Azure platform in a number of sectors in the transport industry. Back in February, it was revealed to be partnering with automaker Volkswagen to work on self-driving cars.

Read more: VW and Microsoft team up for self-driving cars

The collaboration between Wärtsilä and Microsoft will continue to unlock the "true potential" of IoT technologies.

The shipping company will look to build an open development environment with standardised data formats and APIs which it hopes can reduce fragmentation, integrate systems to reduce the complexity of digital services lifecycle and have multi-layered cybersecurity built into every "smart ship" and maritime ecosystem.

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