ClassNK, IHI Marine United (IHIMU), Diesel United (DU) and IBM Japan have announced they will jointly develop a ship maintenance management system to help reduce ship lifecycle cost. The jointly developed system, which will make use of the latest condition monitoring sensor technology and data analysis systems, will be offered by ClassNK as a cloud-based service to shipowners, managers and operators from June 2013. As ships face dramatically changing ocean conditions, appropriate maintenance and condition monitoring of on-board machinery is essential to ensuring smooth operations. With bunker prices near historic highs, shipowners are increasingly turning their attention to maintenance management schemes utilizing on-board sensors data and diagnostic analysis tools to prevent malfunctions…