OSM Developing High-tech Operations Center

Ship management firm OSM said it is in the final stages of completing a Singapore-based Maritime Operations Center that will help transform decision-making, efficiency and performance for its global customer base.

The facility, developed in partnership with Singapore based analytics company Azendian Solutions, will initially allow OSM to connect all its data sources around the world. In the near future, the operations center will not only be the main pillar of OSM’s Technical Management offerings, but it will also be a maritime innovation hub, with plans to develop technologies through an ecosystem of digital partnerships.

“The Operations Center is enabled by a cloud-based analytics solution tailor-made for OSM,” noted OSM CEO Geir Sekkesaeter. “This allows us to ‘join up’ all our global operations in real time, giving us full visibility, both financially and operationally, of every activity through a suite of dashboards and analytics applications. These can be accessed anywhere in the world, from any device, by any decision maker, empowering them to make optimal decisions at all times.”

“This creates transparency throughout the organization and, through big data utilization, allows us to identify trends, predict issues and take actions that deliver safety, efficiency and cost benefits for all our stakeholders. It is a truly transformational, long-term management solution that will create a platform for a new age of sustainable, optimized operations and commercial strength. We believe it sets a benchmark for the industry.”

The Operations Center will now operate as the heart of OSM’s Operations and Technical Management function. In terms of its immediate impact it will enhance capabilities in true 24/7 fleet support through data management and reporting, descriptive analytics, and predictive model optimization, which, paired with machine learning, will allow the firm to significantly improve safety and operational efficiency. In addition, crews will now be able to access the same information as teams onshore, empowering their decision making, while safety and incident response abilities will be improved through better, 24/7 access to all operational data and full-time monitoring.

“The initial construction of the Operations Centre may be nearing completion, but this is far from the end of the journey in terms of our technological development,” Sekkesaeter stressed. “We have ambitious plans to utilize this new analytical power as a platform to create maritime solutions that will help our customers meet their operational and commercial objectives.

“We’re looking into a range of technologies - including IoT enabled equipment, drones, blockchain, AI for predictive maintenance, advanced bots and edge computing, to name just a few – and will partner with leading digital developers to create smart solutions that make the most of our extensive data and industry understanding. The potential is huge… and this new facility will help us realize that.”

Earlier this month, the Norwegian-headquartered OSM launched its Seafarer App, giving its pool of more than 11,000 global crewmembers a single platform for managing all company communication, documentation, assignment details and more.

The business provides a range of bespoke solutions for its customer base – ranging from complete ship and offshore management and all-inclusive arrangements to individual value-added services, such as crewing, procurement, accounting and insurance.