MOL to Expand Ship Data Sharing

MarineLink March 1, 2021

MOL General Manager of Technical Division/Offshore Technical Division, Makoto Yamaguchi; MOL Senior Managing Executive Officer, Yoshikazu Kawagoe; ClassNK President & CEO, Hiroaki Sakashita; MOL General Manager of Smart Shipping Division, Satoshi Fujii; and ShipDC President, Yasuhiro Ikeda. (Photo: MOL)

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Ship Data Center Co., Ltd. (ShipDC) have agreed to share the data of about 180 MOL’s ships in operation targeted for MOL’s Fleet Optimal Control Unified System (FOCUS) Project through Internet of Ships Open Platform (IoS-OP), the ship IoT data sharing platform promoted by ShipDC.

By analyzing the data collected by more than 10,000 sensing items from vessels, engines, cargoes, sea weather and so on at a high frequency (one-minute intervals), MOL has been developing various applications which support to enhance vessel safety and protect the marine environment

IoS-OP is a universal platform that enables the sharing of ship operation data among shipbuilders, manufacturers, and related service providers without compromising profits of data providers. 57 organizations joined the member association IoS-OP Consortium as of the end of 2020. ClassNK’s wholly owned subsidiary ShipDC operates IoS-OP under the supervision of the consortium.

MOL had so far stored operation data collected from several vessels to IoS-OP, and has agreed to expand the sharing to about 180 ships in operation. This data sharing will significantly increase the amount of ship operation data transferred in IoS-OP, and will enable the stakeholders to utilize the data shared in IoS-OP to enhance their corporate value through the pursuit of ship safety and economic efficiency, environmental initiatives, and the creation of innovations in the maritime industry to strengthen international competitiveness.

MOL and ShipDC aim for safety of ships, contribution to the environment, and economic rationality through the data utilization as well as further acceleration of the collection, distribution, and utilization of data in the maritime industry with IoS-OP at the core.

Yoshikazu Kawagoe, Senior Managing Executive Officer, MOL, said “Representing not only MOL but also IoS-OP Consortium as its chairperson, I am glad to announce the agreement to boost the data use and digital transformation of the maritime industry. Added 180 ships in MOL’s operation, the data available at IoS-OP is expected to reach 500 ships in due course, which offers the unique and practical opportunity to utilize the ship operation data. I am convincing the increase of data volume will bring about the better data-driven solution from IoS-OP.”