At the SMM 2016 in Hamburg, Transas CEO Frank Coles delivered the company's standpoint on the future of maritime operations.
Coles opened the forum by summing up the situation of maritime technology market today, stating that, “Our industry today is awash with innovation, big data, unmanned ships, decision support tools, fuel saving applications and stress-reducing voyage planning and many other save the day applications.”
“However, it is has manifested as a picture of uncoordinated fragmented promises that lacks a structure and platform. Shipping needs a solution not an application. Shipping operations is the complete picture not just the smart phone,” he continued.
Coles made the statements when talking about the power and potential of the Transas Harmonized Eco System of Integrated Solutions (THESIS).
The vision and reality of THESIS is to create a managed environment to accommodate the regulatory, cultural and technological barriers as we strive for a safe, efficient ship operations eco system.
“THESIS seeks to connect, create and enable the connection of the dots in ship operations. It is designed to create the platform and structure to enable the remote, unmanned or manned ship or fleet. To create an ability to co-exist within the legal, geo political and stakeholder restraints that exist today,” Coles said.
The Transas CEO believes that the human element remains as the final interpreter of the crisis situations, but is relieved of the tedious administrative work that is still so much a part of the operations of the ship today.
Coles emphasized the need to consider the Ship Traffic Control element of the operational jigsaw seeing it as inevitable that countries will want to monitor and manage the passage of all ships through their territorial waters. However, Coles believes that Fleet Operations Centers will be the growth area of the THESIS operational infrastructure next few years.
“The ship can be managed, operated and can share the decision making with the fleet operations center while also under the monitoring or surveillance and possible traffic control of the local, regional or international ship traffic control.”
Coles concluded by saying that whatever the business model of the shipping industry might be in the future, the economies of scale offered by a structured platform for operations and monitoring will provide the eco system to survive.