Together with leading partners from the maritime industry, HSVA is launching a large-scale project to develop an energy management system for ships based on rational methods. Partners are Hamburgische Schiffbau-Versuchsanstalt GmbH, AVL Deutschland GmbH, Entwicklungszentrum für Schiffstechnik und Transportsysteme e.V., Friendship Systems AG, Technische Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Hamburg, 52°North - Initiative for Geospatial Open Source Software GmbH, Universität zu Lübeck, Maritimes Zentrum der Hochschule Flensburg, C. Büttner Shipmanagement and AVL Software & Functions. Together with further associated ship operators , a forward-looking energy management and decision support system will be developed, taking into account current operational data and geo-information. This will contribute to improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions from shipping.
The energy consumption of merchant ships is largely determined by their hydrodynamic properties and the systems on board. In some cases, up to 90% of primary energy consumption is used for propulsion and must therefore be optimally managed. The aim of MariData is to develop, improve and classify rational modules for ship energy management by using a carefully selected combination of state-of-the-art maritime technologies and experience as well as AI-based tools and methods for a pioneering product for holistic ship energy and operations management.
Together with geo-information and a Decision Support System (DSS) that brings together technical, environmental and economic data, energy consumption information will be integrated into a platform that can be used both on board the ship and shore-side by a shipping company. The platform will provide on-line simulations for decision support to ship management, as well as assistance with short, medium and long-term forecasts and decisions related to ship operation.
MariData's innovations lie in the precise determination and analysis of the current ship's drag, propulsion and respective fuel consumption under realistic operating conditions, taking into account wind and wave influences. On this basis, a rational analysis of the influences of the individual components is carried out, thus improving the quality of the forecast and the basis for navigation decisions. Integration with state-of-the-art geoservices takes the planned system to a new level. In addition, there are flexible approaches to quickly generate missing data (e.g. geometry) and integrate it into the analysis.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.