Why Smart Ship Technology is the Future of the Australian High Speed Craft Industry

摘要

Since the early 1990's the Australian maritime industry has led the world-wide market for large, high-speed, light-weight aluminium craft. However international competition in this sector is significant and growing. Emerging smart ship technologies offer a once in a generation opportunity for the Australian high speed craft (HSC) industry to continue to build on its successful track record of innovation. Data can help us to build, operate and maintain more efficient, greener and more comfortable ships. The industry needs to move to producing ships that are not only fast but also smart. High speed craft require a smart ship solution tailored to their unique design characteristics and operating conditions. We will describe the journey that Austal and its partners has been on over the last two years to develop MARINELINK-Smart, a smart ship system designed specifically to meet the needs of high speed craft customers. We will explain how techniques such as optimisation of trim, throttle, route and other ship settings can add up to significant fuel savings and motions improvements for both naval and commercial ship operators. Finally, we will provide case studies from at-sea installations of MARINELINK-Smart to quantify the financial and operational benefits possible from the application of smart ship technology to high speed ships.