Ericsson Maritime ICT Cloud deployed by shipping giants Maersk, U-Ming
From healthcare to energy, the Industrial IoT is having a major impact on diverse industries worldwide as global companies look to harness technology to gain business insight, cut costs and grow revenues.
Maritime shipping in 2013 accounted for 9.6 billion tons of cargo, which equates to about 80% of global trade by volume and more than 70% of global trade in monetary value. With this much money at stake, maritime leaders like Maersk and U-Ming have adopted ICT solutions to digitize their businesses.
That’s where the Ericsson Maritime ICT Cloud solution comes into play.
Orvar Hurtig, Head of Industry & Society at Ericsson, said last year at the product launch: “Vessels at sea do have systems in place that allow them to monitor critical functions and fuel usage, set and maintain an optimal course and ensure the welfare of their crew, but they are not particularly well integrated with fleet management systems onshore and they do not maximize the potential of real-time data. As the driving force behind the Networked Society and the world leader in telecommunications, Ericsson is the right partner to help connect these disparate systems and enable them to share information with low latency.”
The Ericsson product provides voyage optimization to help cut fuel costs and emissions; cargo monitoring and crew welfare in that the broadband system can be used for crew communication, entertainment, training and telemedicine and other services.
From the fleet/vessel perspective, the Maritime ICT Cloud provides: Fleet management, data analytics, document management, voyage optimization, crew connectivity, asset tracking and GSM voice and data.
On the shore side, benefits include ICT management, global site integration, system integration, OSS/BSS, e-commerce and business process management.
Here’s a video overview of the Maritime ICT cloud:
Taiwan-based U-Ming partnered with Ericsson last year to deploy the Maritime ICT Cloud and ship-to-shore services meant to enable real-time data on vessel location and movement and process automation.
U-Ming SVP Jeff Hsu, said: “The implementation of Ericsson’s fleet management system will help U-Ming Marine Transport elevate our communications systems, enhance our crew’s wellbeing & safety, and improve fuel efficiency. Our partnership with Ericsson will ensure U-Ming maintains its drive to be the most operationally efficient and eco-friendly shipping company we can be. I am looking forward to the partnership and to applying Ericsson’s ICT capabilities to our business.” Â Â
U-Ming operates 42 vessels and focuses on transport of cement, dry commodities and industrial raw materials.
Maersk, the biggest shipping company in the world with a fleet of 400 vessels, in another Ericsson Maritime ICT Cloud user, although the companies have been working together since 2011 when Ericsson began connecting the Maersk fleet with mobile and satellite communications.
