PRESS RELEASE Weconnect and TechBinder join forces with Smart Vessel Optimizer

New partnership will drive data optimization in shipping and offshore sectors

TechBinder and Weconnect have entered a partnership agreement to offer the Smart Vessel Optimizer to global maritime sector. Combining proven expertise in data collection, analysis and visualization with stable worldwide data connectivity, Smart Vessel Optimizer can be used wherever ships or offshore assets operate. Ship-owners and other maritime stakeholders will now have access to the numerous benefits provided by this major step forward in digitization and data optimization.

TechBinder developed the Smart Vessel Optimizer based on proven industrial software from AVEVA and Schneider Electric. It is a platform that allows users to obtain and combine data from different maritime systems. This enables monitoring of a ship’s performance variables such as fuel consumption, alarm root causes, hull and engine performance and prediction of equipment failure.

The importance of connectivity
The use of Smart Vessel Optimizer reduces operating costs and improves the efficiency of ships and processes. By greatly improving connectivity, the various stakeholders in the shipping and offshore industries can consult and view essential real time information via dashboards.

Because of the inherently international scope of maritime operations, the use of 3G / 4G communication is challenging. Until now, ship-owners had to take out multiple 4G internet contracts all over the world. With a variety of terms and conditions, these contracts offered no certainty concerning the availability and performance of mobile networks. The involvement and collaboration with Weconnect now ensures the availability of multiple networks per country while also improving uptime and performance. Moreover, the software offers solutions that can extend the distance between onshore transmission masts and ships at sea.

Precision insight
These applications are changing the way traditional companies work, explains TechBinder CEO Bram van den Boom: “In an increasingly digital maritime industry, shipping companies require more accurate insight into the performance of their ships and critical assets. The information resulting from these data drastically improves maintenance and related operational processes, as well as onshore operations. It also facilitates improvement of technical configurations and ship design.

Bas de Lange, CEO at Weconnect, continues by saying that the collaboration with TechBinder is an excellent example of the power of the ‘hardware-software-connectivity’ triangle: “Connectivity and the effective use of data are crucial for many players in the maritime and offshore sectors. We provide the stable internet connection so that data can be continuously exchanged and analyzed anywhere between the cloud, vessels and shore-based operations. Because this system does not require a satellite connection, there are significant reductions in connection costs.”