Enhancing resource planning with new cloud capabilities
With Microsoft technology, VerticaLive has been able to extend MarineCFO out to the vessels themselves. “Azure Mobile App Services let us build more communication and connectivity on the vessel side,” Hanowski says. “It really rounds out the solution, because everything starts at the vessel. That’s the revenue-generating unit for operators.”
Having up-to-date vessel data helps port captains and port engineers on shore assign boats and crews more quickly and effectively. This is important not only for greater operational efficiency but also for compliance with tighter and ever-changing safety regulations.
“If you’re an oil and gas company, you want a crew that’s trained for, and a boat that’s equipped for, hauling oil and gas in a safe manner that’s compliant with current governmental regulations.” says Hanowski. “If there’s an incident and a spill, it’s your brand name in the press, not the transport company’s.”
Enabling smarter vessel maintenance
Keeping the fleet well-maintained is also critical to efficiency, safety, and compliance, and Azure Mobile App Services play a part there, too. “When boats go out of the range of communication in remote areas—like in Alaska, for instance—data from regular maintenance checks can’t be transmitted to shore right away, especially if the unit will be out of range for months,” says Hanowski.
Through Azure Mobile App Services, MarineCFO can cache the data on the vessel and then send it to shore automatically as soon as the unit is back in range. If any anomalies are found in the maintenance checks, the on-shore staff can make timely, informed decisions about bringing a boat in for repairs, ordering parts, or just monitoring more closely.
Looking ahead: IoT and route estimation
Modern maritime transport units have advanced data capabilities that can be put to good use. “Most vessels built in the last ten years or so have sensors on critical equipment,” Hanowski says. “The sensors collect data which is essential to gaining operational insights that ultimately drive efficiencies and provide meaningful analytical data.”
The long-term vision for the MarineCFO solution on Azure makes use of troves of real-world data, collected through an IoT implementation and then analyzed with other available data sources to achieve a new-level planning ability commonly known as route estimation.
Says Hanowski, “Route estimation is the holy grail of the maritime transportation business. Everyone’s trying to figure that out. We’re partnering with Microsoft to explore that right now, using technologies such as Azure Machine Learning and Power Platform to help provide our customers with the most powerful planning and decision-making tools possible.”
Partnering with Microsoft
VerticaLive aligned itself with Microsoft and Azure early, a decision that’s been key to where they are today. Hanowski says, “When Microsoft started building out Azure, we felt like we’d get a great deal of support from them by committing to the platform and we’d realize tremendous business benefits. That has all turned out to be true.”