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Shipping operations significantly impact the environment through vessel emissions. The IMO's revised 2023 GHG strategy aims for net-zero emissions from international shipping by around 2050. Alongside environmental obligations, operating costs remain a critical factor in maritime competitiveness.
A Swedish global shipping company sought to modernise performance monitoring to improve fuel efficiency, operational reliability, and environmental performance.
The company operates ~125 vessels across 15 trade routes on six continents, supported by a global inland network, 66 processing centres, and eight marine terminals. Managing efficiency and environmental impact at this scale requires accurate, continuous performance monitoring.
Naval architects developed onboard modules to track vessel parameters, but the shore-transfer system was unreliable. Monitoring relied on a legacy Excel-based system, which was inadequate for efficient data consolidation, structured reporting, or operations during connectivity gaps.
Vessels often lack stable internet connectivity, transmitting reports via slow, costly satellite connections, resulting in delays, high costs, and limited real-time insight. The company needed a dependable system for efficient information gathering, transmission, and consumption optimisation.
Baltic Amadeus developed a comprehensive Azure-hosted solution using microservices architecture and email protocol as the primary communication channel, one of the most reliable onboard methods.
The solution comprises three modules: vessel, shore, and data transfer. The vessel module collects voyage data, including location, speed, vessel characteristics (fuel type, engine rating, consumption), and operational and meteorological parameters.
Advanced scenario-generation capabilities convert meteorological data from global forecasting services into actionable insights, enabling deep analysis of operational patterns to optimise routes and reduce fuel consumption, emissions, and costs. The system reliably gathers and transmits reports to the onshore data centre even with limited or unstable connectivity, ensuring consistent, secure data flow between sea and shore.
With the new system in place, operations managers and naval architects can conduct detailed performance analyses to enhance fleet efficiency. The platform enables comparative analysis of sister vessels operating on identical routes, helping identify efficiency differences and the factors influencing performance.
The introduction of the new information system has optimised durations, reduced time spent in port and lowered overall fuel consumption. Given that a typical Ro-Ro vessel can incur daily fuel costs of up to 50,000 US dollars, even marginal efficiency improvements generate a substantial financial impact. The implemented solution reduced fuel consumption by approximately 5 per cent, delivering measurable cost savings while simultaneously decreasing the company's environmental footprint.
