SOFTWARE is becoming a crucial tool for maritime professionals, helping them navigate complex regulations and optimize operations.
Capt. Sanjeev Mathur, senior vice president of Lloyd's Register (LR) OneOcean APAC, explained how these digital solutions drive a more sustainable and efficient shipping industry.
Data-driven insights, he said, influence long-term business plans, especially as the realities of international regulations, including the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Carbon Intensity Index, carbon cap and trade systems, such as the EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) and Fuel EU, begin to be felt.
Maintaining an efficient fleet, demonstrating compliance with mounting regional and international requirements, and keeping everything on track when plans change are becoming increasingly difficult to manage without digital platforms.
Ship operators and owners are increasingly working with software providers to help them find solutions to these daily challenges.
LR OneOcean's data-driven tools are used by more than 22,000 ships, providing actionable intelligence for today's ship operators and owners.
Mathur said accessing and researching the regulations needed to meet compliance requirements on board is time-consuming and can take away from the crew's (as well as shoreside teams') ability to implement changes or prepare for audits. Getting it wrong can also result in financial and reputational consequences.
Regs4ships, LR OneOcean's Regulatory Compliance solution, is a fully digital toolset that provides uninterrupted access to live and archived regulatory publications — covering not just IMO content but multiple sources, including the ILO and numerous flag states. Its advanced searchability lets users quickly find specific regulations and ensure every vessel is fully compliant.
Passage planning is also time-consuming and complex, going beyond weather routing and voyage optimization into environmental management. Where and when waste streams, such as fuel emissions and wastewater, can be released is governed by international, regional and local requirements. On a day-to-day or even hour-by-hour basis, the requirements governing waste streams from ships can vary significantly.
"As a result, it is important for crews to have ongoing, easy access to detailed information regarding all environmental requirements affecting each specific area traveled along a ship's itinerary, " Mathur said.
EnviroManager+, the user-friendly solution from LR OneOcean, transforms how ship and shoreside personnel manage environmental compliance. With over 500,000 data points, the digital map visualizes the precise boundaries of environmentally regulated zones worldwide.
Waste streams are managed through an intuitive traffic light tile notification system, allowing the crew to instantly determine if a discharge is allowed, restricted or prohibited based on their current location.
The solution also accelerates and simplifies voyage planning by integrating seamlessly with LR OneOcean's Voyage Planner module. Users can access ENCs, navigational, port, tidal, weather and environmental data on one dynamic interface for automatic route generation. Validating the accuracy and permissibility of planned operations and navigational routes and delivering actionable intelligence to assist decision-making, reduce risk, and ensure continuous compliance throughout every voyage.
Meanwhile, shoreside personnel have access to the same regulatory information that can be monitored in real-time against each vessel's position, speed, and planned route via LR OneOcean's FleetManager portal. All approved passage plans are synchronized to FleetManager so that shoreside teams can access and review them, too.
LR OneOcean also provides vessel owners and managers tools to benchmark their digital maturity with peer companies. It works with customers by providing guidance on digital solutions relevant to their organization and tools to provide them with deeper insights on metrics that matter to them.
Maritime Training schools play a particularly vital role in building the foundation of our seafarers, and LR OneOcean supports them by providing customized training solutions for navigation and environmental and regulatory compliance.
Mathur said, "As the maritime industry seeks a sustainable future, digital solutions will continue to prove their power, guiding efficient, streamlined operations that reduce fuel consumption." Their relevance, he said, will increase as emissions reduction requirements become more stringent and compliance requirements become more complex.