ScanReach maritime IoT platform saves lives on board

Many maritime jobs have a high danger factor. Workers at sea must contend with extreme wind, waves and noise. They often perform their tasks alone, on a ship the size of football fields., out of sight or earshot of others. In addition, complicated cable systems hamper innovations in performance, and harvesting data from smart objects onboard is difficult.

The maritime industry is struggling to maximise safety and vessel performance. There are many questions: If you work on a vessel, how can you be safe if you can’t be quickly located on board? If you don’t know your real-time fuel consumption, how can you reduce it? If you have a tool with a Modbus, how do you retrieve the data?

There’s a need for onboard wireless connectivity at sea to solve these challenges.

ScanReach has launched a complete wireless IoT platform for the maritime industry. Able to harvest data in complex steel environments, the wireless solution connects people, the environment and assets inside vessels and installations. The result is highly effective Personnel On-Board (POB) count and search and rescue, as well as data harvesting and asset monitoring, without the need for cables.

ScanReach’s Onboard Wireless Connectivity (OWC) mesh of nodes facilitates problem-solving and value creation for industries operating in complex and confined steel environments. It can be used on any type of vessel, rig or wind farm.

The solution removes a major barrier to innovation in the maritime industry, which lags behind other sectors in terms of digitalisation due to the lack of onboard wireless connectivity.As a low-cost, plug-and-play system, the solution can be installed by crew members in just a few hours.

With OWC, the crew’s approximate location is known at all times during safety training and emergencies, ensuring better emergency response and reducing search and rescue time from hours to minutes.

The solution can also be used to optimise operations and improve performance. Real-time data provides crucial metrics on fuel use, engine and compressor status and gas leaks, among others. Based on this data, operators can take action to save resources and reduce expenditures.

A growing number of maritime actors are seeking onboard wireless connectivity to reduce accidents and deaths. It is estimated that in five years, 50 per cent of all maritime actors will have installed an IoT solution to improve worker safety.

After years of development, the ConnectPOB solution is already in use on numerous vessels around the world, and the number is expected to increase rapidly when customers and users experience the benefits.

ScanReach also delivers POB Connect Wind, a customised solution for the offshore wind industry.