IBM, MPA to roll out data analytics modules for safer port operations

IBM and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) successfully completed a pilot trial of three out of seven modules that will utilize data analytics to increase port safety and improve port volumes.    IBM and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have completed trials of the first three modules of a system using data analytics for safer port operations, MPA officials said at the opening of the International Safety @ Sea Conference in Singapore Tuesday.
   The pilot trial, dubbed “Project SAFER” (Sense-making Analytics For maritime Event Recognition) offers “a host of new capabilities for automating and increasing the accuracy of critical tasks,” said the MPA.
   The port authority said the first three modules out of seven – Automated Movement Detection, Infringement Analytics, and Pilot Boarding Detection – would be rolled out in September. The modules will employ analytics-based technology to predict potential congestion hotspots in vessel traffic lanes, analyze near-misses and detect unusual vessel behavior and apply interventions, said the MPA.
   “We will continue to develop our digital strategies through the use of data analytics and machine learning technologies to optimize our port operations and enforcement to meet existing as well as future demands,” said Andrew Tan, chief executive of MPA. “The SAFER project will enable us to reap immediate benefits especially in the areas of next-generation port enforcement and monitoring of vessel movements.”
   The other four modules – Bunkering Analytics, Prohibited Area Analytics, Vessel Traffic Arrival Prediction, and Utilization Detection and Prediction – are expected to be released in January 2018.