Trials have been completed for a low-cost and simple to deploy system for ship data transfer and remote access that will help vessel owners embrace digitalisation and improve efficiency.
As an alternative to Virtual Private Networks (VPN) for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, Danelec Marine and TeamViewer have developed a customised version of the TeamViewer IoT agent, that embeds into the operating system of Danelec’s Vessel Remote Server (VRS) and launches on demand.
“Combining the convenience and security aspects of TeamViewer with the VRS has given fleet managers new opportunities for any remote actions or root cause analysis capabilities from shore,” said Patrick Giezen, IoT solutions excellence manager, TeamViewer. “Also, simple tasks like the remote calibration of sensors can now be carried out whilst the vessel is deployed and without interrupting any onboard workflows.”
The system enables a secure ship-shore connection to be established quickly and easily, with a user-friendly interface providing remote access management centrally for a whole fleet. This reduces the IT department burden of enabling remote access while providing a foundation for secure and easy to manage access for employees and third parties.
Three Danelec customers took part in the trials, which started in August 2020 and finished in December. Cypriot ship management company Interorient used the solution on five vessels, easily meeting success criteria based on pre-annual performance testing of the VDR and remote data download. Interorient generated further operational savings by using remote access to optimise configuration of a new VDR and its connected sensors, as well as exploring new applications.
By Rebecca Jeffrey
