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Topics January 31, 2020
On-Board Technology Is Changing

MTP on the Ship: Fewer Errors, Lower Costs, Less Time

Nowadays, bigger and bigger ships are built in less and less time. This scenario characterizes the entire maritime sector. Further, due to both heightened cost pressures and sharper environmental requirements, modern container leviathans and cruise ships must rely on increasingly complex technologies. But won't on-board digitalization itself – catchword Maritime 4.0 – automatically make everything better? No – at least, not when the different systems on board continue to follow their individual course. MTP opens the way to seamlessly and quickly link together machine and system components, without bringing time-consuming discussions over interfaces in the ship automation system.

Commissioning with MTP: Ensuring Everything Fits Together from the Start

Today, shipyards and their suppliers already have a solid grip on all the steelwork and mechanical interfaces needed to build ships with the greatest degree of modularity possible. The automation is another story entirely. Here, continuity and in particular, uniformity between interfaces and toward the ship automation, is conspicuously lacking. The steadily increasing number of datapoints only exacerbates this situation. Given the existing constraints on commissioning a new vessel, there is just no time for troubleshooting signal problems. Based on OPC UA, the “Module Type Package” functions here as a standardized transmission protocol with which all data relevant to the operation of a module can be transferred to the central control level in the shortest time possible. This consigns bottlenecks when bringing data into service to the past.

Optimization with MTP: Open View throughout the Entire Ship

The more data available to it, the better each on-board control system can function. Yet integrating additional sensors costs time and money – this is why the project decision-makers must closely deliberate which interfaces will prove economical in the future. Fortunately, this is no longer an issue for machine modules with MTP; all data from the PLC used on site is instantly available through the “Module Type Package.” This means an unlimited pool of information is provided for operations monitoring, status-oriented maintenance and continuous process improvement. In short, MTP opens a new course in ship operation wherein each process module is utilized with significantly improved efficiency. Were this not enough, the revolutionary “Module Type Package” extends its benefits well beyond the technical automation. With this context-related information, shipbuilders now have the opportunity to improve their fleet operations, especially where costs and environmental protection are concerned. This is why shipyards are already making the effort to write MTP into their specification sheets – to improve overall construction of their vessels.

Benefits

  • Quick commissioning

  • Time-saving project planning

  • Reliability from construction to handover

  • Better data analysis

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