Singapore digital solutions specialist Magellan X develops specialist industrial internet of things and AI platforms to help maritime and other heavy industries meet their ESG obligations, reports Riviera.
Heavy industries
When it comes to meeting their ESG obligations, heavy industries lag behind other sectors by a decade or more, says Magellan X chief executive Basheer Cassim. Magellan X is a Singapore-based company that develops industrial internet of things (IIoT) digital solutions.
“What we have identified very clearly is that heavy industries in general, not just maritime, but oil and gas, mining and chemicals, are lagging behind at least 10 to 15 years in their ESG obligations for sustainability,” Mr Cassim tells Singapore Solutions, adding, “And the gap seems to be increasing.”
Mr Cassim says there are two reasons why heavy industries are not keeping pace.
“One is their operating environments are very complex,” he says, pointing out these sectors involve a vast array of procedures and require long-life assets and numerous certifications to operate. “Second, there is a lack of purpose-built solutions that will enable them to meet these obligations. Solutions that you would deploy for worker safety in a hotel or for tracking in an office are not applicable on board an MR tanker, in a gas refinery, or a mine.”
That’s where Magellan X comes in. The four-year-old Singapore tech firm has developed three disruptive digital solutions to fill this deficit gap with digital solutions that use IIoT devices to capture real-time, certifiable data and produce actionable analytics using artificial intelligence (AI). Mr Cassim says the three solutions all have common threads: they are designed to use IIoT and AI, transmit certifiable and secure data in real time for analysis and are tied to sustainability and compliance requirements.
Its SOL-X safety solution, for example, which has been deployed on board ships, is a connected worker platform that can reduce crew risk exposure to potential incidents and improve compliance workflows. Crew can face dangers from fatigue, falls, working in confined spaces, machinery and potential fires or explosions.
Using the SOL-X SmartWatch, crew can better manage these dangers by gaining real-time enhanced situational and safety awareness through the ability to monitor their heart rate, fitness, heat stress exposure and receive alerts regarding rest management and hazardous work zones. The SmartWatch is connected to a local wifi network and onboard sensors, and information collected from the SmartWatch is linked to an on-vessel dashboard for better operational visibility during hazardous operations.
SOL-X solution
Magellan X chief product officer Alister Leong points out SOL-X provides clear added value to the safety of seafarers. “It enhances situational awareness and the ability to manage their risks, and it also empowers shore teams, superintendents, fleet managers and heads of HSE.”
He says the SOL-X solution allows them to see “macro trends around the safety culture and crew wellbeing.” Mr Leong, however, emphasises, “We are very cognisant of data privacy issues and the rights of the workers and seafarers. We take care to anonymise our data when we look at any of our analytics. We produce this modelling around safety insights and safety trends, but this is all done with anonymised data.”
In addition to SOL-X, Magellan X has developed ecoMax to support companies’ decarbonisation efforts by tracking greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption, and Propeller, an inventory and maintenance asset management tool. All the solutions are aimed at supporting companies’ environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) compliance efforts, which are being more frequently reported and used as benchmarks by investors.
And speaking of investors, Magellan X has some powerful backers in Malaysian oil and gas giant MISC Berhad and BCG Digital Ventures, the corporate innovation and digital business-building arm of the Boston Consulting Group, which served as an incubator for the development of all three solutions.
MoU with Mitsubishi
In February, Magellan X inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp to collaborate on bringing the SOL-X innovative safety solution to the Japanese maritime market.
The agreement follows the completion of a successful trial of the SOL-X safety solution with MC Shipping Ltd, the global shipping arm of Mitsubishi Corp.
Under the MoU, the partners will develop new business models to scale the SOL-X safety platform to improve crew safety and compliance standards on vessels. Mitsubishi Corp will co-market the SOL-X solution and support its business growth, with the objective of “establishing an ecosystem of partners, across the industrial value chain, who can benefit from deploying this safety solution in their operations”, said Magellan X in a press statement.
Commenting on the partnership, Mitsubishi Corp ship department general manager, Takafumi Oka says, “MC Shipping’s decision to utilise the SOL-X solution reflects our long-standing commitment to take the initiative in enhancing the safety of vessel operations and taking good care of our seafarers,” adding, “We believe this is one of the most powerful solutions that can enable the digital transformation of the maritime industry.”
Both companies plan to collaborate on go-to-market strategies and product development beyond the maritime sector by exploring opportunities in heavy industries such as oil and gas, chemical and mining.
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Source: Riviera
