Semtech, Wilhelmsen and The Things Industries (TTI) have formed a partnership to use Semtech’s LoRa devices to help deliver what they describe as cost-effective, robust and proven IoT solutions to the maritime shipping industry, reports World Cargo News.
LoRa devices for IoT network
Wilhelmsen, a global maritime industry group founded in 1861, will use Semtech’s LoRa devices as the foundation for its new global 2.4GHz maritime IoT network to support its global customer base on both land and sea.
Wilhelmsen serves 20,000 vessels out of 2,200 ports in some 70 countries and handles more than 220,000 product deliveries per year.
LoRa-based wireless sensors can monitor variables such as the condition of machinery, fuel efficiency, environmental metrics, and cargo, and this data is used to conduct preventive maintenance, which decreases the risk of vessel idle time due to repair or incidents.
Existing global system
Wilhelmsen chose TTI to develop its IoT platform, allowing it to benefit from an existing global ecosystem of vendors and service providers, along with a marketplace of certified sensors, hardware designers, systems integrators, and application developers.
“We have evaluated wireless solutions for decades to deliver efficiencies at land and sea. The technology solution of choice needed key capabilities to revolutionise our strategy – long range, low power and a strong, open ecosystem,” said Jon Helge Ulstein, senior project manager at Wilhelmsen.
He added, “This new system is expected to benefit our customers immediately and is a step towards autonomous vessels and industry 4.0.”
IoT for logistics
Spearheaded by Wilhelmsen’s ship management division, this new IoT platform will be [used] to deliver, among other things, digital condition monitoring, asset tracking and logistical applications.
This goes hand in hand with the group’s onboard app store project, ShipOS, headed by RaaLabs.
“We are excited to be a partner in this important project and we are looking forward to working with the broader LoRaWAN ecosystem to make this a success for Wilhelmsen and the maritime industry,” said Wienke Giezeman, CEO of The Things Industries.
Flexible ecosystem
Marc Pegulu, vice president of Semtech’s sensing products group said, “Wilhelmsen’s rich history of industry expertise and innovation, combined with Semtech’s proven LoRa devices, offers its customers a flexible ecosystem to deliver robust and cost-effective IoT solutions to transform the maritime industry.”
He added, “Our work with Wilhelmsen showcases the flexible, proven and scalable capabilities of LoRa in a variety of industries and verticals.”
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Source: World Cargo News
