A team from Frazer-Nash was one of just seven awarded a finalist place in the shipping and logistics innovation challenge, Singapore Ocean of Opportunities.
Companies from around the world were invited to submit innovative ideas to help address the challenges facing commercial shipping. The competition was looking for entries that drew upon new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver solutions to shipping issues. The successful entrants were given the opportunity to work with the competition sponsors, some of the world’s largest shipping companies, to develop their idea.
The Frazer-Nash team, of Clement O'Rourke, Laurie Chidwick and Ben Turner, submitted an innovative idea under the competition’s ‘Determining the necessity of container inspection’ stream, exploring how technology could be used to determine the condition of a shipping container without physical inspection.
Clem describes how the team’s solution has the potential to benefit the shipping industry:
“It’s been great to be involved in the Ocean of Opportunities challenge, and to come up with an answer to one of the challenges shipping companies face on a daily basis. We were thrilled to be given the opportunity to work with one of the world’s largest container ship operators – Hapag-Lloyd – to develop our idea into a full solution.
“We’ve designed a solution that uses a Bayesian method to predict the condition of containers on at least three levels: fleets; types or groups; and individuals. In the first instance, predicting the condition of container fleets will allow companies to plan for forward economic demand forecasts, for changes in container fleet size, and for the number of different container types.
“In the second, understanding the condition of its types or groups of containers will enable an organisation to define operational profiles and repair/replacement criteria for different container types – for example refrigerated containers – and to assign cargoes to specific containers or customers.
“Finally, predicting the condition of individual containers will mean a shipping company can define individual container inspection intervals and replacement times based on set criteria. This will offer a financial benefit, as they will be able to define the value of repair that is still economical for the remaining life of the container.
To find out more about the competition, visit www.ooo.sg
