DeepSea Technologies and G2 Ocean collaborate with SINTEF, backed by theEEA and Norway Grants 2014 – 2021 in the frame of the Business Innovation Greece Programme, to explore and develop an energy management AI solution for vessel operators using AIS and noon-report data to lower barriers to adoption.

DeepSea Technologies, the award-winning Al-led maritime technology company and energy efficiency experts, today announced the completion of a project supported by the EEA Grants under the “Business Innovation Greece” Programme, to develop an accessible AI solution for vessel performance routing. Working with G2 Ocean, the leading bulk shipping operator, and SINTEF, an independent research organisation, DeepSea has run trials to develop a novel artificial intelligence (AI) software solution which uses AIS and noon report data, together with high-frequency data from other vessels, to unlock voyage optimisation.

Improvements in operational efficiency through optimised navigation help operators to reduce fuel consumption and lower emissions. However, few companies in the shipping industry have the data collection systems in place to support data driven improvements. Together with G2 Ocean and SINTEF, DeepSea has developed an AI-based solution that can use the data available to every ship owner: AIS data and noon reports, to unlock the real benefits of performance routing. This approach is called “transfer learning” and allows high-frequency data models from hundreds of vessels already in DeepSea’s databases, to be transferred over to low-frequency data vessels of the same type and further adapted to available data.

The new software solution ‘Pythia Augment’ has been applied to the bulker market for the duration of this project, however has widespread applications for all types of vessels as well, and provides route and speed guidance for individual vessels based on AI-generated energy performance modelling. DeepSea and G2 Ocean applied the solution to 5 Grieg Star vessels within the Norwegian company’s fleet, to develop and pilot an AI model with the ability to produce accurate and optimised guidance that has been successfully applied to reduce fuel consumption and achieve the highest possible TCE for any given voyage. The ships used to test the solution provided an ideal training ground for developing the AI application, as the fleet features vessels operating noon reports as well as more modern live data acquisition systems.

During the project, DeepSea and G2 Ocean collaborated with SINTEF, a leading independent research organisation based in Norway to understand barriers to end-user compliance. Breaking down barriers to the adoption of AI recommendations by the crew is essential. The value of AI-driven optimisation to sustainable shipping operations can only truly be realised if there is high compliance with the recommendations produced.

Dr. Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos, Co-Founder and CEO of DeepSea Technologies commented on the project: “Ship owners need to be taking action now to deliver on the maritime industry’s long-term goal to decarbonise. A mature market for the low-carbon fuels that will drive large scale decarbonisation of marine energy remains some way away. In the meantime, owners and operators should focus on reducing energy consumption through operational efficiencies. With the delivery of Pythia Augment using low-frequency data to optimise voyage planning, we are creating a new and innovative way for bulkers to effectively drive down carbon emissions in their operations.”

Anne Lise Rognlidalen, Programme Director, Innovation Norway commented: “Through the Business Innovation Greece Programme which supported the Pythia Augment project, we support projects focused on innovation within the focus areas of Blue Growth, Green Industry Innovation, and ICT. We also encourage project collaboration, as well as projects which have a strong environmental impact. We are thus very happy to have supported the Pythia Augment project which was implemented by DeepSea Technologies in collaboration with 2 donor partners, G2 Ocean and SINTEF. In particular, G2 Ocean and DeepSea worked together to support the improved performance of an important part of the Norwegian fleet. As home to the world’s fourth largest merchant fleet, Norway’s ship owners, as forward-thinking leaders in the maritime sector, can have a significant effect on the ongoing decarbonisation of the sector, and its efforts to achieve mandated net-zero targets in 2050.”

Arthur English, CEO of G2 Ocean, further commented: “G2 Ocean is committed to becoming a net-zero emissions company by 2050 and is enthusiastic about the potential benefits AI powered technologies can unlock in our industry. The solution developed by DeepSea enables real time analysis of a range of commercial, technical, and environmental factors resulting in a reduction of emissions as well as optimised earnings. With the wide-scale adoption of green fuels still some way off, it is vital that we grasp the opportunities that are currently economically viable to reduce emissions.”

DeepSea has used two critical AI technologies to unlock voyage optimization based on legacy data: Transfer Learning and Hybrid Modelling. Having access to a fleet with mixed data acquisition systems was paramount to the development of the AI tool.