Marine technology providers are expected to enjoy growing business opportunities amid the acceleration of digitalisation in the shipping industry.
But some industry experts tell TradeWinds that many vendors could struggle in a highly competitive market where clients are known to be careful with money.
“A lot [of them] fail to address convincingly the value-add proposition for industry players,” Blue Alliance Partners co-founder and chairperson Anastasia Papadopoulou said.
“With lending in shipping becoming scarcer for traditional shipping players, the value-add proposition is key in shipowners’ and operators’ decision to invest in and adapt to new technological solutions.”
Her company was launched by a team of professionals across various shipping sectors in February to provide tech firms strategic business and product advice, contract reviews and assistance with grants and funding.
At least five tech firms have obtained Blue Alliance membership to access the consultancy services, being charged on an hourly, monthly or annual basis.
With tech start-ups often having limited geographical reach, the company has been servicing its members from Japan and the US and is planning to gain footholds in more shipping hubs, such as Singapore.
“We think a lot of companies are not able to sell worldwide because that involves operating costs,” Papadopoulou said. “So that’s something we are trying to tackle.”
Team play
Kongsberg Digital, the software arm of Norwegian conglomerate Kongsberg, has opted to partner with other technology providers via its Vessel Insight ship-to-cloud data infrastructure.
Vessel Insight’s senior vice president Eirik Naesje said the greatest challenges in marketing digital shipping technologies include getting access to vessel data.
“Other important challenges for many companies are meeting the requirements of data-security, delivering their services in a cost efficient way and all the competing tech services offering similar solutions,” he added.
The Kognifai Marketplace was launched in mid-2019 as a digital platform to sell Kongsberg, original equipment manufacturer and third-party software connected to the Vessel Insight infrastructure.
Naesje added that Vessel Insight users can access the Kognifai Marketplace and buy applications that fit their needs. “Like the App Store you have on your iPhone,” he said.
The platform is now marketing more than 20 applications from external vendors, including Nautilus Labs and KVH Industries.
Those companies would generally share revenues with Kongsberg Digital from the sales made via the Kognifai Marketplace.
“Our customers get access to the broadest range of applications and our partners can focus on creating the best possible applications while we handle the data infrastructure aspect,” Naesje said.
“All tech companies offering services to the maritime industry are welcome, [including] competing applications.”
