Semtech, Wilhelmsen And TTI Transform Maritimes With Lora-Based Connectivity

Semtech Corporation, Wilhelmsen and The Things Industries (TTI) have entered into a partnership to leverage devices that help in providing cost effective, robust and proven IoT solutions to the maritime sector to Semtech’s LoRa®.

Wilhelmsen that was founded in 1861, is a global maritime industry group. It has partnered with TTI and Semtech’s LoRa devices as the first step for the new global 2.4GHz maritime IoT network that offers an environment that is cost-effective, robust and has proven IoT solutions for all its customers from all over the world both at “land and sea.”

It is estimated that the global maritime shipping industry will register about 16.82% in the period between 2019-2014. With the expectation of such a growth in the market, Wilhelmsen is installing the LoRa-based connectivity in its own operations so as to enhance its efficiencies. It will also provide its customers with proper, connected IoT solutions.

20,000 ships are served by Wilhelmsen from 2,200 ports that located in about 70 countries. It also handles over 220,000 product deliveries annually.

“We have evaluated wireless solutions for decades to deliver efficiencies at land and sea. The technology solution of choice needed key capabilities to revolutionize our strategy – long range, low power and a strong, open ecosystem,” said Jon Helge Ulstein, Senior Project Manager at Wilhelmsen. “This new system is expected to benefit our customers immediately and is a step towards autonomous vessels and industry 4.0. Spearheaded by Wilhelmsen’s ship management division, this new IoT platform will be utilized 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.”

The LoRa-based wireless sensors can monitor various variables, comprising the state of machinery, fuel efficiency, environmental metrics and cargo. The data thus collected is used to carry out preventive maintenance. Thereby, reducing the risk of idle time of the ship because of repair or incidents. Apart from this, the system can also optimize the performance of processes, by decreasing manpower, waste, and cost. TTI was chosen by Wilhelmsen for the development of its IoT platform because this would help Wilhelmsen to tap into an present chain of vendors and service providers which would allow access to the group of certified sensors, hardware designers, systems integrators, and application developers.

“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.

“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,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of Semtech’s Sensing Products Group. “Our work with Wilhelmsen showcases the flexible, proven and scalable capabilities of LoRa in a variety of industries and verticals.”

Reference: businesswire