Trade continues to grow and the world’s ports need to handle greater numbers of goods each year to cope with demand – this means security is more important than ever before and real time data gathering is essential.
In August 2020 the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced a deal with Lita Ocean, a Singaporean shipbuilding and repair company, for a fleet of six next-generation patrol vessels which have predictive capabilities.
It is the latest in a series of deals Lita Ocean has made to provide some of the busiest and fastest growing ports in the world.
The company has also provided Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) eight new patrol vessels.
Saudi Arabia receives some of the biggest vessels on the sea and is a key hub for goods and cargo.
This requires substantial security procedures and insight into how the environment can be kept clean and safe, matters which are important ports across the world.
In the case of MPA the vessels, 17m in length, were bought to enhance front-line capabilities and, like Saudi Arabia, better protect operations and the marine environment.
Equipped with an Intelligent Port Marine System, the new fleet would help MPA enforce security measures and better respond to marine emergencies.
The vessels will make the Port’s overall operations more efficient, with their predictive capabilities using real-time and historical data enabling them to carry out targeted enforcement and response mitigation.
This is critical as ports are quickly becoming ecosystems of data. The more data they produce, the greater the need for further investment to analyse it.
Next-generation technology, such as that which Lita Ocean builds and provides, is going to become more important in the near and medium term.
