Data and AI: The Future of Sustainable Shipping, Says Cognizant Ocean

In an effort to address persistent issues, shipping should make use of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence, according to Stig Martin Fiska, Global Head of Cognizant Ocean.Shipping plays a major role in the international movement of commercial goods and equipment; according to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), over 80% of the route is via water. However, the business is inevitably subjected to many disruptions on a daily basis, ranging from extreme weather and industrial action to the types of geopolitical catastrophes seen in recent years. According to UNCTAD, persistent militant attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea resulted in the rerouting of 586 container ships by the first part of February 2024, while the tonnage of containers traversing the canal decreased by 82%.  The main US port in Baltimore was closed for over a month following the catastrophic fall of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, resulting in a daily loss to the US economy of at least $15 million. Leading provider of "Blue Economy" solutions, Stig Martin Fiska, Global Head of Cognizant Ocean, advises shipping to take advantage of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to help overcome these obstacles. He explained: , "AI has the potential to rethink the way the shipping sector can anticipate and avoid disruption, ensuring that various supply chain components function flawlessly, such as ship navigation or port activity management. "At the same time, as climate change accelerates, the shipping industry, like most sectors, is under increasing pressure to become more sustainable.  "Encouraging business growth and being more sustainable must go hand in hand to ensure long-term success. Shipping firms may work towards decarbonising our oceans and increasing their bottom line by deploying innovative technology that promotes efficiency. Leveraging AI to manage unpredictability It goes without saying that potential disturbances during the shipping voyage can make achieving predictability difficult. Now for generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), which can be used to reduce the requirement for guessing. Every port has a limited amount of space, so if too many ships come at once, wait times would probably increase dramatically, and the extra fuel used by stationary ships would result in a significant carbon imprint.   Here, ships can be scheduled to arrive at the port at the least disruptive time by using Gen AI techniques to evaluate historical arrival data. Generally, companies have a lot of data stored in silos, but they lack the expertise or resources necessary to effectively assess and utilise it. Stig draws attention to the fuel management task, which is still frequently completed by hand with choices based on prior knowledge. "This presents an opportunity to leverage large language models (LLMs) and the power of Gen AI to document and automate these processes, saving time for shipping crews," he continues.   "Shipping companies can use the wealth of data they own to make informed decisions with these new, technologically-powered processes in place." In other contexts, Gen AI can be used in alongside LLMs to