MOL and Kawasaki to develop “intelligent” steering gear

Comments Off on MOL and Kawasaki to develop “intelligent” steering gear

MOL and Kawasaki to develop “intelligent” steering gear

MOL and Kawasaki to develop "intelligent" steering gear

MAY 8, 2018 — Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and shipbuilder Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) have agreed to jointly develop vessel steering gear technologies that enhance vessel reliability and energy-saving through new sensing capabilities and big data analysis.

The project focuses on control of the steering gear, one of the most critical elements in handling a ship. The system will be installed on a very large crude carrier (VLCC), currently under construction at KHI for delivery to MOL.

It is intended to develop KHI-made steering gear equipped with sensors that monitor pressure, flow rate, temperature of hydraulic oil, consumed power and other data, along with a high-speed data acquisition system with a large storage capacity.

In addition to collecting steering system data, the high-speed data acquisition system will also collect various other types of data, such as vessel speed, course, engine load and rudder angle, during a voyage. In-depth analysis of this data will lead to improvements in vessel reliability and energy-saving operation.

The project is expected to complete by end of March 2021.

MOL sees the project as an important step in developing a future “intelligence function equipped steering gear,” that will contribute to improvement of the vessel’s reliability, improvement of maneuverability, and energy-saving operation.

Comments are closed.