Archives: tech

Going into 2026, the real story of MASS is supervised autonomy and remote support becoming normal on specific routes, while the regulatory and liability structure slowly catches up. For most owners, the near-term value...

Maritime cyber security is getting less “IT-only” and more “ship operations reality.” Going into 2026, the practical shift is that shipowners are buying solution stacks that work in degraded connectivity, mixed-vendor OT, and constant...

Remote vessel operations (ROC) is moving from “cool demo” to “managed operating model.” Going into 2026, the practical shift is that more projects are treating the shore-based Remote Operations Center as a real part...

LEO satellite maritime internet is quickly turning ship connectivity from “email at sea” into something closer to an always-on office network. Going into 2026, the big shift is not just faster downloads, it’s lower...

Advanced modeling is becoming less about “nice-to-have engineering” and more about running ships with fewer surprises. As carbon costs and fuel rules tighten, teams are leaning on models that can test scenarios (speed, routing,...

GNSS interference is showing up less like an occasional anomaly and more like an operational condition on certain trade lanes. Going into 2026, bridge teams are increasingly expected to handle “position uncertainty” events cleanly,...

Digital maritime surveillance is no longer just “coast guard stuff.” Going into 2026, it is becoming a day-to-day operating reality for commercial shipping because navigation interference (jamming/spoofing), sanctions risk signals, and space-to-seabed monitoring efforts...

Underwater Radiated Noise (URN) is quickly moving from “nice-to-have ESG” into something fleets will need to show work on with measurements, maintenance routines, and a simple management plan. The IMO’s revised guidelines are now...

S-100 ECDIS is the shift from “one electronic chart” to a layered navigation system. Instead of a single chart dataset trying to do everything, S-100 lets the ship run a base ENC and then...

Underwater ROVs and AUVs are becoming the “underwater work crew” for ships: they inspect hulls and appendages, document damage, support in-water surveys, and increasingly help with hull cleaning and biofouling control without putting divers...

Zero emission tugboats have moved from concept to real workhorses in a few key ports. Fully electric tug fleets are already operating in Vancouver and on Canada’s west coast, powered by hydro grids and...

Ship crew safety tech is getting popular for the same reason dashcams did in trucking: when something goes wrong, it goes wrong fast, and the cost of “we did not know” is huge. The...

Advanced hull coatings are becoming a front-line efficiency tool because they target one of the most stubborn fuel drains in shipping: hull roughness and biofouling drag. The “latest” shift going into 2026 is not...

Exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS), better known as scrubbers, are the “sulfur compliance plumbing” bolted onto a ship’s exhaust. They let operators keep burning higher-sulfur fuel while still meeting SOx emission limits by cleaning...

Cold ironing is the moment a ship “flips the switch” from its own engines to the pier. Instead of running auxiliary generators for days at berth, the vessel plugs into the port’s high-voltage grid...

IoT on ships is basically “put a sensor on it, wire it to the cloud, and actually use the data.” Instead of a chief engineer walking around with a clipboard and a pen, you...

For many ships, “port time” really starts days before arrival, drifting in approach lanes and burning fuel while waiting for a berth. Just-in-Time (JIT) port calls flip that model: ports and ships share better...

AI-powered predictive maintenance is the quiet glue behind a lot of “smart ship” slides right now: instead of reacting to alarms, owners are starting to stream vibration, pressure, temperature and control-system data into models...

Frequent, autonomous hull cleaning is quietly becoming one of the most powerful fuel-saving tools in shipping. Small robots and robotic “skaters” are now grooming hulls in water, keeping biofouling at “just cleaned” levels and...

Waste heat recovery is one of those unglamorous upgrades that quietly moves the needle. Big two-stroke engines still dump well over half of their fuel energy out of the funnel or into cooling water,...