nir-vana innovation network

The GALATEA Innovation Support Mechanism Call is targeting innovative SMEs intending to bring solutions which support sustainable growth in the maritime sector. A French SME is seeking a partner to join a consortium for a research project under the GALATEA 2nd call (domain 4 Smart Ship).
In the world, 90% of commercial exchanges are still done by sea. In addition, 40% of the travel’s cost is related to fuel. The project’s objective is to prototype an innovative routing software aiming at optimizing the trajectory of cargo ship and reducing the fuel consumption. This would also lead to an economical gain for maritime companies.
The software will be based on a trajectory optimization tool combined with advanced meteorological models. The French SME with extensive numerical simulation expertise in the maritime sector will adapt the tool from complete meteorological data and models used in aeronautic industry and provided by another French SME involved in the project.
The consortium is seeking a developer, as third partner, to perform the user interface. For that purpose, the French SME is seeking an experienced SME in embedded systems established either in Spain, Romanian Greece or Poland to complete the consortium via research cooperation agreement.
The project will last 12 months.
Deadline for EoIs for this profile: 30 September 2021.
The deadline has not yet been announced. The call is expected to open in autumn 2021.

Advantages & innovations

Currently, only a small part (estimated at 10%) of all cargo ships use a routing solution. Existing routing solutions are based solely on meteorological forecast and use only current and wind information. This software is mainly used by the control center of the companies which limits the real time update of the route. The optimization of the ships’ route is then limited by the quality of the meteorological data. Moreover the optimization is basic, because it does not integrate multiple criteria such as meteorological data, ship performances… Finally, the calculation time can take up to several hours. The routing software will not only integrate weather forecasts, but also multiple trajectory optimisation criteria and advanced meteorological models developed for aviation industry. In addition, the software will be designed for polyvalent cargos (length ~90m) and could be easily upgraded for other cargo types, including renewable energies vessels.

Stage of development

Proposal under development

Partner sought

The partner sought is an IT services SME with experience in embedded systems, preferentially in the maritime sector. The partner will build the user-interface of the software developed by the French SME. The choice of programming language is free. The expectation is to have a user-friendly web interface accessible from anywhere with continuous update of working data. The web tool will require to access meteorological data available on a specific application programming interface (API) and specific data available in data files (csv, xml to be defined) and stored on a specific data center. The partner will be in charge of the design, development and production of the tool. The partnership sought is a research cooperation agreement to apply to the GALATEA call. To be eligible for the GALATEA Innovation Support Scheme, applicants must be either member of one of the GALATEA consortium clusters or established or with a branch office in the GALATEA territorial scope (France, Spain, Greece, Poland, Romania).