Satellite communications operator Inmarsat is hoping to bring the internet of things to maritime shipping through the launch of a new service it is calling ‘fleet data’.

Developed in partnership with Danelec Marine, the service takes data from a ship’s onboard voyage data recorder and other vessel sensors, processes it at the edge and uploads it to a hosted database.

Given its creators, the service also comes bundled with dedicated bandwidth.

It is designed to “allow ship owners and managers to quickly and easily identify equipment issues and failures and seamlessly link third party applications to monitor vessel performance and fuel efficiency.”

Inmarsat said research suggested a greater maritime appetite for IoT-based solutions could emerge if more data could be delivered and analysed in real-time.

Trials of fleet data are due for completion this month aboard two ships operated by an unnamed ship manager, which Inmarsat said had “been verifying performance over a six-month period by relaying data collected through fuel optimisation software.”