HANSA SMM DAILY Newswire - Day 2
HANSA’s daily SMM trade show newspaper - Day 2 edition
HANSA’s daily SMM trade show newspaper - Day 2 edition
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<strong>HANSA</strong> <strong>DAILY</strong> <strong>SMM</strong> NEWSWIRE<br />
Pioneering the digital transformation<br />
»The link between digitalization and decarbonization is the most important trend for the<br />
maritime sector» – says Sean Fernback. <strong>HANSA</strong> spoke with him about this and other<br />
current developments in the shipping industry as well as at his company<br />
You have been with Wärtsilä for just over<br />
two years. During this time, your company<br />
has repositioned itself with the<br />
Voyage division. Has this process been<br />
completed? What are the core competencies<br />
of this business line?<br />
Sean Fernback: The maritime digital<br />
frontier is a key area of focus for Wärtsilä<br />
Group, and its importance to the industry’s<br />
future is what lead to the creation of<br />
Voyage in the first place. The whole team<br />
at Voyage is committed to the real change<br />
that we can generate for the sector by implementing<br />
digital technologies at scale.<br />
Wärtsilä Voyage provides the maritime<br />
industry with cutting-edge technology<br />
solutions to future-proof operations and<br />
enable it to adapt to the biggest challenges<br />
on the horizon. Whether that‘s<br />
helping the industry overcome fragmentation,<br />
better connect sea and shore,<br />
run operations more efficiently, navigate<br />
a complex and changing regulatory environment,<br />
or train the next generation<br />
of seafarers in the most realistic simulators<br />
available, our portfolio of technology<br />
and software solutions ensures<br />
that the industry can meet its digitalisation<br />
and decarbonisation goals and<br />
make tangible progress on evolving the<br />
way it operates.<br />
Our team is pioneering the maritime<br />
industry’s digital transformation, building<br />
a connected and comprehensive ecosystem<br />
for shipping, where all vessels are<br />
smarter, safer and more efficient; enabling<br />
change via data and digital technologies.<br />
The challenges in the maritime value<br />
chain are so acute that solutions need to<br />
span from the engine room to the bridge,<br />
to the board room. That is from ship to<br />
shore. Being able to call on the combined<br />
experience of not just our own team within<br />
Voyage, but also our colleagues across<br />
the Wärtsilä Group, is truly beneficial as<br />
we help the sector manage and face down<br />
the momentous change it is experiencing.<br />
Before joining Wärtsilä, you worked for<br />
industrial companies such as navigation<br />
manufacturer TomTom. How does your<br />
current employer benefit from the experience<br />
you bring with you from there?<br />
Fernback: Throughout my career I have<br />
always tried to be solutions oriented. In<br />
fact, being honest, this solutions-oriented<br />
mentality stems back to when I was growing<br />
up and first became fascinated with<br />
technology.<br />
I enjoy working in innovative environments<br />
where you feel you are part of a<br />
crucible of real change. My experience<br />
has shown me the true power that technology<br />
has to transform the ways that industries<br />
operate.<br />
I spent just over seven years at TomTom<br />
working in engineering and product development.<br />
But I’ve also spent time as CEO of<br />
marine navigation chart database C-MAP<br />
and as CTO of Navico. This means that I<br />
have strong experience with hardware,<br />
software and product design and engineering,<br />
and am able to tie those factors back to<br />
the bigger strategic picture.<br />
The other element that has cropped up<br />
time and time again in my career is the<br />
power of collaboration. I believe that one<br />
area that desperately needs focus if maritime<br />
is to solve its challenges – and an<br />
area where I believe that Wärtsilä Voyage<br />
can play a role – is in fostering more<br />
cross-industry collaboration. We must<br />
recognise that our industry is part of a<br />
wider global transport and logistics<br />
supply chain. It is only logical that we will<br />
see more integration to solve shared challenges,<br />
and technology, as I have seen<br />
throughout my career, will be critical to<br />
achieving this.<br />
How important is digitalisation to maritime<br />
decarbonisation?<br />
Fernback: The link between digitalisation<br />
and decarbonisation is the most<br />
important trend facing the maritime sector.<br />
I believe one cannot be achieved<br />
without the other. That’s why it’s so important<br />
to accelerate the maritime indus-<br />
THE 4-DIMENSION SPECIALISTS<br />
Piping · Steelwork · HVACR · Fire Protection<br />
WE DELIVER!<br />
Call us at:<br />
+49 40 781 29 30<br />
kj-marinesystems.com<br />
Join us here:<br />
Hall B5<br />
Stand 524<br />
10 Wednesday | 07-09-2022
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