Smart Ship Hub has launched an onboard vessel data logger priced at less than US$600, aiming to make high-frequency data collection accessible across a much larger share of the global fleet. The launch addresses a long-standing obstacle in maritime digitalisation, where the cost and complexity of gathering vessel data have often limited the use of advanced analytics and automation.

Shipowners have invested in software platforms, performance monitoring tools and artificial intelligence applications. However, many fleets still struggle with a more basic issue: obtaining reliable operational data from vessels. Smart Ship Hub believes that issue starts with the hardware needed to collect information onboard. The company has introduced its Onboard Gateway, a vessel data logger designed to capture information directly from shipboard systems including main engines, generators, boilers, flow meters, shaft power meters, navigation equipment and cargo consoles. Data can then be transmitted ashore in real time.

The product enters a market where many owners continue to rely on manual noon reports, AIS data and disconnected reporting systems. Hardware costs, proprietary integrations and vessel-specific installation projects have often limited wider adoption, particularly among smaller operators and older fleets.

For ship managers responsible for large and diverse fleets, access to consistent vessel data remains a prerequisite for fuel efficiency programmes, emissions reporting, maintenance planning and operational benchmarking.

“The industry has spent years discussing digitalisation, AI and standardised reporting, but all of those ambitions depend on one thing: access to trusted data, in an industry standard format. We believe the biggest barrier has never been analytics; it has been low-cost data collection, collation and telemetry,” said Joy Basu, Chief Executive of Smart Ship Hub.

The company says the gateway can operate across different vessel types and ages while supporting multiple maritime communication protocols. An optional edge intelligence capability provides onboard analysis covering fuel consumption, machinery efficiency, hull performance and cargo operations.

Basu argues that the industry’s biggest hurdle has not been analytics itself.

“By bringing the cost of high-frequency vessel data acquisition down to a level accessible to every owner, we are helping create a common digital foundation for the industry. AI-led automation significantly depends on contextual data, and Smart Ship Hub will increasingly be focussing on being the Data intelligence platform for Owners, Operators, Charterers, Ports, Insurers.

Smart Ship Hub estimates automated data collection could reduce crew reporting workloads by as much as 70%, while providing shipowners with a more consistent stream of operational information for fleet management and decision-making.

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