Laura Shaughnessy is the former managing editor at Dockwalk.
In January, Böning Ship Automation launched their new product B:Connect, a new cloud service. The cloud service provides an easy way to monitor, operate, and analyze machinery data and equipment status information aboard. It allows live monitoring of the boat’s health, position, and gives easy access to the history of critical alarms. In turn, that helps captains make faster and better decisions, giving the right instructions to the crew, or avoiding having to go respond to a false alarm.
"In summary, this is a product that is similar to what Tesla has in the cars: boats can be connected 24/7 to the cloud, and send emails and text messages to the builders, owners, and captains showing the boat’s health,” says Luiz Barbarini.
“The B:Connect was developed following a new trend in the market. Even now during the COVID pandemic, with travel restrictions, quarantine, etc., owners and captains are more and more in need to monitor the yachts remotely, in a cost-effective way and also be able to see past alarms, without having to be present on board,” says Luiz Barbarini, managing director at Böning USA.
“What makes Böning stand out is the fact that we are a forty-year-old vessel monitoring manufacturer,” says Barbarini. “We provide the infrastructure on board to monitor all sensors and machinery. The app is an add-on to our portfolio, which already meets all class requirements and won’t have a problem being installed in large ships,” says Barbarini. Böning is taking advantage of the capabilities of the multifunction displays present in almost every new vessel. They’re working closely with Garmin, Raymarine, and Furuno to launch the B:MACS PE (Böning Monitoring Alarm and Control System – Plotter Edition), which integrates their vessel monitoring and automation to the plotter screens efficiently, just by connecting the Böning system to the navigation system LAN network.
“In summary, this is a product that is similar to what Tesla has in the cars: boats can be connected 24/7 to the cloud, and send emails and text messages to the builders, owners, and captains showing the boat’s health,” says Barbarini. “One could think that this is a resource that would allow boatbuilders to have the same intelligence as the Tesla cars: the factory can receive past performance data from the car and improve safety and performance on the new models.”
“The B:Connect was developed following a new trend in the market. Even now during the COVID pandemic, with travel restrictions, quarantine, etc., owners and captains are more and more in need to monitor the yachts remotely, in a cost-effective way and also be able to see past alarms, without having to be present on board,” says Luiz Barbarini.
The cloud solution is an ideal choice for new build projects and upgrades of existing systems. Böning offers a full package, which includes the necessary 4G LTE gateway to collect parameters on board the vessel and for data transfer to the cloud service. Its main features include real-time condition monitoring, remote control from anywhere, cloud data storage and analysis, user alerts, online map view, browser optimized access, and easy installation on board.
Böning USA is offering an online training once a month for captains and crew with Böning systems, as well as for those who intend to refit their vessel monitoring and would like to learn more about the technology.
The B:Connect gateway varies from $1,699 to $4,499, and is a one-off cost. The monthly fee starts at $50, and the customer can choose at any time the amount of data to be logged, and the final value of the monthly fee.
This column is taken from the March 2021 issue of Dockwalk.