Vessel Data Analytics: Five Questions, from What Happened to What Next

Vessel data analytics does not start with a dashboard full of charts, it starts with a question, and the questions get harder to answer as you move up through them. Thinking about the data in levels helps separate what a system can show automatically from what still needs a person looking at it.

Level 1 and 2: what happened, when and where

The first level of questions is the simplest: how much fuel was used, how many hours did the engine run, where is the vessel, how far has it travelled. The second level adds timing and location to those same facts: when did consumption go up, where did RPM change, which voyage was the heaviest. Both levels describe what the data already recorded, without needing to explain why.

Level 3: what else was happening at the same time

The third level lines up several readings from the same moment: what was RPM, what was speed, what was the weather, which engines were running. On their own, none of those readings explains much, but placed next to each other at the same point in time, they start to describe an operational picture rather than a single number.

Vessel data analytics levels 4 and 5: questions, not automated answers

The higher levels ask why something might have happened and what deserves attention next, and both are best treated as questions the team investigates with the data rather than answers a system hands over automatically. Level 4 looks like: did consumption rise because of load, did speed drop because of sea conditions, does fuel flow line up with RPM, is there anything in the readings that looks worth a closer look. Level 5 looks like: what patterns are worth watching going forward, and what would be useful to compare future readings against. Both levels depend on someone with context looking at the combined data and asking the next question, not on the system deciding the answer on its own.

Why the levels matter for how you use the data

Knowing which level a question sits at sets the right expectation for how it gets answered. Level 1 to 3 questions can usually be read straight off a dashboard or report. Level 4 and 5 questions need a person to look at the combined readings and reason about them, and treating them as if a system should answer them automatically risks trusting a conclusion nobody actually checked.

Vessel data analytics in MANTRAZ

MANTRAZ brings RPM, fuel flow, speed, position and weather together on the same dashboard and in the same reports, so a Level 3 question can be answered by looking at the same moment across several readings, and the higher-level questions have the combined data a team needs to work through them together.

To see how combined vessel data supports these questions on a fleet like yours, request a MANTRAZ demo.