Connecting the dots on digitalization

Generations business insight

When two seasoned maritime leaders discuss shipping’s immediate opportunities and challenges, they can quickly find common ground. Rune Braastad, President, ABB’s Marine & Ports Division and Gert-Jan Panken, General Manager and Vice President, Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, discuss how connectivity, digitalization and integration are reshaping the maritime industry.

With maritime heritage part of their respective national identities, Norwegian Rune Braastad and Dutchman Gert-Jan Panken each have over 25 years of career experience based on technologies. Both were also recently appointed to lead the maritime and offshore businesses of large companies active in a wide range of global industries.

Beyond this shared background, the two quickly agree on key priorities in shipping and the way connectivity is a key enabler for the safety, efficiency and environmental performance gains the industry needs to meet the challenges ahead.

Rune Braastad, President, ABB's Marine & Ports division
Gert-Jan Panken, General Manager and Vice President, Inmarsat Maritime

Continuous connectivity to market

In offering electric, propulsion, automation and digital systems that serve all energy sources across multiple vessel types, and ports, ABB’s investment strategy “must include far horizons as well as immediate challenges,” says Braastad. In all scenarios, connectivity is now as essential as electricityas partof the vessel infrastructure.

“Better connectivity between ships, ports and shore-based operations is also a vital strategic enabler,” he adds. “For example, ABB is very active in the icebreaker segment, where through-life support for harsh conditions and remote locations is a market differentiator. Continuous connectivity is the basis for the remote monitoring, predictive maintenance and 24/7 engineering support that upholds asset safety, reliability and performance.”

Panken says he understood early in his career how critical connectivity is for seafarers’ lives and ship operations – when he joined with Royal Dutch Telecom subsidiary KPN nearly 30 years ago. “Once you’d been on board a ship, spoken with crew, seen a bridge and been down in the engine room, it was clear what our services meant to the industry,” he says.

By 2016, he was part of the Inmarsat Maritime team which brought Fleet Xpress to the market - the first ship to shore connection featuring high-speed broadband. “We offered high-speed and truly unlimited data services which were transformative, in enabling our customers to start digitalizing and use IoT data driven tools as well as crew welfare offerings,” he says.

Now heading commercial shipping’s leading provider of satellite connectivity, Panken is focusing on NexusWave, Inmarsat Maritime’s fully managed service that integrates multiple high-speed networks in one bonded connection.

"Continuous connectivity is the basis for the remote monitoring, predictive maintenance and 24/7 engineering support that upholds asset safety, reliability and performance."

Digital dawn becomes day-to-day

With integration, connectivity and digitalization central to ABB’s work, Marine & Ports has been among the market leaders in developing data-based decision-making and situational awareness tools for ships.

Data analytics and real-time monitoring have become part of daily operations for its shipping and ports clients. Preventive maintenance and 24/7 support are also standard practices, especially for high-end vessels. Moreover, Marine & Ports has played a key role in developing autonomous ship technology, where any move to remote ship operations depends on connectivity.

“However, marine technology moved a little faster than the adoption by the industry,” says Braastad.

For longer than anticipated, connectivity was evaluated on cost rather than for the value it could add, Panken observes.

Bringing transformational connections home

COVID-19 was a turning point, Panken and Braastad agree. Like many other industries, maritime became more open to online solutions, speeding up a digital shift that could not be reversed.

Panken says real-time ship-to-shore connectivity proved its value during the pandemic. It helped support seafarers who were stuck on ships beyond their contract periods and unable to go ashore. It also supported remote ship inspections needed to maintain compliance.

Braastad comments: “There were projects where we could not send engineers for service or commissioning, so we fulfilled the requirements remotely.”

The collaborative ways of working between ABB’s engineering specialists ashore and onboard proved especially valuable when clear communication and troubleshooting became critical. “And that capability did not go away after COVID,” says Braastad.

Next generation shift in satellite service

Connectivity itself was also changing. For Inmarsat Maritime, this next-generation shift became reality with the launch of NexusWave in 2024. By combining multiple high-speed networks in one bonded connection, the solution reaches download speeds of 330-340 Mbps and upload speeds of 70-80 Mbps, Panken points out.

The launch of two new ViaSat-3 satellites in 2025-26 substantially increases the bandwidth available to NexusWave customers, with VS3 Flight 2 and VS3 Flight 3 adding capacity over the Americas and Asia-Pacific respectively. Image credit: Inmarsat Maritime

“Ships can work like floating offices and seafarers experience connectivity that is equivalent to home,” he says. Soon after launch, NexusWave has been adopted quickly across multiple ship types in commercial shipping.

“Now, users see connectivity as an investment or as a route towards better outcomes,” says Panken. “Intelligent network bonding ensures consistent connectivity where users switch seamlessly between networks without interruption, even during spikes in demand or high traffic coverage areas.”

Outcomes include opportunities to add new layers to operational safety. “An AI layer added to CCTV monitoring could warn crew of trip hazards or that they have forgotten their helmet,” he adds.

“NexusWave also has huge benefits for crew welfare, but for OEMs its significance is in effectively offering a separate and secure network for operational technology. That has accelerated customer use of digitalization tools across operations, while system partners only need to run as and when they need to, and content that isn’t required now can be downloaded later.”

Citing Braastad’s icebreaker example, Panken adds that this type of connectivity creates opportunities to develop solutions focusing on safety, efficiency, or the environment in all types of locations. “Obviously, different locations have different requirements where density of traffic is concerned, and part of our focus today is dynamically shaping our network, for example by assigning extra capacity in traffic hotspots.

“We are also flexible on digitalization, hosting our own assets or those of customers and partners depending on the scenario. It’s become more about the enablement of the preferred solution. That makes the value and ROI fully recognizable to owners and operators, which is the future of maritime communications.

Connectivity oversight with Oversea™

Braastad says this level of connectivity is consistent with the transformed relationships between shore- and ship-based personnel envisioned by Oversea™. The digital vessel performance management and ‘fleet-support-center-as-a-service’ joint venture was established by ABB and Wallenius Marine in 2025. With the first operational support center running in Stockholm, Oversea™ helps ship owners, operators, and managers to analyze and use vessel data to optimize operational efficiency.

“We use digital twins to tune aspects of vessel performance, while services are also developing towards using real-time data for optimized routing and energy management,” says Braastad. “AI will play an important role - especially in developing more advanced analytics to support operational decisions.”

Collaborating to join the digital dots

Braastad sees strong areas for collaboration between marine technology companies and connectivity service providers when it comes to developing structured data collection for services such as Oversea™.

Shipping is one of the last industries to get connected in terms of developing an ecosystem where we work together”.

Collaboration can deliver real change in areas critical to shipping’s safety, efficiency and sustainability, he adds. The need for focus is especially important at a time when geopolitical tensions, energy security, supply chain disruption, sanctions, tariffs, emissions regulation and AI can easily distract attention.

But while global shipping is a business where investments are made for the long term, Braastad adds it is also “one of the last industries to get connected in terms of developing an ecosystem where we work together”.

“If you build a new ship, you expect it to last for 30 or possibly 40 years. This means you have to think beyond today’s market cycles and consider how the ship can adapt in the future.

“Today, too much operational data is kept in separate systems. Standardizing data, interfaces, connectivity and cybersecurity would unlock value and should be considered a matter of urgency. Challenges also exist on the use of data and who owns it, and on the legal framework within which integrated systems work. Some areas require commercial action. Beyond major investments in satellites, for example, Inmarsat Maritime supports the development of platforms which facilitate Application Partners , while its Norwegian Maritime Competence Centre pays particular attention to startups.

NexusWave is Inmarsat’s fully managed, bonded multi-network service combining capacity from GEO Ka-band, LEO, LTE, and L-band networks in a single intelligent connectivity solution. Image credit: Inmarsat Maritime

Others, such as cyber threats, are common concerns for stakeholders across the maritime industry. Panken and Braastad describe cyber security, including encryption, as a design phase issue and a key area requiring strengthened collaboration between ship owners, technology providers, classification societies and regulators.

Both ABB and Inmarsat Maritime also have staff dedicated to the spheres of regulation, government relations, and cross-industry cooperation on standards development.

“Technical collaboration is driving more efficiency, but broader collaboration will be needed to overcome challenges that also have consequences for technology - such as decarbonization” says Panken. “We welcome the leadership we are seeing from some stakeholders in shipping on this topic.”

Braastad agrees that the answer lies in constructive dialogue. “As a technology developer, we have a special responsibility to participate in open conversations with all relevant parties, so that policymakers, governments, NGOs and international regulators have the information they need to make well-founded and collaborative choices for the years ahead.”