WO2018130905A1

WO2018130905A1 - Installations management system for washing and cleaning of ship hulls

Info

Publication number: WO2018130905A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/000006
Authority: WO
Inventors: Guido BARDELLI
Original assignee: Bardelli Guido
Priority date: 2017-01-12
Filing date: 2018-01-12
Publication date: 2018-07-19
Also published as: IT201700002837A1

Abstract

A system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships comprises surveying the sea conditions where the ship is sailing or is moored by means of an apparatus placed on the ship subject to the management system; transmitting data detected during mooring and navigation of the ship to an apparatus for processing detected and previously stored data; the data detection apparatus constantly records the parameters, using its own sensors or connecting to sensors and detectors already present in the ship that detect instantaneously, and at pre-arranged times during navigation or mooring of the ship: speed and position detector (3), with tracing of the ship's routes; sea conditions and wave motion detector (4); climatic and air conditions detector (5); navigation and stop or mooring data detector (6); fuel consumption detector (7), located between the cistern (8) and the propeller (9); propeller operation data detector (10), in particular of the number of revolutions of the propeller; moreover, the aforementioned device is realized with a local computer which stores collected data and realizes data transmission (11 ) over the airwaves; and has the following steps: - the data detection apparatus transmits collected data to the ship owner (V-OVN); - the ship owner, informed of the hull status, announces the intention to wash the hull to the management company (WWC) of the hull washing plants for ships, on the data processing apparatus of the management company with a central computer (CPx) dedicated to the storage of data (CDx) communicated during the trip and previously; - the management company (WWC) informs the ship owner of the availability for washing, indicating the port (H-x), the type of plant (WSx) and the confirmation of the requested date; - the management company (WWC), constantly informed by the ship owner for the washing, updates the processed data verifying the correspondence of the reservation in the port (H-x) and of the type of plant (WSx) planned for the washing, confirming any changes to the ship owner; - the management company (WWC) collects the data received from the ship owner and updates the methods for predictive calculation of a future moment of reaching the dirty status of the hull, requiring washing, according to the type of ship, type of hull, loading conditions, route taken, i.e. navigation areas and times, and the conditions of the hull encountered during cleaning, i.e. the amount of removed fouling; - the management company (WWC) informs the ship owner (V-OWN) about the updating of the calculation for the future moment of reaching the dirty status of the hull, requiring washing, calculated with the predictive method constantly updated with iterations at the end of each washing or cleaning of the hull of the single ship.

Description

INSTALLATIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR WASHING AND CLEANING OF SHIP HULLS

Field of application

The present invention relates to a system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships, i.e. a new way of pre-arranging the use of known plants, which perform the hull cleaning function for large and small tonnage ships, both for goods transport and also for other uses, such as pleasure crafts, passenger ships, military and law enforcement ships and boats and any type of boat that needs to sail without fouling or marine vegetation, i.e. dirt attached to the hull. The invention is oriented, in addition to the best management of the washing plants, also to make users, i.e. the captain, the ship owner, the company managing the transport by ship and others, aware of the state of dirt or cleanliness of the hull of the concerned ship, that is the ship on which means for managing the information generated by it are in place, and managed with the information received in the system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants of the aforementioned ships by the company managing the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships. Background art

The state of the art includes numerous plants for cleaning and washing the hull of ships in various ways, even recently revived.

In the art, as mentioned above, there are known solutions in which a basin, generally semi-floating, is generally pre-arranged for the docking of the ship or boat, and where the cleaning of the same is performed. Often this type of plant also provides for the lifting of the ship or boat, eventually putting it aground for the application of repellent paints for preventing the formation of dirt in the hull in contact with sea water. In fact, it is known that ship hulls are often protected by dry docking for the application of poisonous paints that counteract dirt formation on the hull due to living organisms in the marine environment.

Moreover, basin plants can provide, during hull cleaning, the displacement of the hull itself with respect to the plant, by moving the hull and keeping the plant fixed, or moving the plant or a moving part thereof, keeping the hull still, as described in the previous documents US 3,541 ,988 and also US 3,709, 184.

Also known in the art is the monitoring of the continuous fouling of the hull by means of measuring and decision-controlling devices, focusing on the need to perform hull cleaning, as described in document KR 20160025817; it operates by surveying sea conditions when the ship is moored and previously collected information on the fouling of the ship's hull, comprising a considerable amount of data such as pH, information data on the marine environment, amount of dissolved oxygen, water temperature, salinity, larvae existing in sea water, amount of organic matter and amount of fouling of the outer shell included in the marine environment in contact with it; the information data are compared and analysed to determine the limit encrustation time point; the comparison of said information is used to prevent the formation of marine vegetation, or fouling, i.e. the build-up of dirt of the ship's hull and the performance decay of the ship's hull in navigation following periods of time and according to sea conditions in the mooring ports. Moreover, the document describes the management of hull cleaning simply by using a cleaning apparatus which is not thoroughly described. Such operation, not being specified in the document, may be acceptable for ships with navigation plans involving medium-long stops in ports, but is certainly not acceptable for commercial ships that need to make stops in ports in the shortest possible time to complete the stops provided for in the navigation plan in the various ports where the transport service is to be performed.

As described in the state of the art, methods and times for cleaning the hull from fouling are left to the decision of the captain of the ship or, at most, to the ship owner. The aforementioned document highlights the way to obtain technical information on the need to clean the hull, but does not address the problem of managing in a unitary and convenient way, both for the ship owner/captain and for the company managing the hull washing and cleaning plants, the plants themselves and the ships that request the washing of the hull, without having to wait for long stops or further trips to ports with free washing facilities to perform it.

Finally, a remarkable limitation in the aforementioned document lies in the large amount of data collected for each ship on the state of the hull: application to a few ships can be performed and managed without excessive complications, while the management of fleets of commercial ships, which often can be of some hundreds of units, is very complex, since the management of hull washing is useful to the ship owner, to keep the fleet's ships efficient, and to the company that manages the washing systems for the best and continuous use of the washing and cleaning plants for ship hulls.

Even more, the effectiveness of the cleaning of the hull from fouling has been verified several times, and its effect is certainly better than the simple effect of decreasing the resistance to the progress of the hull in the sea and, therefore, decreasing fuel consumption necessary for ship navigation

Moreover, what is known in the art does not allow the cleaning of a ship's hull in a pre-arranged and organized manner, since the management of ship hull cleaning plants is based in ports, where ships are docked for ordinary goods service, for example container ships, or passenger ships, such as in tourist or high-traffic ports; therefore, the need for hull cleaning often overlaps with the normal operation of the ship or boat, which is rather indifferent and can be organized autonomously for craft boats while, for ships with strict travel and navigation plans for the transport of goods or passengers, it requires a more organized management to avoid finding in the destination port, where hull cleaning is required, an unsuitable plant or a plant occupied by another ship being cleaned, so the stop time of the ship is lengthened and, possibly, a further navigation is decided for the ship, obviously with a dirty hull, before performing the necessary cleaning of the hull in a new destination port.

Therefore, not only the captain and the ship owner or, at most, the shipping company, are interested in the management of hull cleaning, but certainly also the company managing the plant for cleaning ship hulls, which needs to prearrange plant occupancy in the ports where they are located with a correct workload, pre-arranged by hull type, severity of present dirt, i.e. duration of the cleaning intervention, as well as adoption of the necessary means for each hull type and size and conformation, which involves the dimensional characteristics and technical cleaning means of a hull washing and cleaning plant, compared to gradually different cleaning work in ships that are treated in plant or plants located in the port.

This state of the art is subject to considerable improvements with regard to the possibility of realizing a system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and makes it functional to achieve the best technical advantage for managing plants and docking in ports and the best economic advantage for the ship owner, with the shortest stop time to perform said hull cleaning and washing treatment.

Therefore, the technical problem underlying the present invention is that of realizing the management of the hull washing systems that the management company makes available to the owners of fleets of commercial ships, prearranging the use of the plants in the destination port according to the actual state of dirt present in the ship hull that the ship owner intends to wash. This problem includes the ship owner's individual management of the single ship/hull, but also the ship owner's management of all the ships in his fleet; also including the management of the multiple fleets of ships that the ship hull washing plant management company has agreed with several ship owners or navigation companies.

Further and not least, another purpose of the present invention is to make the ship owner aware of the timing and cost advantages, as opposed to the disadvantages of continuation of navigation, in performing the washing and cleaning of the hull in agreement with the company managing the plants.

Moreover, another purpose underlying the invention is the use of the hull washing and cleaning means each washing system includes, even with different effectiveness results of the intervention on the accumulated dirt at the time of the washing request and at the actual moment when treatment is performed.

In addition, a corollary to the above purposes is to manage the information on the state of the hull of a ship included in the treatment list at a given port; updated information on hull status, besides confirming treatment times and costs, may also be useful to prepare the washing means in the plant where treatment is performed.

Finally, a further part of the above-mentioned technical problem is to manage, at the local port, the use hull washing and cleaning plants for ships, directing them to the needs to meet the planned treatment, but also, if necessary, to make available the washing plants which are temporarily not used, for extemporaneous treatment requests also made by ship owners out of bound prearranged management of ship fleets. Summary of the invention

This technical problem is solved, according to the present invention, by a system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships, comprising surveying the sea conditions where the ship is sailing or is moored by means of an apparatus placed on the ship subject to the management system; transmitting data detected during mooring and navigation of the ship to an apparatus for processing detected and previously stored data; the data detection apparatus constantly records the parameters, using its own sensors or connecting to sensors and detectors already present in the ship that detect instantaneously, and at prearranged times during navigation or mooring of the ship: speed and position detector, with tracing of the ship's routes; sea conditions and wave motion detector; climatic and air conditions detector; navigation and stop or mooring data detector; fuel consumption detector, located between the cistern and the propeller; propeller operation data detector, in particular of the number of revolutions of the propeller; moreover, the aforementioned apparatus is realized with a local computer which stores collected data and realizes data transmission over the airwaves; characterized in that it involves the following steps:

- the data detection apparatus transmits collected data to the ship owner;

- the ship owner, informed of the hull status, announces the intention to wash the hull to the management company of the hull washing systems for ships, on the data processing apparatus of the management company with a central computer dedicated to the storage of data communicated during the trip and previously;

- the management company informs the ship owner of the availability for washing, indicating the port, the type of plant and the confirmation of the requested date;

- the management company, constantly informed by the ship owner for the washing, updates the processed data verifying the correspondence of the reservation in the port and of the type of system planned for the washing, confirming any changes to the ship owner;

- the management company collects data received from the ship owner and updates the methods for predictive calculation of a future moment of reaching the dirty status of the hull, requiring washing, according to the type of ship, type of hull, loading conditions, route taken, i.e. the navigation areas and times, and the conditions of the hull encountered during cleaning, i.e. the amount of removed fouling;

- the management company informs the ship owner about the updating of the calculation for the future moment of reaching the dirty status of the hull, requiring washing, calculated with the predictive method constantly updated with iterations at the end of each washing or cleaning of the hull of the single ship.

In a further embodiment: the detection apparatus is a local computer which processes collected data according to a software program for predicting the ship's hull status based on data detected during navigation, informing the ship owner accordingly and, upon his approval, the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships.

In a preferred embodiment variant: the detection apparatus is supplied, installed and constantly updated by the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships.

In a specific embodiment, moreover: the detection apparatus is equipped with a warning device, at least luminous, of the hull status, constantly updated at regular time intervals.

In a preferred embodiment: the data collected and communicated to the management company are processed in inference data analysis systems based on deep learning technologies, capable of modelling complex and non- linear relationships between the heterogeneous input data, in the computers of the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships

In a preferred application variant: the data collected and communicated to the management company are processed in the same company's computers to determine the busy/available status and constantly update the workload of each washing plant in the ports where said plant is present.

In a further preferred application: the data collected and communicated to the management company are constantly updated in the computers that the company manages in the individual ports to update the busy/available status and workload of the individual washing plants operated in each port.

In the most advantageous form of implementation: data collected and communicated to the management company are processed indifferently in one of the computers of the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships in order to keep the computers constantly connected to the network; on the basis of the port chosen by the ship owner for the cleaning treatment, the workload and the busy/available status of the single washing plant is transmitted to the single port computer, which is kept updated with subsequent data updates for the concerned ship.

A further form of use: collected and processed data are used for constant monitoring by the plant management company in order to support the ship owners in obtaining the reduced environmental impact certification, as well as energy efficiency certificates, for the ships of the fleet managed in the plant management system, thus being able to verify in real time the maintenance or deviation from the certification, i.e. with the possibility of controlling and continuously monitoring the data processed by the management system.

For rapid use and control: data detected and/or processed with parameters chosen by the ship owners are made available to the ship owners themselves, also on suitably protected computer supports, constantly connected to a public over-the-airwaves phone or satellite communication network.

Finally, for a more advantageous use: the data collected and/or processed by the ship owners, with the parameters related to the environmental certification and to navigation data, are forwarded to the insurance companies and/or ship leasing and transport (performed by the same ships) insurance companies, for the assessment and calculation of insurance costs, taking into account the state of the hull detected in the subsequent washing and cleaning treatments performed, sharing the same recalculated costs in the ship management system used by each ship owner, i.e. with instant sharing with the same ship owner of the new calculated values after each hull washing.

Further features and advantages of the present invention, in the realization of a system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships, are mentioned in the following description of a schematic example of application, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the two attached drawing tables.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a schematic view in partial section of a ship on which the data collection and transmission apparatuses are installed, which receive data on navigation, mooring, propeller apparatus operation, transport load data, instant data on fuel consumption detected during navigation, status of ship stopping in the mooring point at anchor or in the port for hull cleaning; in the figure, also shown is a generic semi-floating band system for hull cleaning during mooring;

Figure 2 is a schematic view of an electronic apparatus located in the ship's dashboard, which provides a simple and direct indication of the status of the hull to the control personnel and to the ship owner;

Figure 3 shows a schematic view of a computer located at the headquarters of the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships, which collects data on the status of hulls from the managed fleets of ships and takes care of communication between the ship owner(s) and the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships: the information, as more fully specified below, within the management company of washing plant is directed to ports, available for treatment;

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the management of the individual hull washing plants for ships in the ports where they are installed; each port has different types of washing plants suitable for the prevalent type of hulls of ships that require washing.

Description of one of the embodiments of the invention

Figure 1 shows a ship with a hull V of a generally understood vessel, which can be for the transport of goods or passengers or even a pleasure craft, on which the information collection device BB of the system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships according to the invention. The apparatus is connected to sensors and detectors already present in the ship that detect instantaneously and at pre-arranged moments during navigation or mooring of the ship, namely: speed and position detector with the tracing of the ship's routes; sea condition and wave motion detector 4; climatic and air conditions detector 5; navigation and mooring timing data detector 6; fuel consumption detector 7 located between the tank 8 and the propeller 9; propeller operating data detector 10, in particular of the number of revolutions of the propeller 9. The apparatus BB is realized with a local computer which stores collected data VD during travel and previously, and realizes over-the-air data transmission 1 1 of said complete data to the ship owner V-OWN in order to make him aware of the status of the ship in every moment of the navigation, and of a signal transmission of just the status of the hull CD to a computer CPx of the management company WWC of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships to which the ship is registered for the management. The Figure shows the moored vessel 12 at anchor in the destination port, where a hull washing and cleaning plant WS for the ship performs its treatment. The shown plant WS is of the semi-submersible band type, movable by steps along the hull of the ship.

Figure 2 shows the apparatus BB, operating on each ship belonging to the fleet of ships under management of the management company WWC, on the shell of which light indicators of the state of the hull, as processed based on data VD coming from the ship's sensors, are made in the most convenient way. The simplest form of indication includes a green light indicator G for the summarized information of clean hull, a yellow light indicator Y for the summarized information of slightly dirty hull, an orange indicator O for the summarized information of dirty hull and a red light indicator R for the summarized information of very dirty hull. Figure 3 then shows a computer CPx scheme of the management company WWC, which receives information CDx on the status of the hulls of the fleet ships under management. This computer is in logic connection with the ship owners V-OWN of the fleets of ships under management and with other computers CPx of the management company WWC distributed throughout the globe and connected in turn with the ports H-A, H-B or H-N etc., where the management company WWC has allocated hull washing and cleaning plants WSx for ships.

The washing and cleaning plants of the ship's hulls are advantageously made according to the hull size of the ships to be treated, therefore in the same port, where the plant operates, there may be small plants WS1 , medium plants WS2 and large plants WS3, that is, suitable for the treatment of the larger hull sizes. Moreover, as can be seen in the schematic Figure 4, each washing plant WS can be present in the same port A, B or N in several units, aimed at satisfying the washing requests of the specific hull size adapted to them, and also with the varying arrangement of washing means in the individual plant, so as to be able to use the versatility of different cleaning and washing means according to the type of hull and specific features that the hulls can present and which must be treated for the most effective washing.

Therefore, the apparatus BB collects data VD on sea conditions and stop or travel status of the ship and communicates them constantly, or at regular intervals, to the ship owner V-OWN. The collected data are compared in the same apparatus BB with previously collected historical data, during travel or mooring, in the same sea or port. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the travel following the moment of the assessment, i.e. when the ship owner queries his computer, can present critical aspects in terms of the best management of the overall navigation costs of the ship.

While performing the management of the washing plants, the management system CPx WWC collects the information CDx on the status of the hulls of the ships under management occasionally, for example weekly, and informs the corresponding ship owner, if requested by the same, of the possibility to perform a programmed hull washing or cleaning at one of the ports, H-A, H-B or H-N, for example those indicated in Figure 4, upon the request of the ship owner; on the basis of the collected data, relating to the greater or lesser dirt of the hull, a suitable and available washing system is chosen, pre-arranged based on hull size, on the type of fouling, on the time spent in port, on the treatment operation, as well as on the date and time of arrival at the port, communicating it to the owner and requesting its approval.

Having obtained the approval of the ship owner to perform the washing, the management company obtains the data CD from the concerned ship on an ongoing basis, keeping under control the status of the hull involved in the required wash and, obviously, the position of the ship: the GPS data of the ship are public; the processor CPx of the management company updates the status of the hull and the availability of the washing plant WSx to which it is destined in the port concerned, such as H-A and WS2 plant. During daily processing, any variations of the reservation of the washing treatment as a result of the decay of the hull V, that is, the hull gets dirtier while approaching the required wash port, for a lengthening of the docking time in port, i.e. a change to the navigation plan, are also counted; also, prolongation of previous operations on the same washing plant, which determines a minimum deviation or, in the worst case, a significant deviation of availability of the washing system in accepting the hull to be treated, at a later time with respect to the reservation. These changes are constantly presented by the management company VWVC to the ship owner V-OWN, who authorizes the washing of the hull V, after having verified that the time spent in the port is compatible with the pre-arranged navigation plan of the ship.

In the event that the owner V-OWN withdrawn authorization of washing the hull V of the concerned ship, considering more important the respect of the timing of the trip compared to the disadvantage of increased fuel consumption and fouling in the hull that increases in any case, the ship owner himself will provide a new port, for example H-N, and a new reservation date for the washing of the hull, informing the management company WWC of the hull washing plants for ships.

At this point, the management company WWC continues to constantly monitor the hull V of the concerned ship and processes the received data CD and the GPS position of said ship. While performing this check with the computer CPx, the management company redefines the busy/available status for a washing plant in the new port H-N which, possibly, may have different features, different costs, for example WS3, and a different pre-arranged workload in the expected docking date of the arrival of the ship under management that has the hull washing reservation. These variations determine a possible variation in the cost of the washing operation and/or a possible increase in the duration of the washing treatment time. These new data are constantly communicated to the ship owner, asking for their approval.

Such a^" way of working is quite simple if applied to a single ship and a couple of yearly washes its hull requires in order to sail free from dirt and fouling. However, this system for managing hull washing plants, object of the present description, was born with the aim of harmonizing the conflicting needs of the ship owner V-OWN who, while maintaining the ships of his fleet in the normal trips foreseen by the navigation plan, needs to have a punctual, low-cost and fast cleaning service of the hulls of his ships, that is to allocate a few hours of the precious time of the ship to perform the washing of the hull; .and of the hull washing plant management company WWC which can build a large number of plants WSx in the various ports H-x with greater traffic of ships, although this number must be kept low both for construction costs and for maintenance and operation costs, as it is necessary to keep the aforementioned plants operational day and night, with the necessary specialized personnel and power supplies needed for operating the plants.

The aforementioned set-up is performed and finds the most convenient application with fixed-fee washing contracts stipulated between the ship owner, who outsources hull washing and cleaning of ships of his fleet, and the management company. The fee normally includes a fixed number of already paid washings with features that take into account the conformation of the ship's hull and the greater or lesser tendency to collect vegetation or fouling during travels shown in the previous navigation periods. In this way, the ship owner V-OWN knows that he obtains the washing service at the lowest cost if he performs the scheduled washings during the contract period, while the management company obtains a certain income during the validity period of the contract, allowing it to organize the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships in the required ports and adapting them in number, size and operation to the volume of washing requests foreseeable with the stipulated washing contracts.

The use of the system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships described above finds its most functional application with the stipulation of a large number of contracts. In fact, if a ship owner has a hundred ships and organizes the washing of the hull for all of them with the management company and, at the same time, other ship owners having a hundred ships each as well do the same, the number of ships managed by the management company WWC becomes very big, so that it requires a centralized and suitably organized management, as described above, for the fulfilment of contract requirements, but also for the performance of hull cleaning and washing services in a technically correct way, at a low cost and in the time required by the ship owner and minimum time of plant occupancy for the management company.

In performing the management of the fleets of several ship owners, each ship that is part of the contracted hull cleaning management has installed on it a local computer BB, or black-box, which collects data of the ship VD in a prearranged manner, storing them with a predetermined duration of time. The data are used by the local computer to define the status of the hull, which may be clean or slightly dirty or even moderately dirty; it communicates its status to the ship owner V-OWN together with collected and stored data, while the management company notifies only the status CD of the hull of the ship on which it is mounted. Depending on the service supply contract, it may also include the communication of data collected to the washing plant management company WWC so as to allow a further step of statistical processing to compare data previously collected for the same hull or type of hull, loading conditions, the route taken, i.e. navigation areas and times, and the conditions of the hull encountered during cleaning, or the amount of fouling removed, so as to use machine learning algorithms that allow to make a predictive estimate of the accumulation of fouling on the hull, on the basis of available data also for all the ships maintained in hull washing management by the plant management company WWC. In fact, the same operation will be useful for the ship owner to determine future navigation plans, which will take into account the above predictive calculations and the advantage of being able, at the most advantageous time, to wash the hull, following the assistance given to the ship owners in the automatic planning of the cleaning cycles, for each vessel of the fleet, based on the routes and on the estimate of the status of each single ship in the fleet, as well as on the workload of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ship of the management company WWC. The computer BB thus shows the ship owner, but also the commander, immediate information on the current and future status of the hull with or without washing and cleaning it.

The aforesaid management of each single ship's hull in the fleet of a ship owner and in the fleets of the other ship owners who have signed a contract with the washing plants management company determines a large amount of data which, through the activity of the machine learning algorithms allows, as mentioned above, to create reference models to allow the computer BB and the central computer of the management company WWC to make the detection of the hull status more and more efficient and precise based on data communicated by the single ship and with models generated by the analysis, comparison and verification of several fleets, several types of boats/hulls, also according to the routes travelled. In fact, in the computer CPx of the plant management company, inference data analysis systems are applied, based on deep learning technologies, able to model complex and non-linear relationships between heterogeneous input data. The specific architecture and the type of algorithms are applied in a first step with standardized architecture and, afterwards, the specific definition of the algorithms is performed by modifying them after verification of the real data supplied by the ship owners. This operation can be repeated several times on the basis of different ship owners and/or different types of fleets of ships and their uses.

Therefore, the assistance, that the washing plant management system will make available to the ship owners will help them in the automatic planning of the cleaning cycles for each vessel of the fleet based on the traffic present on the washing plants in the various ports, the routes and the estimate of the status of each single ship in the fleet.

The advantages of using the system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants are optimal in pre-arranging the washing of the ship's hull two or more times in a year of navigation, even if this washing does not completely replace the current periodic dry-dock protective and anti-vegetative paint inspection and renovation service, but it allows the ship owner to take advantage of an extremely quick, organized washing service for ships belonging to his fleet, thus obtaining in fact considerable savings in fuel, a very short stop time of the ship, as well as the attainment of energy efficiency certificates, or environmental impact certificates, which attest to the actual savings and therefore the lower emission of pollutants in the atmosphere, in proportion to the miles travelled by the ship.

The system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships can operate with hull washing and cleaning plants, devices and means known in the art. Different washing and cleaning plants determine a longer or shorter treatment performance time, but modern hull washing plants for ships, typically in the shape of a semi-submersible band, movable by steps along the hull of the ship, can be achieved with very short operating times even for hulls with a large surface to be treated. In fact, the devices and plants used can be of various types, more or less performing in terms of costs and ship stop times, but which can be used by the management company of the hull washing and cleaning plants for ships in the application of the management system described herein. Obviously, this use of less performing plants has less economic advantages, but allows treatments for boats of lesser importance, to be treated less urgently or for occasional use. This does not result in a limitation to the application of the system for the management of hull washing plants for ship, as the system itself will be, of course, pre-arranged for the use of specific washing systems according to the type of vessel or ship that requires the hull washing and cleaning treatment.

In addition, the plant management company can make available online the types of hulls which can be treated in the various managed plants, so that even persons outside the fleets managed by the washing plant management system can, if necessary, perform a hull cleaning and washing treatment of their own vessel, thus offering a useful service to those who do not necessarily sail frequently. Therefore, the use of the hull washing plant management system for ship, as described above, allows the owner V-OWN to keep the hull of their ships in optimal conditions with a contained cost, proportional to the effective advantage in completion time of the washing and travel of the ship concerned, so as not to interfere with the planned navigation plan.

In addition, the ship owner realizes a further advantage towards the insurance companies that will benefit from the underwater surveys of the clean hull videotaped at each washing at the hull washing stations, that allow to detect any damages, dents, or any conditions that can lead to less security in ship navigation and, therefore, in the commercial and economic activity that the ship or the fleets of ships are destined to perform. The advantage for insurance companies and for the ship owner is to have, with a reduced frequency compared to today, a testimony of the conditions of the hull and therefore be able to offer/receive economic benefits deriving from greater control and safety.

Finally, the considerable advantage of the management company is visible when the plants operating at the various concerned ports or natural harbours have an occupancy time close to saturation, i.e. with the aim of avoiding unwanted plant downtime. Obviously, a person skilled in the art, in order to satisfy specific and contingent requirements, may make numerous modifications to a system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships as previously described, all however contained within the scope of protection of the present invention as defined by the following claims. In fact, although less convenient for the ship owner, the same may not accept the installation of the computer BB on the ship, so the ship owner V-OWN, being already able to use navigation data surveys with its own sensor systems, must necessarily communicate data on the status of the ship's hull to the plant management company WWC at the moment he reserves a hull washing operation, at a specific port; the management company, having to manage the hull washing plants' busy/available status, also needs constant information up to the moment of the washing operation to keep the washing system updated and prepared, a task that in this case remains always in charge of the ship owner. In any case, the system for managing hull washing and cleaning plants will process the data provided by the ship owner for the reservation of the washing, thus creating and improving predictive calculation systems for the hull status for possible journeys that the ship owner intends to plan.

Claims

C LAI MS

1. System for managing hull washing and cleaning plants for ships, comprising surveying the sea conditions where the ship is sailing or is moored by means of an apparatus placed on the ship subject to the management system; transmitting data detected during mooring and navigation of the ship to an apparatus for processing detected and previously stored data; the data detection apparatus constantly records the parameters, using its own sensors or connected to sensors and detectors already present in the ship that detect instantaneously, and at pre-arranged times during navigation or mooring of the ship: speed and position detector (3), with tracing of the ship's routes; sea conditions and wave motion detector (4); climatic and air conditions detector (5); navigation and stop or mooring data detector (6); fuel consumption detector (7), located between the cistern (8) and the propeller (9); propeller operation data detector (10), in particular of the number of revolutions of the propeller; moreover, the aforementioned device is realized with a local computer which stores collected data and realizes data transmission (1 1 ) over the airwaves; characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

- the data detection apparatus transmits collected data to the ship owner (V- OVN);

- the ship owner, informed of the hull status, announces the intention to wash the hull to the management company (WWC) of the hull washing plants for ships, on the data processing apparatus of the management company with a central computer (CPx) dedicated to the storage of data (CDx) communicated during the trip and previously;

- the management company (WWC) informs the ship owner of the availability for washing, indicating the port (H-x), the type of plant (WSx) and the confirmation of the requested date;

- the management company, constantly informed by the ship owner for the washing, updates the processed data verifying the correspondence of the reservation in the port (H-x) and of the type of plant (WSx) planned for the washing, confirming any changes to the ship owner; - the management company (VWVC) collects the data received from the ship owner and updates the methods for predictive calculation of a future moment of reaching the dirty status of the hull, requiring washing, according to the type of ship, type of hull, loading conditions, route taken, i.e. navigation areas and times, and the conditions of the hull encountered during cleaning, i.e. the amount of removed fouling;

- the management company (WWC) informs the ship owner (V-OWN) about the updating of the calculation for the future moment of reaching the dirty status of the hull, requiring washing, calculated with the predictive method constantly updated with iterations at the end of each washing or cleaning of the hull of the single ship.

2. Plant management system, according to claim 1 , wherein the detection apparatus is a local computer which processes the data detected according to a software program that predicts the state of the ship's hull based on data detected (VD) during navigation, informing the ship owner (V-OVN) and, with its approval, the hull washing and cleaning plant management company (WWC).

3. Plant management system, according to claim 2, wherein the detection apparatus (BB) is provided, installed and constantly updated by the hull washing and cleaning plant management company (WWC).

4. Plant management system, according to one of claims 2 or 3, wherein the detection apparatus (BB) is provided with an indicator, at least luminous (G, Y, O, R), of the hull status, constantly updated at regular time intervals

5. Plant management system, according to one of claims 1-4, wherein the data collected (CDx) and transmitted to the management company

(WWC) are processed in inference data analysis systems based on deep learning technologies able to model complex and non-linear relationships between heterogeneous data input in the electronic computers (CPx) of the hull washing and cleaning plants management company.

6. Plant management system, according to one of claims 1-4, wherein the data collected (CDx) and transmitted to the management company (WWC) are processed in the computers of the same company to determine the busy/available status and constantly update the workload of each washing plant (WSx) in the ports (H-A, H-B ... H-N) where said plant is present.

7. Plant management system, according to claim 6, wherein the data collected (CDx) and communicated to the management company (WWC) are constantly updated in the computers (CP H-x) that the company manages in the individual ports (H-A, H-B ... H-N) for the update of the busy/available status and workload of the individual washing plants (WSx) managed in each port.

8. Plant management system, according to one of claims 1-4, wherein the data collected (CDx) and communicated to the management company (WWC) are processed indifferently in one of the computers (CPx) of the hull washing and cleaning plant management company for ships in order to keep the computers (CPx WWC) constantly connected to the network; on the basis of the port chosen by the ship owner, for the cleaning treatment, the single computer of the port (CP H-x) is notified of the workload and busy/available status of the single washing plant (WSx) and kept updated for subsequent updates of data (CDx) by the concerned ship.

9. Plant management system according to one of preceding claims 1-4, wherein collected and processed data are used for constant monitoring by the plant management company (WWC) in order to support the ship owners for obtaining the reduced environmental impact certification, as well as energy efficiency certificates, for the ships of the fleet managed in the plant management system, thus being able to verify in real time the constant compliance with or deviation from the certification, i.e. with the possibility of controlling and continuously monitoring the data processed by the management system.

10. Plant management system, according to one of preceding claims 1-4, wherein the detected data (VDx) and/or processed data (CDx) with the parameters chosen by the ship owners are made available to the ship owners themselves also on computer supports, suitably protected, constantly connected to a public telephone or satellite communication network.

1 1. Plant management system, according to one of preceding claims 1-4, wherein the detected data (VDx) and/or processed data (CDx), with the parameters relating to environmental certification and navigation data, are reported by the ship owners to the insurance and/or leasing companies of ships and to insurance companies taking care of transports performed by the same ships, for the assessment and calculation of insurance costs, taking into account the state of the hull detected in the subsequent washing and cleaning treatments performed, sharing the same costs recalculated in the ship management system each ship owner uses, i.e. with instant sharing with the same ship owner of the new calculated values after each hull washing.