Kawasaki Receives Order from JERA for "SOPass" Ship Support System

Tokyo, November 5, 2018 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today the receipt of its first order from JERA Co., Inc. for the Kawasaki SOPass^*1 system. The system will be installed on four liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers chartered by JERA.

SOPass utilizes information and communications technology (ICT) and Internet of things (IoT) technologies to combine real-time information from ships, transmitted via communication satellites, with Kawasaki's advanced engineering knowledge in the field of marine vessels in order to provide users with beneficial information for ship operation management. In addition to ship performance analysis functions, route optimization calculations for greater energy efficiency, and other such advantages, SOPass also offers newly developed LNG cargo management optimization functions—the first of their kind in the industry—designed specifically for LNG carriers. Installing the system, which can be used on a wide variety of vessels, enables optimal route proposals and visual representation of cargo and engine area operating conditions for more economical and safer ship operations.

Kawasaki received its first order for SOPass in July 2017 for an LNG carrier chartered by Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which has since ordered the system for a total of seven vessels. Mitsui began operating the system on active vessels starting in April 2018. The addition of four SOPass orders for JERA brings the system's track record to a total of 11 orders.

Responding to diversifying customer needs and the growing market for ship operation management systems utilizing big data, Kawasaki created the IoT Business Promotion Department within the Ship & Offshore Structure Company in September 2018 as part of efforts to expand business operations and strengthen foundations in the area of customer solutions utilizing IoT, big data and other technologies (including SOPass).

Moving forward, Kawasaki will respond to customer needs regarding advancements in the field of ship operation management systems by utilizing ICT and IoT technologies as well as the synergy achieved among the broad range of technologies possessed by the Kawasaki Group to contribute to further developments in the maritime industry.

Advantages of the SOPass

1)

By analyzing and learning from fuel consumption data, weather-related information, hull condition data and other operational data stored on cloud servers, SOPass can propose navigation routes that are safe and use the least amount of fuel while also issuing automated reports on predictions of future fuel consumption, ship speed, maintenance requirements and so forth to reduce ship operating costs and improve overall safety.

2)

Furthermore, an industry-first set of functions designed specifically for LNG carriers enables management of natural gas, which is subjected to natural evaporation during voyage (boil-off gas), while proposing navigation routes that consume the least amount of fuel and operations with the optimal heel amounts^*2.

3)

SOPass also allows for the selection of system functions tailored to individual user needs.

4)

Through collaborative efforts with Ship Data Center Co., Ltd. (ShipDC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), a ship Classification society, Kawasaki has launched a private cloud server network featuring a reliable classified information protection and information management system incorporating countermeasures against information leakage, computer viruses and other threats.

5)

SOPass is a highly versatile general-purpose system that can be installed in existing vessels as well as newly built ships.

*1 Ship Operation and Performance analysis support system.