By
Alex Smith |
Carnival Maritime, the marine service unit of the Costa Group, has partnered with marine research institute Fraunhofer CML to implement the SCEDAS decision support system on 27 vessels operated by Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia.
The SCEDAS system uses mathematical optimisation techniques to help planners calculate work schedules for seafarers. Algorithms allow the schedule to be constantly updated during the voyage, enabling planners to adapt to unpredictable events that may occur. The work hour records for every crew member is combined with voyage situations to create the schedule, which Fraunhofer CML say is more efficient than those that are manually generated.
"We've experienced the benefits of mathematical optimisation first-hand and we are delighted to be working with Carnival Maritime, which knows the importance of pioneering approaches,” said Ole John, Fraunhofer CML's head of department. Our experts have helped implement efficient, reliable and highly customised workforce solutions in [the] maritime sector. Now, we're eager to enable our partner in [the] cruise market to realise an informed decision-making process and implementation of innovative workflows that SCEDAS can provide."
Carnival Maritime will incorporate a new version of the system which has been adapted specifically for the requirements of the cruise market, allowing optimal time slots to be identified for maintenance work.
"Our goal is to take workforce planning onboard our ships to a new level,” said Nicole Langosch, project leader at Carnival Maritime. “To facilitate the work scheduling for our crews we will integrate maintenance tasks from our PMS-System within SCEDAS. Thereby we are able to intelligently mesh operational demands and maintenance management considering the individual needs of our seafarers."