The shipping industry is known to have many challenges. From CO2 emission rules to the fast-growing number of cyberattacks, ships and crews are vulnerable and must stay safe at all times. Onboard computer technology must become simpler, more secure, and resilient.
We can see how digital technology helps transform the way we live our lives and disrupt business models. It’s hard to say just one technology will transform the maritime industry. The interplay and overlap between the technology areas are crucial, but this transformation has yet to make a significant impact on shipping
Scale Computing provides this white paper to explain the increased dependence on the combination of onboard IT infrastructure, the cloud, and central, shore-based data centers.
This paper is intended for shipowners, fleet managers, and IT staff implementing and managing maritime information technology.
Key Challenges in Maritime Technology
The maritime industry could be seen as one of the most volatile environments. Potentially harsh climates, distance to onshore facilities, and different international stakeholders all create complex and uncertain conditions that affect the success and survival of maritime organizations.
Keeping a ship up and running 24/7/365 is a major challenge. Management of vessels, while lowering TCO, must be agile. For centuries, the shipping administration has collected vast amounts of manual scripts and reports to keep OpEx and CapEx under control. Technology has brought ships closer to shore-based operations in the last few decades.
Complexity in Onboard IT Systems
More technology means more IT systems and added complexity. Onboard IT knowledge is limited—a growing concern for most shipowners and ship management companies. Human failure is still on top of the agenda when it comes to reducing accidents at sea. According to the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents, from 2014 to 2023, 58.4% of marine accident events were linked to human action, and 49.8% of contributing factors were related to human behavior. When considering both human action events and human behavior contributing factors together, the human element accounted for 80.1% of investigated marine casualties and incidents.
Traditional onboard infrastructures with several servers, separate server visualization, a separate storage unit, and/or backup devices are too complex and difficult to manage. Complexity causes mistakes, endangers operations, and gives rise to frustration among the crew. Complexity also increases system downtime, leading to voyage deviation, increased loading/unloading time, or even worse, more accidents.
Reducing crew turnover and improving training have become more important than ever. Nowadays, crews need to become “digital natives.” The systems they work with are increasingly sophisticated, and complex regulatory expectations make it even harder for them to do their jobs.
Increasing automation, self-healing processes, and simplicity help to overcome the challenges described above.
Maritime Cybersecurity & Onboard Safety Challenges
Today, ship security is among the most important aspects of ship and crew safety. The maritime industry faces many threats, including cyberattacks, piracy, and hijacking. Technology plays a vital role in overcoming this challenge, as the advanced security systems and software available today can efficiently identify and help negate potential threats to ships.
The number of computer systems, software applications, and IoT (Internet of Things) devices like sensors and beacons aboard ships has increased and will continue to do so. This is driven by the need to secure overall ship performance improvement, regulatory compliance, and security requirements.
Using IoT devices across the fleet helps to gain a competitive edge and supports decision-making. More and more devices are implemented to streamline fleet-wide operations at sea, from tank and draft sensors to load/unload sensors, from vessel tracking, crew safety, voyage planning optimization, to predictive maintenance. Sensors, monitoring, and analytics guide the ship crew in planning the most efficient route. Using IoT devices across the fleet helps to gain a competitive edge and support decision-making.
At the same time, more IT systems and more IoT devices make ships more vulnerable. Security represents the most significant problem in implementing IoT devices on ships. Severe storms can disrupt connections with shore-based systems. Hijackers and bad actors often gain access due to less secure, open systems like IoT devices to jam systems.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command conducted 42 missions across the Marine Transportation System (MTS) in 2024, marking the highest annual total to date. These missions included incident response, ransomware investigations, system assessments, and proactive threat-hunting operations, reflecting the increasing complexity and frequency of cyber challenges facing maritime operations. Is there a solution? It isn’t easy, since ships are ‘connected’ most of the time.
Growing regulations around cybersecurity increase the need for continuous availability and a tested business continuity and disaster recovery strategy for every shipowner and operator.
Video surveillance has become an essential tool in overall ship security programs to protect the crew, the ships, and related assets. While not effective as standalone security features, cameras can and have been used effectively as part of an integrated security program to reduce the potential for crime, enhance physical controls, assist in investigations, and enhance public/life safety. Surveillance cameras should be deployed as part of an overall security program with consistent monitoring and the ability to provide prompt emergency response.
VMS (Video Management System) is most commonly used to track activities. To guarantee uptime, VMS applications typically run on one or more dedicated servers. These environments are complex to manage.
Shipowners and ship management organizations can benefit from this technology and get a better handle on their deployments across many ships.
Downtime: The Hidden Cost
The maritime industry needs real-time IT support to help reduce the cost of downtime. The maritime industry demands accuracy and reliability for staff, crew, and customers during a network outage, but it’s tough to create a plan or have someone available 24/7/365.
When a network goes down, data loss must be minimized. By setting up a schedule with frequent backups or replications, data can be kept safe. The cloud does not provide the guarantees most organizations look for to secure operations and minimize downtime. The top unplanned downtime causes are IT equipment failure and network outage, human error, problems at a service provider, and cyberattacks.
When IT systems experience downtime, there can be short-term and long-term damage to the business. Direct loss of revenue is the number one impact, followed by loss of productivity, data loss, and loss of customer trust and company reputation.
Downtime might cause voyage deviation, leading to higher fuel consumption and the inability to stay secure. IT infrastructure on ships must become resilient and always be “on.” If the PMS system isn’t live, a ship cannot depart the harbor.
IoT Explosion in Maritime Operations
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the single biggest change in maritime technology. It revolutionizes the industry with devices such as alarm monitoring and control systems, ship safety systems, temperature control, propulsion optimization sensors, and more. But the explosion of IoT devices creates a tremendous challenge for every ship manager.
IoT and operational technology systems create vulnerabilities open to cyberattacks.
Energy Regulations & Environmental Compliance
The shipping industry faces various energy regulatory challenges as well; many implement Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans (SEEMP). More (likely IoT) devices and new applications are installed to improve the overall ship's performance and efficiency while reducing CO2 emissions simultaneously. We see the number of software applications growing, driving the need for better systems.
Bandwidth and Connectivity Limitations
Historically, once a ship anchored at sea, it became isolated from communication with the shore. While ship-to-shore communications have gradually evolved, the significant increase in digital signals creates massive amounts of data.
Ship operators want to see more transparency to understand how much data is used and how much is needed. Crews demand more connectivity. They want to chat with their families and friends onshore, use social media, and stay connected. It is vital to a crew’s welfare.
A modern onboard IT infrastructure bridges two worlds: traditional onboard IT and the cloud. There is, however, no guarantee that a connection with “the cloud” or the shore is always available. Although greater bandwidth became available and shore-based connections dramatically improved over the last few decades, connectivity cannot always be guaranteed. Ships can face communication problems during a storm, satellite switch, cyberattack, or worse.
The need for a modern, more secure, robust, and reliable IT infrastructure is, therefore, more important than ever, but that creates an immediate problem. As the importance of ship computers increases by the day, how do you manage these systems? There is seldom in-depth IT knowledge available on a ship, and communications with shore-based support staff are not always available.
Digitalization and Real-Time Data Analytics
To improve ship performance, data analytics is key. To make informed decisions, collecting data and being able to analyze data in real-time becomes a requirement. Data analytics can support shipowners with technical management functions in applications and decision-making processes for regulatory compliance, safety operations, planned maintenance, fuel reduction, and more. Most of these analytics can be performed at any time. For the crew, better insight related to vessel performance, onboard safety, and risk exposure, real-time analysis helps make that one informed decision when needed. They simply cannot wait a few hours until the data is analyzed.
Automation and technology advancements mean the shipowner, fleet manager, and crew must deal with the exponential growth of data. Understanding this “big data” means an investment in solutions and systems, both onshore and aboard ships. Continuous data analytics is possible only when applications and systems can support these activities.
IT System Support at Sea
Supporting IT systems in the shipping industry, on an oil platform, or even on a windmill at sea is not as easy as you might expect. Compare it to a shore-based operation. When your server goes down, you call support, and they analyze the problem. If repair of a component or server is required, an engineer is sent to your location. At sea, contacting shore-based support staff isn’t always possible, and they certainly cannot send someone to the ship for repairs.
That means traditional IT solutions are not capable of providing the required continuous operation of a modern, “smart” ship. If a component or a complete server fails, resulting in the halt of operations, this might become a tremendous liability and endanger the safety of the crew and vessel.
Downtime might cause voyage deviation, leading to higher fuel consumption and an inability to stay secure at all times. IT infrastructure on ships must become resilient and always available.
Software Integration Challenges
With the growing number of applications, the maritime industry faces the challenge of integrating all the software efficiently and ensuring the integrated software accurately communicates with each other, ideally in real-time. Unfortunately, there is still a high cost to achieve this integration, a barrier for most ship managers.
The use of APIs in the maritime industry is not that common, but it can help to overcome these integration challenges. APIs add efficiency to ship technology by integrating the technology stack, helping tools communicate better with one another.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Although modern solutions optimize available bandwidth and minimize data volume, they don’t eliminate all risks. Automatic, real-time data transfer from ship to shore might be in place, but it is not always sufficient. If the vessel gets jammed or a cyberattack takes place, you might need to roll back quickly to a state as it was an hour or a day ago.
Onboard replication of data and the ability to roll back to a prior state are costly and, in many cases, impossible without shore-based support or retrieving complete backups from a shore-based data store. Some processes can wait; others cannot. The need for instant local rollback is a requirement for smart ships.
Performance Optimization and TCO
Managing the total cost of ownership/operation is fundamental to any successful shipowner or operator. There are tens, if not hundreds, of situations you can think of that impact your TCO. To name a few:
- Regulations, like the new CO2 emission rules, might require higher investments
- Course deviation resulting in higher fuel consumption
- Low crew morale might result in higher sickness levels
- Maintenance and repair timing and execution
- Hull fatigue conditions
- Procurement conditions
- Cyberattacks: this alone might cost millions
Why Cloud Computing Isn’t Always Right for Maritime IT
While cloud computing offers numerous benefits to many industries, the maritime sector faces unique challenges that limit the cloud’s effectiveness for critical operations at sea.
Cloud computing changed our idea of digital agility. Companies augmented or replaced traditional data centers with cloud environments. In turn, they enjoyed better access to the right amount of compute resources when needed, while saving time and money. The benefits were huge, and a cloud-fixes-all mentality quickly emerged.
Cloud computing significantly accelerated the ability to support digital business, providing better availability and scalability without the burden of managing IT infrastructure. But...not all applications can or should run in the cloud - especially in the maritime industry.
Key Reasons Cloud Falls Short for Maritime IT
Internet connectivity cannot always be guaranteed. Disruptions to communications might occur for any number of reasons.
Transporting data increases risk. The risk is much higher versus on-premises edge computing, where you can simply disconnect. That means less data at risk. According to Cyble’s Top Cloud Security Challenges In 2025 & Insights For 2026, 83% of companies reported experiencing a cloud security breach within the last 18 months, with 80% encountering such breaches in the past year alone. Notably, nearly half (45%) of organizations suffered at least four cloud-related security incidents over the last 12 months.
Legacy applications and systems are based on outdated technologies, but are critical to day-to-day operations and may not make sense to put in the cloud.
Innovation requires speed. Low latency is not an option for many applications. Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and smart IoT make inroads, demanding local compute power at the edge.
Complying with data security and privacy regulations is both a serious and non-trivial task. The more data collected and processed on-site, the simpler maintaining compliance becomes. The risk of interception and regulatory non-compliance increases every time data is moved. By definition, the cloud is a fuzzy place, making it difficult to know exactly where data is and where it has been.
The Role of Edge Computing in Maritime Digital Transformation
Edge computing is a cornerstone in the digital evolution of maritime operations. As ships increasingly adopt smart technologies, from IoT-enabled engines to AI-driven navigation systems, the need for real-time, onboard data processing becomes critical. Edge platforms deliver that capability by bringing compute resources directly to the vessel, enabling faster decision-making and local data handling.
Key trends—IoT adoption for fuel and cargo monitoring, real-time analytics to optimize route efficiency, and AI at the edge for predictive maintenance—are reshaping how fleets operate. Edge computing supports this shift by powering smart ship initiatives and facilitating compliance with global regulations. It ensures that data is processed where it’s generated, reducing latency and dependency on satellite links, while also keeping sensitive information secure and under local control.
By supporting digital transformation goals, edge platforms help maritime organizations improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance with environmental mandates, and prepare for a future of increasingly autonomous fleets.
Key Edge Computing Requirements for Maritime IT
Edge computing places critical computing power directly on ships, enabling real-time data processing and eliminating reliance on unstable cloud connections. This approach is essential for managing IoT systems, ensuring voyage safety, and improving operational efficiency at sea.
Traditional local servers weren’t built for the harsh and dynamic conditions of maritime environments. However, modern edge infrastructure extends the benefits of the cloud—like scalability and flexibility, while operating on-premises aboard vessels.
Today, distributed infrastructure is a critical enabler of innovation and immersive experiences. However, this proliferation of computing at the edge of the network threatens the cloud-enabled digital agility we expect. The threat is not on-premises computing but how it’s been done.
Most of the infrastructure used for local computing was never designed for the unique needs of edge computing. Done right, edge computing infrastructure extends the best elements of the cloud and the data center to on-premises local computing.
By placing compute services at the edge, organizations can implement strategies for content caching, IoT management, improving response time, and faster data transfer rates. This also represents capabilities that can’t be matched by cloud technologies while delivering those capabilities at a very competitive price point. Furthermore, there are no concerns about vendor lock-in or trouble moving or reclaiming future data.
Challenges with Traditional On-Premises Systems
Conventional on-premises systems weren’t built for the rigors of maritime conditions—tight quarters, inconsistent power, and limited technical staff make them difficult to manage and maintain. Tasks like troubleshooting or performing updates become even more challenging when connectivity is unreliable or unavailable.
Edge-focused infrastructure turns this challenge into an opportunity. Hyperconverged platforms enable ships to operate autonomously, delivering local compute power, content caching, and IoT oversight—even while offline. Thanks to open architecture and freedom from vendor lock-in, maritime organizations gain the resilience and flexibility they need to operate smoothly at sea.
Benefits of Edge Computing for Maritime IT
Edge computing unlocks new capabilities for maritime IT, empowering vessels to operate efficiently and securely, even far from shore.
Improved Response Times for Critical Applications
With compute power located directly on board, applications such as navigation systems, real-time monitoring, and safety controls can operate without latency introduced by remote data centers. This ensures swift, uninterrupted performance during critical operations.
Secure, Local Control Over IoT Devices
Edge infrastructure enables ships to manage a growing number of onboard IoT devices—such as sensors, security cameras, and engine monitoring systems—without depending on constant external access. Local processing also enhances data privacy and control.
No Dependency on Constant Internet Connectivity
Maritime operations often contend with limited or unreliable satellite connections. Edge systems continue to function autonomously, delivering essential services and managing data locally, then syncing with the cloud only when a stable connection becomes available.
Avoids Vendor Lock-in and Simplifies Data Compliance
Edge platforms like SC//Platform are designed with open architectures, supporting interoperability with various software and tools. This helps maritime organizations avoid restrictive contracts and more easily meet data sovereignty and regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions.
Building a Future-Ready Edge Infrastructure for Shipping
Maritime operations demand IT systems that can adapt to diverse workloads, from lightweight IoT monitoring to resource-intensive navigation systems. Modern edge infrastructure must be both scalable and cost-efficient, allowing shipowners to deploy right-sized solutions across their fleets without incurring excessive overhead.
Edge Flexibility for Varying Workloads
Not every vessel requires the same compute footprint. A cargo ship running complex logistics and routing applications will demand more processing power than a tanker running basic telemetry and IoT systems. Right-sizing infrastructure for the workload avoids over-provisioning, which drives up both costs and complexity, especially when replicated across a global fleet.
Scalable Edge Infrastructure
Edge platforms should bring data center-grade capabilities to sea, without the bulk or overhead. From IoT device coordination to AI-assisted decision-making, edge deployments must be powerful yet efficient. For instance, a container ship might leverage edge computing for real-time environmental monitoring, while a smaller passenger ferry may only require local processing for operational alerts. Open, scalable systems like SC//Platform allow maritime organizations to mix and match capabilities based on each vessel’s specific needs, reducing waste and supporting future growth.
Hybrid IT Environments at Sea: Edge, Cloud, and Legacy Integration
Ships operate in unique and often challenging IT environments, where balancing real-time edge performance, intermittent cloud access, and legacy system support is essential. Scale Computing's SC//Platform™ is purpose-built to meet these demands, delivering a unified infrastructure that simplifies operations while increasing resilience.
By combining virtualization, storage, and compute in a single solution, SC//Platform allows vessels to run both modern containerized applications and traditional virtual machines—even in remote or disconnected conditions. When connectivity is available, workloads can shift to the cloud for processing or data syncs, then return to the edge seamlessly. Legacy systems remain supported through SC//Platform’s flexible architecture, enabling gradual modernization without disrupting ongoing operations.
With automated snapshots, replication, and centralized fleet management, IT teams maintain control and visibility across all environments—onboard, in the cloud, and across the fleet—ensuring consistent performance and uninterrupted operations at sea.
How Scale Computing Platform Powers Maritime Edge Infrastructure
SC//Platform is the basis for a complete “data center in a box” with servers, storage, and virtualization integrated into a single appliance to deliver simplicity, availability, and scalability to make IT infrastructure easier for maritime organizations. The integrated hypervisor offers proven technology that guarantees easy migration from any physical or virtual environment. Virtualizing applications reduces application deployment costs, management time, and capabilities.
Manageability
The centralized management platform provides an easy-to-use interface to manage and monitor distributed deployments from a single location. From initial deployment and routine system maintenance to capacity expansion and hardware replacement, administrative tasks are easily automated and remotely executed. Combining centralized management with cloud automation allows infrastructure and applications to achieve and maintain the desired state throughout the entire life of the environment.
Scalability
SC//Platform is incredibly simple to scale out. Nodes can be mixed and matched, allowing scale-out focused on the increasing RAM, CPU, or storage. New nodes can be added seamlessly into a running cluster without disrupting running VMs. New resources become immediately available, including storage, which is automatically added to the cluster-wide storage pool.
Rapid, Easy Deployment.
The centralized management portal provides automated, error-free provisioning and configuration of new infrastructure, eliminating the need for skilled IT staff on board ships, and ensuring real-time performance and resilience even during extended sea voyages. To deploy or replace infrastructure, simply ship equipment to the destination and leave the keyboard behind—no on-site configuration will be required. Zero-Touch Provisioning cuts deployment time by up to 90%, enabling faster rollout of maritime IT systems. Just have someone plug it in and connect it to the network. The management portal will take over from there.
Right-Size Configurations
Plan the perfect future by not predicting it. Capacity, performance requirements, and hardware specs will forever change. Legacy applications will remain mission-critical, while modern applications will require new architectures. Simply mix and match the old and the new on the same infrastructure for a future-proof environment.
Cloud-init Customization
SC//HyperCore™ virtualization suite includes cloud-init customization via REST-APIs to enable infrastructure-as-code so developers and administrators can automate otherwise very manual processes. With this you can:
- Mass provision customized VMs
- Save time automating manual steps in site and application setup
- Manage application updates
- Reduce human error from manual setup
- Ensure deployment consistency across sites
- Enable consistent change control and more reliable updates through standardization
Self-Healing Automation
Self-healing intelligence automatically takes corrective action when error conditions are detected, without manual intervention, ensuring applications are always available and no data is lost.
Reduced Management Costs
SC//Platform reduces costs by reducing downtime and operational management costs dramatically. Both planned and unplanned downtime are nearly eliminated with built-in redundancy, high availability, disaster recovery and backup. Management is reduced from days or hours a week to just minutes with a combination of automation and simplicity by design.
Improved Performance
Eliminate inefficiencies common in virtualization, such as virtual storage appliances (VSAs) or multiple storage protocols like NFS and iSCSI, which are not required in SC//Platform. The built-in storage architecture with cluster-wide striping and automated hybrid-flash tiering gives SC//Platform improved performance over traditional infrastructure.
Unique Architecture
Right-sized, edge-ready infrastructure combines compute, storage, virtualization, and disaster recovery into a single solution with a smaller attack surface. The unique architecture and tight integration of system components allow the infrastructure to monitor itself. A standard three-node cluster provides built-in redundancy and fault tolerance at a lower price than fully-redundant, over-provisioned, duplicate systems and uses a fraction of the resources of alternatives. Get far more computing power and run more applications with a single platform.
High Availability
Failover, redundancy, and resiliency are fundamentally designed into every aspect of the solution, creating the most highly available infrastructure solution possible.
Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)
The ZTP feature of Scale Computing Fleet Manager provides cloud-like simplicity for administrators, allowing them to centrally configure clusters prior to nodes arriving on-premises, decreasing the time of installation by 90% or more.
Modernizing Maritime IT with Low-Code Platforms and Containers
As maritime operations evolve, low-code development and containerization are becoming essential tools for enhancing application efficiency and IT agility at sea. Scale Computing’s SC//Platform supports both containers and Kubernetes, allowing shipowners to modernize their IT environments without sacrificing legacy application support.
- Containers: Containers ensure consistent application performance across environments—from shore-based development labs to edge-based SC//Platform clusters aboard ships. By bundling applications with all dependencies, containers minimize compatibility issues, enabling faster deployments and easier updates.
- Kubernetes: As containerized applications grow in complexity, Kubernetes orchestration becomes vital. Kubernetes automates container management, providing scalability, load balancing, and self-healing capabilities, even in resource-constrained maritime environments.
SC//Platform seamlessly runs containerized workloads alongside legacy VMs, offering a hybrid approach to maritime IT modernization.
Case Study: Real-World Deployment of SC//Platform in Maritime Operations
Northern Marine, a subsidiary of Stena AB, faced challenges with outdated onboard IT systems that were difficult to manage and prone to downtime. To modernize their fleet's IT infrastructure, they turned to Scale Computing's SC//Platform.
By implementing SC//Platform across over 80 vessels, Northern Marine achieved significant improvements:
- Rapid Deployment: Transitioning from the HE500 to the compact HE100 series made installations more straightforward, enhancing simplicity and efficiency.
- Enhanced Resilience: Rebuilding systems after incidents, such as cyber-attacks, has become markedly faster, reducing stress for both onboard crews and shore-based support teams.
- Operational Efficiency: Despite a higher initial acquisition cost, the overall expenses, including license savings and reduced deployment time, were only slightly higher than previous single-server solutions.
This deployment highlights SC//Platform's ability to deliver robust, scalable, and efficient IT solutions tailored to the unique challenges of the maritime industry.
Conclusion
In the complex and unpredictable maritime environment, modern IT infrastructure must be resilient, scalable, and easily managed remotely. SC//Platform empowers maritime organizations to deploy true edge data centers aboard ships, combining high availability, automated management, and cost-efficiency.
With Scale Computing’s hyperconverged platform, fleets can adapt to changing IT demands, support both legacy and modern applications, and ensure continuous operations at sea, regardless of climate or connectivity challenges.
Ready to modernize your fleet’s IT infrastructure? Discover how SC//Platform can deliver a future-ready edge solution tailored for maritime needs.