Various types of iStow interface by ITS lecturers

ITS Campus, ITS News – another flagship product of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) that will be commercialized in the international market. iStow, a stowage planning software made by ITS lecturer Dr. Ing Ir Setyo Nugroho who has succeeded in innovative productive research (RISPRO) fundings will improve the application version to entering the Southeast Asia market.

Rispro itself is a funding program initiated by the Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) and given to the selected group of researchers from various institutions. This time, Yoyok, the familiar greeting from the head of the Department of Marine Transportation Engineering (DTTL) or Seatrans ITS succeed to get Rispro’s funding in the first round of RISPRO’s funding competition 2020.

In that program, Yoyok registered research that focuses on the modernism with the title Downstream of Stowage Planning Software for International Standard Ship to the ASEAN market and Industry 4.0.

The alumnus of TU Berlin explained that the iStow application was created to prevent ship accidents due to errors in the stowage arrangement process on board. These errors caused the stability problems to vessels. “And most ship accidents are caused by the problem of ship stability,” he said.

Dr. Ing Ir Setyo Nugroho, the head of the Department of Marine Transportation Engineering as the originator and creator of iStow, the internationally certified stowage planning application

In this 4.0 industries era, Yoyok added, all things are based on artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, so the use of iStow is precise. “Because it can make the ship loading process more efficient,” he said.

Developed since 2007, iStow had five types of applications. iStow Container for container vessel, iStow Tanker for tanker vessel, and for Ferry that has been made iStow Ferry Ro-Ro application. iStow also provides a heavy equipment loading planning application via Sealine with name iStow LPH. Not only that, iStow has also released a load handling simulator app under the name iStow CHS.

Through Rispro’s funding, Yoyok said that to entering the Southeast Asian market, he and the team will be developing on all types of iStow applications to the second version with a three-dimensional model (3D Model). The iStow team is also working with the German-Norwegian-based classification bureau, DNV-GL, to perform installations and to create Eco-Assistant feature interfaces.

Dr. Ing Ir Setyo Nugroho (left) when simulating iStow on ITS flagship product exhibition in the presence of the Minister of Transportation, then Ignasius Jonan (center) on 2016

The Eco-Assistant features, continued Yoyok, aimed at optimizing the trim (height difference on the front and back of the vessel). “So it can efficiencies the consumption of large ships,” he said. The man who planned to follow the exhibition of maritime technology that will be held in Singapore after iStow development is completed.

The features that complement the application include a load recorder, automatic counters, and a stability checker according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations. “With iStow, data on ships and their content is increasingly transparent and accountable,” said Yoyok.

Another advantage of the software by the Marine Transportation’s Telematics Laboratory is the system that has been integrated with the booking system payload to the yard planning system. Also, iStow automatically provides administrative documents customized for international standards.

iStow interface in Android

Yoyok mentioned that until now, iStow is the only stowage planning application in the country that has been internationally certified. iStow has received certification from the Indonesian Classification Bureau (BKI), ClassNK (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, a Japanese classification bureau), Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), and Registro Italiano Navale (RINA). “We are currently processing certification at Lloyd Register (LR),” he added.

Currently, according to Yoyok, iStow application has been used by several national shipping companies. Among them are PT Meratus Lines, PT Samudera Indonesia, PT Pertamina Shipping, PT Bitumen Marasende, PT Dok & Perkapalan Surabaya (DPS), as well as PT Pelayaran Banyuwangi Sejati. “We are also completing the installation of iStow for PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry,” he added again.

View of iStow LPH When planning the process of loading offshore jacket (top) and loading process offshore jacket owned by PT Medco Energi Internasional (before was Ophir Energy) after planning

Meanwhile, the iStow LPH has been used in several heavy cargo transport projects. Such as the carriage of Holtekamp Bridge from Surabaya to Papua in 2019 and the carriage of the offshore jacket for oil mining purposes. Not only for business purposes, but iStow CHS for cargo handling simulation is also used for education, one of them at the Politeknik Maritim Indonesia (Polimarin) Semarang.

It has been used commercially on a national scale, Yoyok hopes iStow can be more widely used extensively, through international marketing. “Hopefully iStow’s usefulness can be felt by more people,” he said full of hope.(yus/rev/ITS Public Relations)