A review of Kora-Kora, an application which can give color cues to identify the stability of sailing fishing vessels

ITS Campus, ITS News – By developing a fishing vessel with stability monitoring application, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) wins the RINA-LR Maritime Safety Award 2023. ITS becomes the first university in Indonesia to win this prestigious award in the field of maritime safety.

The RINA-LR is basically an annual award from The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), the world’s largest maritime professional association in London and they are in collaboration with Lloyd’s Register Marine and Shipping. The main aspects assessed in this award are ideas and benefits of the innovations.

A research team member from ITS, Prof. I Ketut Aria Pria Utama MSc PhD, said that the application was a collaborative research conducted by ITS with University College London (UCL) and Pattimur (Unpatti). In the future, Kora-Kora can be used by fishermen to identify the stability of sailing fishing vessels.

(from left) Prof I Ketut Aria Pria Utama MSc PhD and Dony Setyawan ST MEng are the members of ITS Research Team in developing ship stability and safety applications, Kora-Kora

The Professor of Marine Engineering ITS continued that this innovation created because Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest rate of ship accidents in the world. “This problem is also caused by the lack of knowledge and safety training at sea obtained by fishermen,” he said.

Therefore, Kora-Kora is designed to be used in a practical, easy, and accessible way. Using a cellphone’s accelerometer and gyroscope sensors, Kora-Kora can automatically read the ship’s movements and give signals about the ship’s condition using color. “The application will give a green signal if the ship is considered as safe. If it is in danger, the signal will be changed into red,” he explained.

An assessment of Kora-Kora application with fishermen in Ambon last October 2022

Furthermore, IKAP explained that the collaborative research funded by the Newton Fund had been successfully tested with fishermen in Ambon last October 2022. The use of this application is very practical. We need to install the app and have a fully charged battery to use as a ship stability device. “Equally important, fishermen don’t need an internet connection at all,” he added.

Being the only winner of RINA-LR Maritime Safety Award this year, Kora-Kora will continue to improve its features in the future so that it can be used on various types of ships by multiple groups. “We also expect that the development of this application will also be supported and monitored by the relevant ministries and agencies,” IKAP said.

Kora-Kora application was assessed with fishermen in Ambon last October 2022

The RINA-LR Maritime Safety Award will be given at the Annual Dinner, which will take place on April 27 in London, United Kingdom (UK). Together with other members of ITS research team, Dony Setyawan ST MEng, IAP said that they were grateful for the trust given by UCL colleagues, especially Prof. Giles Thomas who is the head of the research team. (ITS PR)

Reporter: Fathia Rahmanisa

Translator : Hanifah Inayah