What is an Integrated Automation System (IAS) on a vessel?

Why a vessel needs an IAS

A modern vessel carries equipment from many suppliers, for example engines, generators, batteries, thrusters, pumps, valves and cranes, each typically with its own local controls. But nothing on board happens in isolation. A crane lifting over the side makes the vessel heel, and a large thruster starting up puts a sudden load on the generators.

Without an integrated system, the crew has to tie it all together themselves. The IAS does that job, and gives the crew one consistent picture on the bridge and in the engine control room. For this to work, systems from different suppliers must be able to exchange data in a secure and meaningful way, and the suppliers must be willing to cooperate.

How an IAS works

An IAS follows a simple principle: signals in, decisions, commands out.

Signals in: Like nerve endings, sensors measure values such as temperature, pressure, tank level, speed and power. The IO system (input/output) converts these into data the system can use, and also communicates with other equipment, for example engine control systems.

Decisions: Controllers run the control logic, such as interlocks (a pump that cannot start unless its suction valve is open), start and stop sequences, and alarm limits.

Commands out: The controllers send commands to equipment such as pumps, valves, breakers and motors.

The crew follows and operates everything from the operator stations, for example through system mimics (live graphical views of each system), alarm lists and trends.

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What an IAS does in practice

Keeping the engines running: Before a main engine starts, the IAS can make sure it has lubrication oil and cooling water by starting the right pumps and setting the right valves. While the engine runs, the IAS follows values such as oil pressure and engine temperature, adjusts the cooling accordingly, and lets a standby pump take over if the running pump fails. In the same way, the IAS can keep the fuel service tanks topped up from the storage tanks, so the engines always have fuel.

Keeping the bilges dry: The IAS monitors the water level in the bilge wells and can raise alarms at different levels as the situation develops. In some cases, the level alarms can also start bilge pumps and open or close valves automatically.

Making equipment work towards a common goal: Many functions depend on several pieces of equipment working together. An automatic function can, for example, keep the vessel at a given heel, draft or trim. When a crane lifts a heavy load over the side, or cargo and fuel are loaded or consumed, the IAS reads the heel angle, draft and tank levels, and uses several ballast pumps and valves together to move water between tanks until the vessel is back at the set values. If a valve does not confirm that it has opened, the pump is not started, and the crew is alerted. Much like the body coordinates several muscles to perform one movement, the IAS lets separate equipment act as one.

Working with other onboard systems: The IAS is also often connected to systems such as fresh water production, ballast water treatment, HVAC and the fire alarm system. 

IAS vs AMS: what is the difference?

An Alarm and Monitoring System (AMS) monitors the vessel and alerts the crew, but it does not control any equipment. An IAS includes everything an AMS does and adds control and automation. Put simply, the AMS tells you what is happening. The IAS can also do something about it.

Take a ballast tank that is being filled. With an AMS, the crew sees the level on screen and gets a high-level alarm when the tank is nearly full, and someone goes to a local panel to stop the pump and close the valve. With an IAS, the operator starts and stops the pump from the same screen that shows the level, and the system can stop it automatically at the set level or refuse to start it if a valve is closed.

Controlling equipment comes with higher requirements than monitoring it. When an IAS controls safety-critical systems, class rules require that a single failure can only affect a limited part of the vessel. An IAS is therefore usually divided into segments with their own controllers and IO, connected through two separate networks. An AMS can often be built simpler and less expensive, but it is not suited for controlling critical equipment.

Which one a vessel needs depends on factors such as how much should be operated from the bridge or engine control room, how complex the operations are and what class requires. With X‑CONNECT®, the choice does not have to be final. A vessel can start with an AMS and grow into an IAS later, by adding control functions in the configuration and extending the hardware where needed, without replacing the system.

How the X‑CONNECT® IAS is built for the ship owner

Two automation systems can look the same on a datasheet and still behave very differently over 20 to 30 years at sea. For a ship owner, much of the cost of automation comes after delivery, and the X‑CONNECT® IAS is built with that in mind.

Built to work with other suppliers: X‑CONNECT® integrates with equipment and systems from other suppliers over standard interfaces, so the vessel is not tied to one supplier’s ecosystem to get everything to work together.

Configured, not programmed: Much vessel automation is still engineered to order, with control software written or heavily adapted for each vessel, so later changes depend on the people who wrote it. X‑CONNECT® is configure to order. The vessel is still unique, but the building blocks are not. Standard, tested components such as pumps, valves, tanks and generators are configured in X‑CONNECT® Studio instead of being programmed, and the whole system is described in one configuration file. Sister vessels get identical systems, and later changes are made in the configuration rather than in someone’s code.

Distributed, not central: The work is spread across independent controllers that share data through DDS, an open industry standard, so there is no central unit that everything depends on. If one controller fails, the rest of the vessel continues to operate.

Hardware you can get hold of: Controllers and operator stations run on off-the-shelf, marine type-approved hardware that is available worldwide.

Software that keeps moving: X‑CONNECT® is in continuous development, with upgrade options and backward compatibility, so vessels already in operation can benefit from new functions. X‑CONNECT® is delivered and supported through a global network of partners.

What the X‑CONNECT® IAS gives the ship owner

Safety: Built-in interlocks and fewer manual steps reduce the risk of wrong operation, and playback of alarms, events and operator actions helps explain what happened after an incident. The X‑CONNECT® IAS holds DNV type approval for Cyber Security Essential (SP1), in line with IACS UR E26 and E27.

Operational reliability: Segmentation keeps a single failure contained, the system monitors itself and tells the crew where a fault is, and with spare parts on board the crew can often restore operation without waiting for a service engineer.

Savings: Remote diagnostics and over-the-air software updates reduce the need for service visits on board, and because the system is configured rather than programmed, later changes take less time and cost less.

Modernity: New functions and security updates can be installed through software updates, so the vessel is not stuck with the technology it had on delivery day.

What it gives the system integrator

One engineer can configure a complete system in one tool, without writing code, and reuse configurations and customised components on the next project. Tested building blocks mean less new code to debug on site and a more predictable commissioning. Alarm lists, signal lists and the bill of materials, as well as the product lifecycle management (PLM) register, are generated from the configuration, and much of the cyber security assessment is already covered by the DNV type approval.

In short

An AMS watches and warns. An IAS also acts, and makes a vessel's systems work as one. How it is built decides how safe, reliable and costly it will be over the vessel's lifetime, and whether it can be kept up to date for as long as the vessel is in operation.