Navigating the Tides – Overcoming Global Challenges in International Maritime Shipping with ZEDEDA

In this presentation, ZEDEDA’s Consulting Solutions Architect, Jason Grimm, discusses how ZEDEDA’s edge platform is helping a global shipping company overcome significant challenges in monitoring and maintaining the integrity of refrigerated containers during long sea voyages. The shipping company operates over 600 vessels, transporting millions of containers, including up to a million refrigerated units carrying fresh and frozen goods. These containers must be kept at precise temperatures to avoid spoilage, which poses a $21 billion risk to the company. However, the lack of reliable connectivity on ships, which often rely on outdated radio networks, makes it difficult to monitor the containers in real-time, leading to potential spoilage and revenue loss.

ZEDEDA’s solution involves modernizing the shipping company’s communication infrastructure by upgrading from 2G to 4G and integrating Starlink satellite connectivity. This allows for real-time monitoring of IoT sensor data from the refrigerated containers, enabling the company to detect temperature fluctuations and take immediate action to prevent spoilage. ZEDEDA’s platform also ensures the security of the edge devices on the ships, preventing unauthorized access and tampering. By implementing a cloud-like operating model at the edge, ZEDEDA enables the shipping company to manage its fleet more efficiently, even without local IT staff on board, and to push updates and fixes remotely.

The presentation also highlights ZEDEDA’s broader capabilities, including the use of SD-WAN to manage communications between ships and shore, as well as the ability to orchestrate and automate various edge devices and applications. ZEDEDA’s platform not only reduces the risk of spoilage but also opens up opportunities for further improvements in operational safety and efficiency. The company plans to expand its solution to chartered vessels, offering a portable kit that can be deployed on leased ships. ZEDEDA’s edge platform is designed to be flexible and scalable, allowing customers to experiment with it using virtualized environments or inexpensive hardware like Raspberry Pi.