# Evaluating the Benefits and Costs of Broadband VMS+ IoT Solutions for Fishing Vessel Performance, Diagnostics, and Safety at Sea in New England

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · FISHING PARTNERSHIP HEALTH PLAN · 2020 · $245,193

## Abstract

Project Description (Abstract):
Most industrial commercial fishing vessels in the US and around the world still rely on
outdated, narrowband vessel monitoring systems (VMS), VHF radios, and sometimes
expensive Sat-phones for vessel tracking and emergency communication. They have
very little access to real-time weather reports, wind information, wave heights, or even
the location of surrounding ships. Onboard sensors for ship diagnostics, vessel
performance, and safety are often scattered around the ship, and not integrated or often
available for real-time notification and monitoring. To address these challenges the
Fishing Partnership Support Services (FPSS) will work with Integrated Monitoring (IM)
and the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island (CFCRI) to trial a new type of
vessel monitoring system (VMS+), based on broadband/wireless technology, on a fleet
of twenty mid to large size federally permitted commercial fishing vessels in Rhode
Island.
For this project, we will test and evaluate a core set of these sensors/monitors related to
key areas of vessel safety and performance. These include: a wireless bilge alarm, high
water alarm, temperature sensors, AIS probes, engine thermal camera, and deck
‘smart’ camera for activity recognition (AI) and keeping account of crew. IM will integrate
these sensors and monitors with other sensor information pulled from any standard
NMEA 2000 devices already onboard (e.g. engine, depth sounder, navigation
instruments, etc.), and combine it all into one single online interface (real-time display,
or ‘captains portal’) via open, encrypted APIs directly to/from the vessel.
It is expected that this research will show significant near-term impacts for participating
vessels from the new IoT tools that should improve vessel monitoring and performance;
enhance communication and connectivity; and facilitate remote diagnostics and
improved safety at sea. Longer term impacts will accrue after this type of VMS+ IoT
solution is trialed, evaluated, and information about best use and practices is
disseminated through this project; at which point, we expect the broader industry to
begin adopting these technologies at scale from a variety of vendors who will likely
come into this space. The FPSS and CFCRI will play critical roles in helping to translate
this research into practice through a series of dedicated ‘Technology for Safety’
workshops.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10087344
- **Project number:** 1U01OH012088-01
- **Recipient organization:** FISHING PARTNERSHIP HEALTH PLAN
- **Principal Investigator:** Joshua Wiersma
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $245,193
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10087344

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10087344, Evaluating the Benefits and Costs of Broadband VMS+ IoT Solutions for Fishing Vessel Performance, Diagnostics, and Safety at Sea in New England (1U01OH012088-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10087344. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*