Operational Vessel Data Challenge
An open modelling challenge benchmarking predictive vessel-performance models on a shared, curated dataset — to enable verifiable energy-efficiency gains in real operations.
Presented and sponsored by DNV · In collaboration with data partner Miros · Hosted by the DeWaTra COST Action
25 May 2026
Challenge opened
September 2026
Data available
31 Aug 2027
Submission deadline
Q4 2027
Winners announced
Why this challenge
Energy efficiency is shipping’s biggest near-term decarbonization lever
Maritime decarbonization cannot be achieved by clean fuels alone nor by efficiency measures alone. In the near to medium term the availability of cleaner fuels is expected to be limited, making energy efficiency the primary contributor to emission reductions — studies indicate gains of up to 16% through improved monitoring, optimization and decision support.
Achieving this at scale requires a trusted, standardized ability to measure, model and verify vessel performance under real operational and environmental conditions.
Problem 01
Trust gap
The industry lacks trusted, independently verified evidence of real savings — uptake of efficiency measures is slowed by low trust in savings claims.
Problem 02
Fragmented modelling
Different fleets use different sensor sets, preprocessing rules and modelling assumptions — results are not comparable and decision support is hard to scale.
The goal
Develop models that…
1 · Reproduce vessel performance
Model speed–power behaviour from operational + metocean data, separating environmental effects, technical condition and the contribution of technical measures.
2 · Demonstrate predictive capability
Show forecasting and generalization capability for future vessel behaviour beyond the training envelope.
The broader intent: compare modelling methodologies — physics-guided, purely data-driven and hybrid — on a common dataset, and identify key requirements for robustness and transparency in real-world performance verification.
The dataset
Several months of time-synchronized vessel data
Participants receive operational signals, environmental information and a limited set of anonymized vessel metadata (vessel type/segment and selected principal particulars).
- Timestamp
- Shaft power
- Shaft speed (rpm)
- Speed through water
- Speed over ground
- Draft fore/aft & displacement
- Vessel heading
- Significant wave height
- Wave peak period & direction
- Wave directional spectrum
- Swell & wind-sea periods/heights
- True & relative wind
- Current direction/speed
- Sea surface temperature
- Salinity
- Depth
Access control & anonymization
The dataset is shared in anonymized form for competition purposes. Distribution is controlled via registration, leading to data access on the DNV Veracity platform (free account required). Participants may not republish raw or derived data that could enable re-identification — raw or aggregated data must not be shared outside the project team. Authors are free to publish their solutions after the challenge deadline.
Timeline
From registration to award
25 May 2026
Challenge opening — registration via the form on this page
From September 2026
Registered teams receive the link to access the data on Veracity
A free Veracity account is required
October 2026 & February 2027
Online Q&A sessions with the organizers
Exact dates will be announced on this page
31 August 2027
Submission deadline — methodology, results, conceptual model, code (optional)
Submission link and results template will be published on this page
Q4 2027
Review and announcement of the winners
2028
Winning team spends one week at DNV headquarters in Norway
Evaluation criteria
How solutions are assessed
Quality of modelling
- Predictive performance & generalization
- Robustness to transients
- Uncertainty awareness
- Sensitivity & interpretability
Originality of the approach
- Adapting or improving existing (published) models
- Use of physics and AI approaches
- Data-driven, physics-guided or hybrid strategies welcome
Clarity of the solution
- Method description & results
- Documentation of environmental factors, technical condition & data uncertainty
- Template for results will be provided
Award
What the winning team gets
One week at DNV headquarters, Norway
- Meet the Maritime Research department
- Meet Maritime Business Development & Innovation
- Meet Maritime Advisory
- Meet a key player in maritime sensors
- Travel, hotel and meals provided
Career & deployment pathways
- Shortlisted as candidates for future research and trainee positions
- Transfer the winning approach into a more generalizable framework
- Explore pathways for real-world deployment
Following the challenge, submitted solutions will be analysed collectively to extract methodological insights, with the intention to synthesize the results in a joint publication covering performance, strengths and limitations of the different approaches.
How to participate
Four steps to join
Participation is open to industrial and academic contributors affiliated with DeWaTra. New participants are invited to join via free registration on the COST Action webpage.
03
Access the data
Receive the link to the dataset on Veracity — a free account is required.
04
Attend the Q&A
Join the Q&A seminars in September 2026 and January 2027.
Q&A sessions — October 2026 & February 2027
Two online question & answer sessions with the organizers. The exact dates will be announced on this page — registered teams will be notified by e-mail.
Submissions
Results template
The template for submitting your results will be published here
Submissions shall include a method description and results; code may be provided optionally. Check back or register to be notified.
Resources & links
Documents and partners
Challenge presentation (PDF)
As presented at the DeWaTra conference
Registration form
Microsoft Forms — one e-mail per team
DeWaTra COST registration
Join the COST Action CA23159 for free
DNV Group R&D Maritime
Challenge organizer and sponsor
Miros — vessel performance
Data partner
Contact
Questions about the challenge?
Contact person: Ícaro Aragao Fonseca — Group Research and Development, Maritime Programme, DNV.
Challenge authors: Oleksii Ivashenko & Ícaro Aragao Fonseca (DNV) · Gunnar Prytz & Michael H. Schmidt (Miros).