This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the Sea & River Transport market. This Application Group comprises Cargo Vessel Management, Fishing Vessels, and Public Transport Services – Ship.
IoT solutions have a variety of applications in the shipping industry to improve vessel efficiency and operational resilience. They can help monitor and optimise the fuel usage of ships and engine performance, and ensure a more sustainable journey by reducing carbon emissions. IoT is also being used for predictive maintenance to detect any kind of maintenance and repair needs, well in advance of a potential malfunction. Predictive maintenance using IoT plays an important role in reducing emissions, reducing breakdowns, and improving vessel reliability. In parallel, the growing use of satellite, cellular, and multi-network connectivity allows vessels to transmit operational data to shore based platforms for real-time monitoring, analytics, and fleet management, extending IoT applications to vessels operating beyond terrestrial network coverage.
While commercial shipping prioritises efficiency, cargo visibility, and predictive maintenance, fishing vessels focus on tracking, safety, and fisheries management, ferries and cruise vessels increasingly require reliable passenger and operational connectivity, and recreational boats are seeing growing adoption of aftermarket solutions for security, tracking, and remote monitoring.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used and revenue. A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector breakdowns and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
This section first examines the growing importance of internet connectivity and IoT solutions in the shipping industry, highlighting their role in supporting onboard applications, improving operational efficiency and reducing energy consumption. It then explores the increasing pressure on the international shipping industry to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and how IoT can support here. It then examines the role of IoT-enabled predictive maintenance in improving vessel performance and preventing equipment failures. The section also explores the relationship between hull and propeller condition, fuel consumption and emissions, highlighting how marine fouling and performance degradation can increase energy requirements.
Finally, the section explores the growing importance of non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in supporting maritime connectivity. It discusses how satellite connectivity can enable vessel monitoring, navigation-related data transmission, crew communications, and onboard IoT applications in offshore environments. It also examines the potential of hybrid terrestrial and satellite connectivity solutions, which allow vessels and connected equipment to use cellular networks where available and satellite networks when operating further offshore. The report further examines the key factors that are influencing the development of the market, including:
This section of the report begins with some of the benefits of maritime freight in general (like being the most environmental-friendly mode of trade) and then it talks about how IoT solutions can be implemented in maritime freight and the advantages of doing so. For instance, IoT sensors and devices can be strategically deployed in cargo vessels for preventive maintenance or to collect real-time data on various parameters, which enables ship operators to monitor and optimise vessel performance and onboard conditions. This section also lists some illustrative IoT deployments in this application, like Seaspan Corporation deploying an IoT platform to improve efficiency.
This section talks about how IoT solutions are helping commercial vehicles deal with the most pressing challenge they face: increasing their catch while using less fuel. For example, commercial fishing boats now use real-time sensors to track weather, wave height, and water temperature, optimising fishing locations for increased success and reducing catch time and fuel consumption.
It also discusses how IoT-enabled fish finders are increasingly becoming popular and their features, like using sonar to detect fish beneath the water’s surface. It further explains how smart fishing boats can also assist in search and rescue distress signalling. It then discusses the communication technology used by both larger and smaller fishing vessels, and their respective benefits.
It also comments on the size of the fishing fleet of individual countries (like China, Indonesia, Japan) and how their adoption of IoT solutions will look in future. This section also contains some examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like China Unicom Guangdong and Huawei deploying a 5G-enabled digital fishing vessel system in Yangjiang, China.
This section begins with a discussion of various cities around the world encouraging the use of ferry services and the benefits of doing so (like sustainability). It also talks about how IoT is being implemented to promote the usage of water transport and provide passengers and operators with benefits like onboard connectivity, online payments, and real-time updated route maps.
It then discusses how IoT devices are enabling cruise ship operators to monitor and track every aspect of their operations, from engine performance to food and water supplies, and mentions how data and analytics now allow organisations and cruise operators to collect detailed data to better understand customers’ journeys and offer customised solutions.It also discusses some of the challenges for IoT adoption in this application (like data privacy and security) and stresses that cruise ship companies must implement robust security measures to address this issue and ensure that customer data is always protected. This section also mentions some of the relevant IoT deployments in this application, like TUI Cruises deploying multi-orbit connectivity to enable resilient digital operations on Mein Schiff Flow.
This section of the report first defines what recreational vessels are, and then explores their types (including motorboats and yachts). It also adds that recreational boats are increasingly equipped with connected technologies and then lists the numerous benefits of doing so, including improving convenience by enabling remote access to engine status and fuel consumption.
It also charts the factors that can limit the adoption of connected boating solutions. This includes hardware expenses and recurring connectivity fees, which can increase the ownership costs. It also discusses regulatory requirements as another challenge in this space. For instance, certain recreational vessels operating exclusively in US waters may obtain a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) through an approved organisation without a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ship station licence, whereas other vessels and operations may require FCC licensing.
It then charts the market potential across geographies and highlights that the US dominates the market, with 11.8 million registered and 3.6 million non-registered boats in 2024. It also discusses the connectivity technologies used in these devices, including cellular or satellite connectivity. This section also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, including Groupe Beneteau connecting recreational boats through Sentinel’s IoT platform.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the market such as Teltonika Networks, ABB, Siren Marine, ORBCOMM, Eutelsat OneWeb, Inmarsat Maritime (Viasat), Satlink, SES (Intelsat), Boatrax, and Volvo Penta. The report provides profiles of the various vendors including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the number of devices, which will grow from 1.8 million in 2025 to 8.9 million in 2035. Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the sea and river transport application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Sea & River Transport Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 7%.
