One of the major growths in the Indian maritime technology was made official with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and Neptunus Power Plant Services Pvt. Ltd. The deal, which was sealed at Maritime India Week 2025 and was presided by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, forms a strategic partnership that would mainstream data-driven maintenance and digital diagnostics across the shipping sector of India. This collaboration will be the first step to a new era of Maritime innovation, fully powered by Indian R&D and Indian manufacturing, and it is a powerful ally to the Make in India program.

Official recognition and certification

Under this partnership, as a historic first, the IRS gave Type Approval Certification to Neptunus in two of its most successful products: VIB 360, the Engine Condition Monitoring System, and Torque Sense SHAPOLI. This is a significant milestone of India expressed through this official recognition, which has been formalized at Maritime India Week 2025. It means that the country is able not only to develop but also certify its own engine condition-monitoring systems, specially designed to power marine diesel engines.

The certification will give Indian ship owners an instant boost in implementing data-driven and cost-effective maintenance procedures. The technology, VIB 360, which was constructed in Mumbai, has been estimated to revolutionise the maintenance standards in the world by essentially removing unexpected downtime, improving reliability in operations, and lowering maintenance costs by as much as 30% based on experience.

The MD & CEO at Neptunus Power Plant Services Pvt. Ltd, Mr. Uday Purohit, said, “This MoU with the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) reinforces our belief that Indian engineering can shape the global maritime future. We thank IRS for its vision and trust in Indian innovation. This Type Approval is more than a certification; it validates India’s capability to design and deliver data-led maritime technologies that meet global standards. Together, we are paving the way for Indian-built systems to enhance safety, efficiency, and operational reliability across the world’s shipping fleets.”

Quotation Source: Business Standard 

Vision and global significance

It is also a worldwide milestone, being the first time in history that the world has seen a classification society endorse an entirely indigenous engine health monitoring solution. The IRS has certified the technologies, and in its award of the Type Approval Certification to Neptunus regarding its VIB 360 and Torque Sense, SHAPOLI has been authenticated as the technologies are indigenous to the marine diesel engines and systems.

The certification indicates the ability of India to provide world-compliant and export-ready maritime solutions that are fully manufactured in the country. Historically, ships were maintained in regular OEM intervals, which were usually conservative and expensive. Fleets can switch to Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) with the introduction of VIB 360. This transition to a data-driven to time-based maintenance is an essential move in the Digital Maritime Vision of India, which could result in greater operational reliability, decreased downtimes, and a higher fuel efficiency rate, which, in turn, would decrease the rate of emissions.

By the terms of the MoU, IRS and Neptunus will come up with joint frameworks and standards with regard to Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM). This collaboration aims at helping the maritime industry move from the old, time-based maintenance programs to the modern, real-time, data-driven maintenance processes.

The overall goal of the partnership is multifold: to make the work more reliable, to decrease maintenance expenses considerably, and to contribute greatly to the Green Shipping and Digital Maritime Vision of India. The collaboration between the IRS and its vast experience in regulatory and certification, and the innovative technological capabilities of Neptunus is laying the foundation of the world-first transformation in how ships are maintained, shifting back towards preventive schedules to data-driven CBM.

The Director & COO, Mr. Akshay Purohit, said, “This MoU is a step toward making condition-based maintenance a mainstream reality in India’s maritime sector. By combining local innovation with data-driven insights, we are creating a framework that can reduce downtime, improve fuel efficiency, and extend asset life. Together with IRS, we aim to redefine how the shipping industry manages its engines; with systems built and certified in India.”

Quotation Source: Business Standard 

Conclusion

The collaboration between the Indian Register of Shipping and Neptunus Power Plant Services Pvt. Ltd. is a significant breakthrough in the Make in India initiative in the maritime industry. The VIB 360 and Torque Sense SHAPOLI Type Approval Certification is a world-first in indigenous CBM technology, which places India at the centre of data-driven, cost-efficient, and sustainable maritime operations. This achievement confirms the excellence and ability of India in engineering and the ability to produce globally acceptable and exportable technologies all on-site.