The detailed description of the SmartShip architecture is presented below: 

SmartShip develops & delivers a holistic framework for energy efficiency and emissions control incorporating technological advancements, information harvesting, short/mid-term decision support tools and human intellect, thus materializing the next-generation paradigm for the maritime industry. To achieve state-of-the-art deployment, SmartShip is based upon an architectural design comprising concrete components, as shown in Figure 2. The vision of SmartShip is the amalgamation of the ICT and maritime domains in an autonomous management system that will ensure ship’s energy efficiency and emissions management in compliance with environmental regulations, thus enabling the contribution to - and integration of - the maritime domain into a Circular-by-design Economy.

Specifically, the overall framework comprises:

1. the IoT backbone based on existing sensing devices applied in several parts within a vessel, focusing on engines’ operation (P1)
2. the data analytics module that aggregates all this data and analyzes them in real-time (P2)
3. P2 is coordinated by a set of optimization algorithms that focus on energy efficiency, emissions control and fuel consumption taking also into consideration circular economy concepts in terms of engines’ components utilization (P3)
4. the decision support module that provides suggestions both for strategic mid-long-term decisions, connected to incorporated novel energy efficiency and emissions control technologies and for the engines’ components management (P4)
5. and a cloud-based platform that enables the seamless integration of all collaborating systems and tools, offering both advanced visualization tools and transparency (P5) 

These five pillars are supported by the IoT & ICT infrastructure of the vessel.