How does Carnival track its cruise ships? New high-tech centre relies on big data

From left, William Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corp.; Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line president; and Micky Arison, Carnival Corp. chairman, visit Carnival's new fleet operations center at the company's Miami headquarters. Featuring a 74-foot-long video wall composed of 57 LED screens, the 35,000-square-foot facility is custom-designed for hands-on, around-the-clock monitoring and support of the line's 26 cruise ships. (Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Line)

When Hurricane Irma struck last September, 16 of Carnival's cruise ships were sailing the Caribbean. The Carnival team scrambled to reroute ships, rebook passengers embarking or debarking, and set up new port calls out of harm's way. 

Next time a storm threatens, the task will be easier, thanks to a new, state-of-the-art fleet operations centre that tracks weather, ship location, engine performance, fuel supplies, safety systems and dozens of other data points from all 26 ships in the Carnival fleet, plus outside sources such as the US Coast Guard and the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.