bp agrees fleet-wide vvos contract satcomsc181984.r84.cf1.rackcdn.com/dshipdec12.pdfface for both...

BB P Shipping, one of the world’slargest operators of oil andliquid natural gas (LNG)

tankers, has agreed a three-year dealto install Jeppesen’s Vessel and Voy-age Optimization Solution (VVOS) on52 globally operating BP vessels.

The contract also provides for inte-gration of Jeppesen’s FleetManagershoreside software into BP Shippingoperations. FleetManager will beused to track BP’s owned and char-tered vessels.

VVOS will be used to help BP ves-sels optimise ship routes and enginesettings, while the FleetManager com-ponent will allow BP’s shore side man-agers to monitor vessel performance at

sea, and receive reports on any ves-sel’s current operating environment.

VVOS incorporates hydrodynamicmodelling computations, togetherwith ocean forecasting tools, to recom-mend optimum speed and heading tominimise ship motions and reducedamage to the vessel and cargo.

The system uses a model of theship’s motion, engine and propellercharacteristics to predict the ship’sspeed-over-ground and roll/pitchmotions under forecast wind, waveand ocean current conditions for agiven engine power and propellerRPM.

While underway, VVOS providesongoing monitoring and alarms for

excessive motions and accelerations,including parametric roll.

In addition, Jeppesen’s VesselRouting Services will be available toprovide support from Ship Masterson shore to analyse ship data andrespond with route planning andadvisory services.

“After a thorough tender processand onshore/offshore trials, wedetermined Jeppesen’s quality weath-er data and forecasting models, com-bined with its advanced user inter-face for both vessels and shore staff,made the company’s solutions a goodfit for BP Shipping,” said Dan Read,global voyage operations manager,BP Shipping.

“We are excited to continue work-ing with Jeppesen on this suite ofsolutions for our vessels and shippingoperations.”

The new technology should allowfor routes to be optimised according toparameters such as speed, ETA, fuelconsumption and ship motions (basedon computer models of BP vessels andpredicted impacts due to weather).

In addition, C-MAP electroniccharts are built into both the shoreand vessel based software interface,allowing vessels to perform depthand obstruction checks before accept-ing a route.

IN THIS ISSUE

December 2012

electronics and navigation

continued on page 2

software

satcomsSPECIAL FEATURE: CREW COMMUNICATIONSReaching a decision oncrew internet – BernhardSchulte Shipmanagement – 6Crew and the value of talent –Magsaysay Maritime Corporation – 10Introducing crew internet in threeeasy steps – Wallem Group – 12

MSI to install BASS software package across 50-ship fleet – 20ClassNK and partners to introduceship maintenance software – 22SEEMP survey highlights lack ofawareness of savings potential – 24

BP agrees fleet-wideVVOS contract

Thomas Gunn sold to start-up – 28

Industry stakeholder group publishesECDIS guidance document – 31

Becoming familiar withbridge equipment –Dr Andy Norris – 34

Jeppesen has agreed a deal to supply its vessel optimisation systems to BP Shipping’s fleet of ships – a significant further move by Jeppesen into the voyage management software sector

BP will use the system to optimise operations and reduce fuel consumption on 52 vessels. Photo: BP Plc

(+47) 77 62 19 00 or [email protected]

Eitzen Chemical operates, overall, around 80 chemical tankers. Based in Copenhagen, Capt Søren Krarup-Jensen heads up Marine HR. “Dualog Connection Suite is the corporate platform for communication with our ships. At the same time it provides our crew members with private e-mail accounts without any adminis-tration on our part”, says Captain Krarup-Jensen.

“Dualog provided the combination of fl exibility and control we were looking for – independent of satellite communication systems and airtime vendors”, adds Krarup-Jensen.

“Improved Crew Welfare”Søren G. Krarup-Jensen, General Manager, Crew & Marine HR, Eitzen Chemical

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Digital Ship December 2012 page 2

Vol 13 No 4

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“Over the years, BP Shipping hasdemonstrated a strong commitment toimproved vessel efficiency and reductionof carbon emissions,” said Jeppesen direc-tor of professional services Joel Meltzner.

“We’re honoured that, following an in-depth evaluation of today’s mostadvanced technologies, BP Shippingselected Jeppesen as its optimisation part-ner for these vessels.”

Software growthThis BP deal represents one of the mostsignificant single fleet contracts yet agreedfor the Jeppesen VVOS system, and marksan expanding focus for the Boeing-ownedcompany.

Jeppesen made its big move into mar-itime with its acquisition of Norwegianelectronic chart provider C-MAP in 2006.

While C-MAP did offer some bridgesoftware services, its main business was inthe provision of its own portfolio of pri-vate electronic charts as well as produc-tion and distribution of official ENCs.

This seemed to be a complementary fitwith the fact that, for Jeppesen itself, itsown largest business area was the provi-sion of navigational chart data to the aero-nautical industry.

However, in 2008 Jeppesen made a sig-nificant addition to its marine portfoliowith the purchase of Californian companyOcean Systems, a provider of vessel andvoyage optimisation solutions.

The company also began to more aggres-sively market its voyage optimisation pack-age in 2009 with the introduction of a 45-daytrial and evaluation programme for prospec-tive customers wishing to test VVOS.

This trial offering soon paid dividendswhen it was cited as being instrumental inthe agreement of a new contract withNYKCool AB a few months later, to installVVOS aboard a class of refrigeration carri-ers trading from the Caribbean andCentral America to Northern Europe.

This was followed by another trial withthe US Navy, where the system was eval-uated by Commander, Naval Meteorologyand Oceanography Command – CNMOC– at the US Naval Maritime ForecastCentres in Norfolk, Virginia and PearlHarbor, Hawaii.

The new deal with BP now adds to thislist, offering the most compelling evidenceyet that Jeppesen is no longer an electronicchart-focused company but expanding itsuse of navigational data to make a widermark on the maritime technology sector. DS

www.inmarsat.comwww.singtel.comwww.navarino.gr

Inmarsat has signed SingaporeTelecommunications Limited (SingTel) andNavarino as the latest Value AddedResellers (VAR) for the maritime marketfor its Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band service.

SingTel has been installed as the firsttelco in Asia to have been appointed as areseller for GX, which is scheduled toenter service in 2014.

“By harnessing our telco and ICT capa-bilities in combination with GlobalXpress,we are now able to offer our maritime cus-tomers a fully integrated end-to-end solu-tion,” said Andrew Lim, managing direc-tor of business group, SingTel GroupEnterprise.

“The maritime industry is facingunprecedented challenges and opportuni-ties created by rapidly changing technolo-gies. Together, GlobalXpress and SingTelwill be able to lead the change and revolu-tionise the future of maritime communica-tion, which is an exciting prospect for ourcustomers.”

Frank Coles, president of InmarsatMaritime, described the deal as a naturalresult of decades of cooperation betweenthe two companies.

“SingTel has an extensive knowledge ofthe Asian and Australian markets with awide distribution network through whichto deliver Global Xpress,” he said.

“SingTel is the preeminent communica-tion solution provider in Asia and theideal partner to introduce Asia’s growingmaritime market to the potential of GlobalXpress’s superior high bandwidth value.”

Piraeus-headquartered Navarino,already part-owned by Inmarsat via ashareholding held by Stratos prior toInmarsat’s acquisition of that company, isthe first Greek VAR for Global Xpress.

Navarino has a client base of more than500 shipping companies throughoutEurope and Asia, serviced by offices inPiraeus, Hamburg, Oslo, Cyprus, HongKong and Singapore.

“Global Xpress is the best response tothe increasing need for data-driven andcost-effective communications at sea, offer-ing the shipping industry unprecedented

data speeds and global coverage,” saidDimitris Tsikopoulos, CEO, Navarino.

“Greece has the largest single owner-ship of ocean-going vessels, with around17 per cent of the world’s ship ownersbased here. Our customers have the high-est bandwidth requirements and GlobalXpress, with its combination of a newsuper-fast Ka-band satellite network andthe existing FleetBroadband service, willdeliver a quality, global service with theutmost reliability.”

“The deployment of Global Xpress willherald a revolution in maritime communi-cations and will have a significant impacton how the shipping industry canimprove its profitability through achiev-ing long term cost efficiencies.”

Navarino and SingTel join JRC, Telemar

SingTel and Navarino confirmed as GX resellers and GMPCS as confirmed resellers formaritime for the Ka-band service.

Inmarsat has previously indicated thatthere will be a total of 8-10 resellers even-tually appointed for Global Xpress,including Inmarsat itself via its directsales channel.

“Navarino is a highly specialised inte-grator, reseller and developer of maritimecommunications services. Its worldwideinstallation and support capabilities willcertainly aid the swift deployment ofGlobal Xpress amongst their customers inboth Europe and Asia, and we are delight-ed to recognise them as the first GlobalXpress VAR in Greece,” said Frank Coles.

“I believe Navarino is well positioned tooffer the next generation of Inmarsat serv-ices to its current and future customers.”

The list of Global Xpress resellers is expected to total 8-10 companies when the service is launched

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www.beamcommunications.comwww.iridium.com

Beam Communications has entered into astrategic product development initiativewith Iridium Communications, whichwill see the companies collaborate on themanufacturing of a new product.

The agreement signed by the two com-panies defines the new product develop-ment initiative for which BeamCommunications, a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of World Reach Limited, will bethe primary contractor and OriginalEquipment Manufacturer.

“Beam was appointed a Value AddedManufacturer ten years ago and since thistime has developed a strategic range ofIridium based accessories and terminalsfor the Iridium satellite network,” com-

mented Joel Thompson, vice presidentproduct line management at IridiumCommunications.

“This new initiative however is thefirst of its kind whereby Iridium is direct-ly utilising Beam’s engineering and man-ufacturing expertise to design, developand manufacture a new dedicatedIridium product.”

The companies say that, for commer-cial reasons, the exact details of the prod-uct being designed and manufacturedcannot be disclosed at this time, howeverit has been revealed that an initial ordercommitment for the new product isexpected to produce incremental salesrevenues exceeding AU$3 million in thefirst 12 months of commercial sale.

The prospective launch of the productis scheduled for the second half of 2013.

www.globewireless.com

Globe Wireless has announced it hasreached the milestone of surpassing onemillion GSM minutes per month on itsGlobe Mobile system.

Since its launch in April 2009, GlobeWireless says that GlobeMobile has grownto become the world’s largest maritimeGSM network with approximately 20,000active subscribers on just over 1,300 vessels.

Million minutes per month on Globe GSM www.astrium.eads.net

Astrium has completed an extension of itsworldwide VSAT satellite communica-tions services, which it says will offermore bandwidth over smaller antennas.

The company claims that the additionof further service in the Atlantic andIndian Oceans will allow it to provide themost extensive global VSAT coverageavailable in the market.

This extension will apply to theAstrium Services brands of Sealink,Wavecall (via Marlink) and the formerVizada brand Pharostar.

These VSAT services are based oniDirect technology and use terminals rang-ing from 60cm to 2.4m in size. Datathroughput speeds have increased to up to3 Mbps for standardised VSAT services,and up to 10 Mbps for customised, tai-lored solutions via Sealink.

Geographical coverage extensions arenow completed over the Indian OceanRegion (IOR) and the company plans tofurther expand over the southern part ofthe Atlantic Ocean by year end.

Customers currently using Astrium’sVSAT services will automatically receivecoverage in the new areas.

“We are pleased to announce that withthe extended, near global coverage,Astrium Services now provides the mostextensive Ku-band satellite coverage inthe market,” said Tore Morten Olsen, headof maritime within Astrium's BusinessCommunications division.

“By providing the maximum coverage,we are allowing customers to limit theirusage of alternative, more costly commu-nications when they are out of VSAT cov-

erage area.”This expansion is supplemented by a

range of newly signed capacity deals withSES to deliver connectivity to vesselsaround Latin America as well as in theNorth Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Seaand Gulf of Aden.

Astrium Services will renew capacityon the SES-4 satellite to provide its mar-itime customers with communicationsservices. Located at 338 degrees East, SES-4 is among several SES satellites providingcapacity to Astrium Services.

“The comprehensive coverage of thenew SES-4 satellite extending from theArabian Sea to the South Pacific Ocean isideal for our customers in this region,”said Mr Olsen.

“Combined with SES' satellite expert-ise and our dedicated sales and serviceteam, this coverage is key in develop-ing reliable VSAT services for our globalcustomers in these strategic maritimeroutes.”

Astrium says that the wider footprint ofSES-4 will extend its coverage over theGulf of Aden to support customers in pira-cy risk zones, for instance off the coast ofSomalia, as well as maritime customers in Europe.

“On-the-move global communicationsneeds of the maritime industry have to bemet constantly even when vessels andcrews are at remote regions of the world,”said Norbert Hölzle, senior vice presidentof Europe, commercial for SES.

“The series of new contracts withAstrium Services reinforces our long-standing partnership and is a testament toour leading position in delivering mobilitysatellite services.”

Astrium extends VSAT coverage

Capacity on the SES-4 satellite will be added to Astrium’s VSAT services

Thuraya shareholders have electedAhmad Abdulkarim Julfar as the compa-ny’s new chairman, and Dr Daniel Ritz asa new member of its board of directors.Both men are currently at Etisalat, whereMr Julfar is group CEO and Dr Ritz isgroup chief strategy and M&A officer.

KVH has opened an office in Tokyo tosupport to its Japanese partners, includingSKY Perfect JSAT Corporation,which provides the mini-VSATBroadband service under the OceanBBbrand name, as well as Furuno andJapan Radio Co. (JRC), which pro-vide and install KVH TracPhone commu-nications systems. Yoshito Yamane willact as the country manager and represen-tative director for KVH Industries Japan.

Livewire Connections has formedan agreement with Jason Electronics,headquartered in Singapore, wherebyJason Electronics will be retailing theLivewire Access Controller FB-10 rangethroughout its group, which has offices in Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesiaand China.

www.kvh.comwww.livewire-connections.comwww.jason.com.sgwww.thuraya.com

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, the new Thuraya chairman

GlobeMobile provides crew memberswith voice calling and SMS capabilities,allowing for standard voice calls to andfrom the vessel, SMS messaging and freeonboard mobile-to-mobile calling.

The system can be used with InmarsatFleetBroadband and VSAT terminalsthrough the company’s own GlobeWireless-built GSM network.

Crew members insert the GlobeMobileSIM card into their own GSM phone, andcan then send and receive voice calls andSMS messages while at sea.

“We have over one million reasonswhy GlobeMobile is the maritime indus-try’s GSM service of choice,” said DavidKagan, president and CEO of GlobeWireless.

“I think it speaks volumes about howour customers recognise the value ofGlobeMobile in being the anytime, any-where at sea, personal communicationssolution.”

The Globe Mobile service has 20,000 subscribers

Beam and Iridium to collaborate on new product

Keep your finger on thepulse with our weekly e-mail newsletter and oor online network for maritime IT professionals

www.thedig i ta l sh ip .com

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Reaching a decision on crew internet - BSM

HH aving completed a year-longevaluation project during whichit tested and compared a number

of potential satellite communications sys-tems and suppliers, Bernhard SchulteShipmanagement (BSM) is set to begin anambitious roll-out of crew internet servic-es across its fleet of vessels.

The new services will be deployed inthe form of onboard crew internet cafes,with Inmarsat as service provider,Telaccount Overseas as the project manag-er and World Link Communications as theInternet Service Provider.

BSM has agreed a deal for an Inmarsat6GB SCAP (shared corporate allowancepackage) to provide the bandwidth to runthe internet service, and expects the roll-out of the service to take approximatelythree to six months through to completion.

According to Adonis Violaris, directormarketing and corporate communica-tions at BSM and managing director atTelaccount Overseas Ltd, the introduc-tion of this crew internet solution is a nat-ural progression in the evolution of themaritime satellite communications mar-ket in the last few years, with faster band-width and cheaper data gradually begin-ning to bring IT at sea in line with seafar-er expectations.

“The maritime communications airtimeservice providers have been looking for along time now to increase the demand forbandwidth, and airtime providers havelooked to prove that with higher band-width we can get the ship closer to theoffice,” he told us.

“The shipowners and shipmanagerswere also asking for many years now forextra bandwidth onboard the vessels, forconstant, uninterrupted connections andreasonable flat monthly rates that canaccommodate both the needs of commer-cial traffic and crew private needs.”

“Not long ago, we were very happy touse the MF/HF system and the Satcom Cunits and we were really happy to haveonboard the vessel a personal computer tocompose fax messages and prepare letters.The network system onboard was so verysimple, in fact, it did not even exist.”

Mr Violaris believes that the introduc-tion, in 1982, of the Inmarsat-A satellitesystem was the start of a revolution inmaritime communication, providing asystem that could be used for voice, fax,data and telex services.

However, developments in vessel tech-nology have struggled to keep pace withthe frenetic pace of advances in terrestrialIT and communications, and ships have,in many ways, been left behind in the dig-ital age.

“I believe at that time, people involvedwith communications in the shippingindustry were impressed with this tech-nological miracle, mainly because the dif-

ferences in technology were not as obvi-ous as they are during these days,” saidMr Violaris.

“Although nowadays the network struc-ture is very similar to what we have at asmall office ashore, shipping still, I wouldsay, is years behind the rest of the worldwith regards to technology, whether this iscommunications or software, and this gapcannot be easily bridged.”

“The problem has been that softwaredevelopers are blaming the communicationproviders for not being ready to supportthe software they already provided ashoreand have thus forced them to create differ-ent applications to suit the ships’ commu-nications’ low transmission speeds.”

As an example, Mr Violaris points to typ-ical planned maintenance systems or condi-tion monitoring systems, only using data-base updates when synchronising databetween the vessels and shore due to thedata constraints imposed by satellite, or theuse of Electronic Navigational Charts,where suppliers provide a portfolio ofcharts pre-loaded on the vessel and the shipneed only download the necessary licencevia e-mail to unlock the pre-loaded chart.

“The requirements of the operators tobring the vessel closer to the office aregrowing day by day as they need to beable to manage, monitor, control, act andimprove processes, like on-line plannedmaintenance, TMSA, KPIs, e-purchasing,e-learning, entertaining and to be able todeal with the various regulations and con-formances,” said Mr Violaris.

“Everything is moving fast on land andif we are not using an always-on connec-tion the technology gap will becomewider. The whole world is turning to theweb for information and applications andmuch of this was talked about for years,but the vessels never had the always-on

bandwidth connection to work with.”

Crew attractionIn addition to the business demands onsatellite communications, the seafarers’appetite for online connectivity has alsocontinued to grow sharply, with youngercrew members in particular increasinglylooking for access to the services they areused to at home.

In this regard, Mr Violaris points to arecent Cisco survey of nearly 3,000 stu-dents and young professionals aged 21 to29 from 14 countries, which suggested thatone out of three college students andyoung professionals see online connectivi-ty as a ‘fundamental need’.

“Over half of survey participants quotethe internet as an ‘integral part of theirlives’,” said Mr Violaris.

“64 per cent of respondents wouldchoose connectivity over owning a car. 40per cent think having web connectivity ismore important than dating, music orgoing out with friends.”

“Half would rather lose their wallet orpurse than their smartphone, 20 per centhad not bought a printed book in twoyears and just 10 per cent thought TV wasimportant in their lives.”

In this environment, Mr Violaris sug-gests, communication can no longer beconsidered as a luxury and is, instead,becoming a necessity.

“We all know that crew should be enti-tled to access the internet onboard the ves-sels, and without browsing, chatting, e-mail with attachments etc. they feel dis-connected from shore,” he said.

“Crew problems will only be accelerat-ed by this, seafarers will be discouraged togo onboard the ships if it means keepingout of touch with their homes and theirfamilies, with the result of crew shortages

starting to increase. In particular, seafarersfrom developing countries are trying tocatch up with more personal communica-tions while at sea.”

“The new generation of seafarers areborn with a mobile in their hands, they areexperts when it comes to new technologyand then they go on a ship that isequipped with low bandwidth technologyterminals. This makes the seafarers lookfor employment elsewhere, where theshipowners are providing such facilities orare now looking into the possibilities tohave such systems onboard their vessels.”

Mr Violaris believes that it is, in fact, inthe shipping companies’ own interests toprovide these services if they intend tomaintain competitiveness in the market,and that the consequence of not investingcould be even more expensive.

“It is very important that shipownersand shipmanagers do their utmost toenhance crew morale and welfareonboard, as recruitment challenges willbecome again a hot point in their agendaand crew will want to move on, makingthe crew retention rate more difficult anddefinitely not cheap,” he said.

“The most recent estimated informationabout the number of crew using internetonboard for e-mail purposes is below 20 percent, and we are talking about e-mail onlyand not the rest of the internet facilities.Only 10 per cent of commercial vessels havesome kind of broadband onboard.”

Satcom developmentsMr Violaris is hopeful that advances insatellite technology will help to make high-speed connectivity a ubiquitous feature ofshipping vessels, and that competitionfrom VSAT providers in particular willhelp to make prices increasingly attractive.

“Recent technological advances haveput broadband-at-sea within reach of eventhe smallest vessels,” he said.

“Until some years ago, vessels travel-ling more than five miles offshore had oneoption for internet access — Inmarsat.Now Inmarsat finds itself competing withother technologies, like VSAT.”

“Early VSAT antennas were bulky andexpensive — as much as $65,000. But in2007, KVH Industries launched a new gen-eration nearly half the price and a quarterthe size, and continues — along with com-petitors like SeaTel, Furuno, Orbit andIntellian — to dramatically decrease thesize, weight and cost of antennas.”

With all of the available technologies,there are positive and negative aspectswhich have created a choice for shippingcompanies looking for the best fit withtheir own operations.

“VSAT offers a number of advantagesat a fixed monthly rate, but unfortunatelyso far for the Ku-band antennas these onlywork within limited coverage areas, with

With the myriad of available options in the satellite communications market, shipping companies looking to provideinternet services to their crew face the challenge of deciding which offering best suits their business needs

as well as the needs of their seafarers. Adonis Violaris, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, told Digital Ship about his company’s experiences evaluating crew internet solutions

Crew aboard the Cap Mondego enjoyed a new level of communications access during the Inmarsat FleetBroadband VLA trial

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coverage missing especially in areas likethe southern Atlantic and southern Pacific– only if you installed a C-Band 2.4mantenna like the ones that are used on thepassenger vessels you will be able to havean Inmarsat-like global coverage,” saidMr Violaris.

“Ku-band VSAT satellites, which untilnow are most interesting to our communi-ty, cover most well-travelled areas of theglobe, but there are regions where serviceis unavailable. Inmarsat has better cover-age, but also does not cover the poles.Iridium, with its Pilot, provides pole topole coverage, but does not provide thehigh bandwidth available from Ku orInmarsat’s L-band systems.”

“The Iridium Pilot link provides threeseparate phone lines and a data channelconfigurable from 9.6 to 128 kbps, butusers are charged a per-megabyte fee, or amonthly fee with data limits, and the scal-able internet connection isn’t as fast asVSAT or Inmarsat.”

So – what’s the best system for themodern shipping company? Of course, theonly way to judge this is to look of the spe-cific range of requirements of the particu-lar vessel operator and compare theseneeds with the available offerings.

This was the approach that BSM fol-lowed last year, when its management andshareholders requested that its in-housevessel communications value added servic-es company Telaccount Overseas evaluatedifferent systems in the market, so thatBSM could start providing internet accessto the crew onboard its vessels.

“During our trials we tested both aVSAT V7 from KVH and an Inmarsat VLA(very large allowance package) withFleetBroadband 500,” said Mr Violaris.

“We can report that both crew andoperations have benefited from this expe-rience. With both systems we were able toimprove enterprise communications withthe vessel through unified communica-tions and streamlined vessel operations,and were able to offer the crew unlimitedinternet access in both trials.”

“The challenges were many; somemostly technical, and some mostly in cre-ating a different mind-set for all partiesconcerned, such as shore operators andsuperintendents, master onboard, and notleast the crew.”

As Mr Violaris notes, the change in how

those onboard the ships interacted withthe communications systems followingthe introduction of the trial terminals wasimmense – both on the positive and nega-tive sides.

“From store and forward e-mail wewent to instant e-mail and jumped intoinstant messaging. From bridge controlledphone calls to home, crew dived into Skypefrom the privacy of their cabins,” he said.

“However, the Master had to learn howto ping and trace route, and a lot of timesit was not easy. And when everyoneonboard screamed ‘we cannot browse’, abandwidth hugger like Skype or a torrentdownload were found to be the culprits.”

“Technology, as always, will make ourlife easier and our operation more effi-cient. But we have to manage the change,train crew, and maintain vigilance – onone of our vessels we logged the crew’susage who have collectively browsed inexcess of 500 hours a month.”

Ultimately, following the conclusion ofthese trials, BSM opted for the 6GBInmarsat package previously mentioned.

“VLAs are the immediate Inmarsatresponses to flat rates from VSAT compe-tition,” noted Mr Violaris.

“Based on our vessels’ usage, we can see

that today a vessel can satisfy its operationaland crew requirements within the range of10 to 15 GB per month. This may includecrew usage of internet browsing, VoIP,instant messaging, and social networking.”

“The Inmarsat VLA is a managed serv-ice, so when usage reaches the upper lim-its of the plan, Inmarsat will start reducingspeed to preserve the remainder of theplan until month’s end. This will allowusers to continue their light browsing, e-mail, and messaging, but would limitstreaming usage like video and audio con-ferencing, and other bandwidth-hoggingapplications.”

Network considerationsThese trial experiences quickly led MrViolaris to the conclusion that, when look-ing at bandwidth optimisation and crewusage, it is important to consider the actu-al capabilities of the bandwidth in ques-tion in terms of service delivery.

“We need to understand what are wecontrolling and managing. It helps toknow or understand what we can do withbandwidth,” he said.

“If properly managed, 100 MB can go along way when it comes to crew welfare. Itcould provide chatting or texting for 200-plus hours, sending one line of text at a time,or it could just mean browsing for 20 hours.”

“Bandwidth optimisation becomes criti-cal to the successful implementation of aninternet café onboard. Satellite bandwidthwill remain a scarce commodity, and thereis nowhere this is more apparent thantoday’s broadband services onboard; hencethe need to ensure that traffic is prioritisedand all parties have access to the pipe.”

Managing the bandwidth also extendsinto ensuring that the vessel always hasavailable connectivity to carry importantoperational traffic and access services thatare critical to the running of the ship.

“Without prioritising the traffic we canbe looking at traffic chaos. Traffic needs tobe controlled based on the originating net-work, the application that is running, andthe end user,” said Mr Violaris.

“By controlling traffic we are able toguarantee quality of service. By furtherlimiting the bandwidth shares betweenapplications, we ensure voice, for exam-ple, will always be available even underall circumstances.”

Apart from bandwidth management,network security is another critical issuewhen it comes to crew internet access,making sure that granting permission to acrew member to access the internet does-n’t also mean granting permission to anexternal virus to visit the ship.

“Security will always be the biggest con-cern among the different parties involvedin deploying an internet café onboard ourvessels. Today we cannot depend on justfirewalls to secure the onboard network,for example,” said Mr Violaris.

“Today, we can identify at least twoseparate networks that need to co-existonboard the vessel – the vessel operationsLAN and the crew LAN. Both have total-ly separate applications and require differ-ent levels of security.”

“Consider however, that in the nearfuture a third network will announce itsarrival onboard the fleet, the vessel sys-tems network. This is the network whereengine monitoring and control data areonline, ECDIS, radar and GPS are commu-nicating. This is the network that carriesthe blood of the vessel. Taking an offen-sive posture on security now will pay offin the long run.”

In addition to the networks on the ships,it must also be considered that the overallIT complexity of the organisation, takinginto account shore based offices as well asthe vessels, will increase as connectivity isimproved, and the consequences for sup-port should be taken into account.

“Dealing with a larger fleet can strainthe existing enterprise resources for remoteand mobile users,” said Mr Violaris.

“It is not uncommon that the ‘remotemobile’ population would exceed theonshore staff. The larger the enterprise,the more evident this force becomes.Supporting mobile users, who expectservice delivery because they are payingfor it and because it is personal, will bur-den the enterprise.”

“Outsourcing support to the new pop-ulation is cost efficient especially whenconsidering that the enterprise ashore iscurrently going through cost reduction.

But, ultimately, the cost of deployment ismade up of bandwidth, hardware andoperations running costs.”

AdviceHaving gone through the process of eval-uating and selecting a system to providecrew internet onboard BSM ships, MrViolaris is well placed to offer advice toother vessel operators looking to extendthe communications options available totheir seafarers.

“With the current pricing structure, theline is blurring between whether onewould select VSAT versus an InmarsatVLA,” he said.

“Quality of service on the VSATdepends on what you are buying, mean-while with Inmarsat you are buying a uni-form service. Controlling operating costsrequires management, that requiresreporting, that requires a solid platformand a solid technology partner.”

“But whether your vessel is usingVLA or VSAT, you will definitely need tomanage the services provided onboard,either for bandwidth control or band-width optimisation.”

Mr Violaris also notes that the require-ments and demands from the variousstakeholders in the project are very differ-ent, and need to be carefully weighedagainst one another.

“Owners’ concerns are influenced byenterprise policy, while crew concerns aretotally personal,” he said.

“The enterprise IT department will dic-tate the security policies, procedures, andpriorities, while the cost of the project islooked at in value for dollars spent. Crewwelfare from the enterprise point of viewwill swing with market conditions andfreight rates.”

“On the other hand, the crew expecta-tions are high for services, with pent updemand. Even though it has been only afew years that we have been talking aboutcrew privacy in making phone calls on thebridge, today the crew would prefer afaster internet connection and access tosocial media at the work place to makingadditional money while deprived of theirfriends’ status updates.”

While the process may be complicated,and include a number of potential pitfalls,Mr Violaris is confident that most ship-ping companies should, in the modernera, be able to integrate crew internet serv-ices into their shipboard set-up.

“At the end of the day, and after a lot ofsweat, it will come together and ensure suc-cess and ease of mind once you, the fleetmanager, are in control of your communi-cation costs onboard your vessels,” he said.

“A number of features are necessary toensure such success, but most important iscost management – and that is donethrough reporting and resource manage-ment. There is no need to re-invent thewheel, especially if you pick the right tech-nology and support partners.”

“The shipping industry now has thechance to make use of similar advancedcommunications technology as usedashore. At BSM we hope that the quality ofthese services will be of an equally highstandard to what we use in our daily lives,at work and at home, in a way that willallow the industry to conduct its operationsmore efficiently and cost effectively.” DS

BSM will roll out crew internet cafes, running over FleetBroadband, across its fleet

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TT here is an abundance of rhetoric inthe maritime industry today on theissue of crew welfare – people talk

of the duty to offer seafarers the samefacilities they could expect as employeesin land based offices, as well as the need tobolster crew retention to avoid the poten-tially devastating consequences of man-power shortages.

However, the issue of crewing at ship-ping companies is just one part of a widercompetition for talent across the world,with every sector and industry looking, intheir own ways, to attract the best andbrightest workers that will propel produc-tivity and keep generating profits.

So, to really understand the issue ofcrew welfare it is important to consider itfrom this perspective – as the front line ina global battle to attract and retain talentin the workforce, making shipping aprospective career that can meet the goalsand aspirations of new recruits.

At Magsaysay Maritime Corporation, aspecialist in crewing services with approx-imately 33,000 people working on differ-ent types of vessels all over the world,understanding the value of talent is key toevery aspect of operations, according toJay Fernando, the company’s vice-presi-dent of strategic planning and businessdevelopment.

To illustrate the point, Mr Fernandopoints to the enormous changes in valuingtalent that have occurred in recent decadesin a more transparent market than ship-ping – football.

“In 1904 the world record for playertransfers in football was held by AndyMcCombie, he was a right back forSunderland. When he transferred betweenSunderland and Newcastle United it costthem a whopping £1,000,” he said.

“80 years after, when Diego Maradonatransferred from Barcelona to Napoli, hewent for £5 million. Then, when CristianoRonaldo transferred from playing atManchester United to Real Madrid hewent for a staggering price of £80 million.”

“One thing is clear – talent is one of themost important things and one of the mostexpensive things we need to managetoday. At least in football. In shipping, it’sbeen a perennial topic of discussion, theconcept of crew shortages, so I think we’rein the same boat.”

Mr Fernando says that an appreciationof the value of talent has led Magsaysay tomake the concept of ‘care’ one of its corephilosophies – care for the crew and carefor their families.

“This ultimately means happier crewand that they stay with us. We’ve been for-tunate that this philosophy is shared bymany of our partners,” he said.

“Admittedly care is not the only factorto consider, but it’s not something that canbe set aside. People will not necessarily

leave just because they’re offered a highersalary, but if you make them feel unim-portant, uncared for and unvalued, ulti-mately they will.”

“So the feeling that a company cares forme and my wellbeing can trigger a senseof happiness, and that sense of happinessand being valued is what leads to loyaltyand retention.”

Communicationdevelopment

As Mr Fernando points out, with loneli-ness and separation inherent in the mar-itime business, it is not surprising thatstakeholders in the industry have increas-ingly come to realise the importance ofcommunication as a means of expressingthat sense of ‘care’.

This has been done in various ways,and Magsaysay itself has introduced vari-ous initiatives to try and use IT and com-munications to improve the quality of lifeof its seafarers.

One early project involved delivery ofbasic news stories from the crews’ homecountry, to mitigate, to some small extent,the disconnect from their communitywhile serving at sea.

“In 2005, the Philippine-Japan ManningConsultative Council (PJMCC) startedsending a condensed version of their dailynews, called Balitang Marino (Seafarers’News), onboard the ships of the Japanese

vessels,” said Mr Fernando.“Just about the same time, Magsaysay

started to do the same thing with ourHome Harbor daily news. It still goes ontoday, and about 280 vessels are benefit-ting from the service.”

“For the size of 120 kB, the size of a reg-ular e-mail, it gives the crew a certainsense of being connected to what’s hap-pening at home.”

Another initiative involved the intro-duction of tailored mobile phone servicesthat could help crews to manage their ownpersonal information.

“In 2008, in partnership with one of thelargest communications companies in thePhilippines, we launched the MagsaysaySIM card, which allowed our seafarers topush and receive information from oursystem, with regard to vessel assignments,results of medicals, visa schedules etc,”said Mr Fernando.

“At the same time, they are able toenjoy discounted roaming rates for theircommunications to the Philippines.Currently about 80 per cent of our peopleuse this service.”

“Also, in 2009, the Filipino Associationfor Mariners’ Employment (FAME), inpartnership with SMART Communication,made available an affordable private satel-lite voice service that can be used at seaindependent of the ship’s satellite band-width. To date we have about 192 shipswith this facility onboard.”

These developments have been supple-mented on the port side, with the intro-duction of improved facilities for seafarersto communicate with home whenapproaching land, such as the Port ofSingapore’s WISEPORT programme offer-ing WiMAX connectivity up to 15km out-side of Singapore.

“Since then several ports have offeredthis. We continue to be an advocate formore of these types of services to be avail-able to seafarers,” said Mr Fernando.

Gen YHowever, despite these welcome develop-ments, Mr Fernando views these initia-tives as part of history, and believes thatoffering a wide range of new communica-tions capabilities will be fundamental toany efforts by the shipping industry toattract a new generation of talent tocareers at sea.

He references a report called ‘Gen Y @Work: A Profile’ conducted by KellyServices in the US, a company providingmanpower to 85 industries and notfocused on shipping, that includes the fol-lowing assessment:

Skill shortages are dominating the market-place and many organizations are facing stiffchallenges in identifying, hiring and retainingthe best talent. Many organizations andemployers struggle to fill job vacancies and

candidates receive more than one job offer. Asskill shortages continue, organizations canexpect more intense competition for talent.

As Mr Fernando notes, the implicationsof this are “staggering.”

“It means that the war for talent withinour industry is merely a small battlefieldin a much bigger war that is already rag-ing,” he said.

“It’s not about attracting the best andbrightest seafarer for our fleet anymore,but it’s about attracting the best andbrightest for our industry. With this inmind, the war on talent has taken on muchbigger dimensions, and we need to knowthe prize that we are fighting for.”

Dealing with this issue means under-standing the differences that exist betweenthis generation and the current generationof managers in the maritime industry, tak-ing account of their different needs andaspirations.

“The average seafarer, right now, goesonboard at the age of 23 or 24,” said Mr Fernando.

“This means that they were born after1989, and they’ve grown up in a world ofTV, internet, computers, PlayStations,iPhones and iPads. They’ve watched theworld whizz past them at a fierce pace.”

“The average time a ship spends onshore these days is between 16 and 17hours. It used to be 8 to 12 days a mere 20years ago. That means that there’s lessopportunity for shore leave, and morework that needs to be done while in port.”

“In Gen Y @ Work, they say that thisgeneration could potentially be the mostproductive, adaptive and creative genera-tion to ever enter the workforce. They dis-like being treated like the new kid on theblock, they always needs to be challengedand find some meaning in the work thatthey do. They have high expectations fortheir personal and financial success, andthey need to be plugged in 24/7.”

Mr Fernando suggests that, for thisdemographic, the shipping industry isfailing to project itself as an attractivecareer choice.

“This generation grew up in an envi-ronment where gratification is instanta-neous, with disposable diapers,microwave popcorn, mobile phones, SMSthat all scream the word now,” he said.

“Whether it’s news, data, statusupdates or anything else – everything is just a click away. This comes from the experience of creating meaningfulrelationships without the need for aphysical presence.”

“Because of the speed at which theirlife whizzes past, they’ve taken the art ofmulti-tasking to a whole new level. Theycan study with music playing and updat-ing their Facebook status – and they’redoing well. None of this is possible with-out being plugged in. Unplug them and

Crew and the value of talentCrew welfare is not just a matter of providing benefits to employees, it is fundamental to the ongoing battle for talent in

the global workforce, across every industry. Jay Fernando, Magsaysay Maritime Corporation, explains why offeringbetter communications to the next generation of seafarers is no longer a choice, but a matter of survival

Cristiano Ronaldo, the £80m man – anexample of the changing value of talent

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Digital Ship


they become lonely and miserable.”

New standards of careUnderstanding this point will mean re-defining the concept of ‘care’ thatMagsaysay, and the shipping industry ingeneral, has applied to the crews servingaboard its vessels.

In this regard Mr Fernando says thathis company has now tried to radicallyalter the options it provides to its seafarersto try and improve the connectivity theycan achieve between their working life atsea and their digital life at home.

“This year we have moved from pullingand pushing information to the SIM cardvia the GSM platform to taking advantageof the features of the smartphone andtablet, with the launch of the Magsaysayseafarers’ app for Android,” he explained.

“Being on Android provides us with alot of additional flexibility and a lot of fea-tures we can add. We’ve added additionalfunctionalities for online purchasing,transfer of funds, and made more interac-tive content and information availablefrom our system.”

“Building on the voice service that wasintroduced in 2009, our partners atSMART Link Communications now com-bines both data and voice connectivityanywhere at a much lower price, on a payper use basis. We just finished the installa-tion of the first SMART Link system onone of our ships, and 14 more are current-ly being installed.”

Magsaysay believes that these moves

are important first steps in changing theworking environment for seafarers in away that will make the physical disloca-tion of the job easier to deal with.

“All of these services we have done aresteps we have taken towards creating acommunity on a digital platform wherepeople can interact and stay connected ina multi-device, multimedia environment,because this is what this generation islooking for,” said Mr Fernando.

“We need to realise that this new gen-eration, their needs are different fromours. They assimilate information in waysand methods that are different from us.They live their lives differently and have adifferent set of priorities.”

“It is important for this new generationto be connected, for them to be providedwith the means to see their child in portafter they have been born is no big deal,they will demand to see them being bornin the hospital on a live feed while at sea.”

In Mr Fernando’s view, this issue isnow beginning to reach a stage where it isno longer just a crew issue and is a keypart of company strategy.

“It used to be that we would think ofcommunications as crew welfare. It hasmoved on beyond crew welfare,” he said.

“We are constantly innovating andadvancing technology to have safer ships,more environmentally friendly ships,reducing emissions and fuel consumption,and having more efficient operations. Butin our pursuit of these things we, as anindustry, cannot forget the need to chan-

nel our innovative drive to find better andfaster and more cost effective ways to helpour people get connected.”

“Stakeholders in the industry need toget together to lobby to have more of ourports provide Wi-Fi and connectivity. Weneed to be able to find ways to providemore affordable voice and data services

onboard our ships, not only to express ourcare for the wellbeing of our crew but to beable to present our industry as a viablecareer option for the next generation.”

It is also important to understand that,with the lead time involved in dealingwith these issues, acting early and beforecrew shortages become apparent in a ship-

ping company’s own operations is critical– once you realise you have no crew avail-able it is already too late.

“One of the things about shipping thatwe’ve seen is that shipowners and ship-managers do tend to take a long term view,at least the ones that survive. The compa-nies and people we’ve been privileged towork with, who take a long term view, getthis idea that if we don’t do something nowwe are going to have a problem 15 to 20years from now,” said Mr Fernando.

“In 1991 we started the MagsaysayInstitute of Shipping, which is essentially acadet development programme. It takesabout 10 to 12 years to grow someone to alevel close to a captain. The ones that part-nered with us at that time saw the visionthat if we don’t do something about devel-oping cadets now, we’re going to be indeep trouble 15 years from now.”

“True enough, the ones that partneredwith us and stayed with us over that periodare the ones that have now benefitted fromthat initiative in 1991. So when we start talk-ing to our partners about the need to be ableto attract crew, they seem to get it.”

As Mr Fernando notes, in this environ-ment it will very soon cease to be an issueof choice for any shipping company thatwishes to remain in business.

“It is not about crew welfare anymore,it’s about survival,” he said.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t theremay come a time when even an offer of£80 million won’t be attractive enough toget someone to have a career at sea.” DS

Magsaysay has launched a new Androidapp for its seafarers to allow them to

manage their communications.

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TT he development of communica-tions systems available to vesselsin the last few years has been noth-

ing short of astounding.Increasing competition in the satellite

sector and the extension of technologiesinitially targeted at terrestrial connectivityinto the maritime space has seen the intro-duction of a range of innovative systemsthat have created capabilities and choiceslight years ahead of what was possible 10years ago.

For a shipping company however,learning about these new communicationsoptions is the easy part – making a choicethat can improve operations and meetbusiness needs while also fitting withinthe organisation’s financial plans is anoth-er matter entirely, and can be a long anddifficult process.

For shipmanagement companyWallem, utilising these new communica-tions capabilities to deliver improved con-nectivity services to its seafarers aroundthe world has become an important part ofits strategy to maintain the highest level ofoperations across its fleet.

The company’s pursuit of this goal hasfollowed a three-step process, with theproject currently moving into the closingstages of a journey that stretches backapproximately six years, according to IanParkes, operations director at WallemInnovative Solutions – the IT arm of theWallem Group.

As Mr Parkes notes, this three-stepprocess has been something that Wallemconsidered virtually impossible not thatlong ago, but which has now allowed it toreach a point where the company believesit is on the verge of achieving its goal.

“Most three-step processes from ven-dors will have a step one where they askyou to spend a large amount of money,and you’re then responsible for makingthat work,” he explains.

“You then spend another large amountof money and you’re responsible for mak-ing that work. Finally, you spend the lastlarge amount of money and have to expectsome kind of small miracle and for theworld to change to actually get you towhere you want to be.”

“The bad news is that our story doesfollow that pattern, but the good news isthat I believe that we’re actually therenow, we’re in the post-miracle stage andlooking forward to actually moving aheadand deploying a crew internet solution.”

Current availabilityDespite the advances in communicationstechnology over the last decade, crewaccess to connectivity services onboardwhile working at sea is still, even today,extremely limited.

To highlight the realities of the situa-tion, Mr Parkes points to an independentsurvey conducted by the ITF Seafarers’Trust, which revealed that half of the peo-

ple working onboard ships still didn’thave access to e-mail, and virtually noneof the respondents had access to internet.

The survey results showed that 52 percent of seafarers, and 68 per cent of ratingshave no access to e-mail on their vessels,while 80 per cent of seafarers and 97 percent of ratings had no access to the internet.

“I think, from Wallem’s perspective, weweren’t too surprised by the findings oninternet. We had not really sensed it wasavailable anywhere in the market at thetime, except maybe some very earlyadopters,” said Mr Parkes.

“What we were surprised about wasthe findings on e-mail, because crew mes-saging is something that we actually start-ed looking at quite a long time ago, back in2006, in response to what we perceived asthe very large demand from our crew atthat stage to tackle the e-mail situation.”

At that time Wallem had launched itsown Crew Connect service, which provid-ed an onboard text-based e-mail solution,while also supporting attachments whenused via a shore-based web service.

“Just before it was launched we ran atrial where we actually charged just under$0.50 per e-mail message,” said Mr Parkes.

“The feedback we were getting at thetime was that, if the charge was reason-able, people would probably be preparedto pay it to get something that was revolu-tionary in those days like an e-mail solu-tion onboard.”

“The fact of the matter was, when wecharged for that e-mail solution, even the$0.50, the uptake of it was effectively zero.There was no uptake at all, despite the factthat it was being loudly requested andpeople had indicated that the chargemight be acceptable.”

In response to these developmentsWallem went back to the drawing boardbefore officially launching the service inlate 2006 as a free e-mail service.

“Within the first few months while wewere rolling that out, traffic immediatelyjumped up to about 40,000 or 50,000 mes-

sages per month,” Mr Parkes recalls.“Today we have 10,500 subscribers

online, and we handle about 200,000 messages every month. So there was cer-tainly the demand there – once the pricewas right.”

This pricing issue was further illustrat-ed by usage of an SMS service that Wallemmade available to its crews as part of itsoriginal Wallem CrewConnect communi-cations package.

“What’s interesting today is that westill charge, though it’s lower than $0.50,for an SMS message, and despite the factthat we have a very large number ofFilipino crew onboard who are very wellversed in the use of texting, SMS messag-ing accounts for less than two per cent ofthe total messaging traffic,” he said.

“Packaging is very important. We haveto recognise the value perception – even if

we’d only charged $0.10 or $0.05 or $0.01for an e-mail, we would probably still havehad zero take-up, because the perception ofthe crew was ‘why should I be paying forthis when I don’t need to pay for it when Iam at home ashore?’ We have to under-stand these values and address them.”

“So there were some lessons there thatwe learnt in terms of the way that we haveto listen to the crew and have to interpretwhat we’re being told, and how to moveforward in terms of the actual activity inwhat we roll out.”

Another lesson seemingly learnt fromthis experience, according to Mr Parkes,was that the company seemed to havebeen able to move away from the tradi-tional three point plan in introducingthese services.

“The first step didn’t actually call for avery large investment up front. Theinvestment required, when we did thingsthe right way, was actually very modest,”he said.

“It worked out at about a $300 start-uppack for each vessel, just to get the kitonboard, and us allocating an old PC sothey actually had the platform to run it on,

and then about $50 per vessel per monthfrom then on. It’s even less than that thesedays. So there wasn’t a major investmentrequired to actually get moving.”

“The product that we deployed wasvery easy to deploy, it provided the SMSin a very simple prepaid environment,with very few risks of anything goingwrong with it and very easy for people touse and for the master to administer. Interms of the actual pricing, as I said it wastypically free for the crew and had verylimited costs in terms of cost per vessel.”

Next stepsHaving successfully managed to com-plete step one in its project by providinga popular and efficient e-mail system toits crewmembers, Wallem was confidentof building on that success through theintroduction of further communicationsservices.

“I guess we went from that success tothinking ‘that’s quite easy’ – step one, boxticked. Let’s crack on with step two,” saidMr Parkes.

“So, in 2007 our next stop was crewinternet. That genuinely was the feelingwithin the organisation, and it was cer-tainly the aspiration I had – because wehad actually found such a good way for-ward on the e-mail, crew internet was justaround the corner.”

“When we looked just around the cor-ner, what we saw was that the only realis-tic way on offer to deliver anything whichcould approach crew internet, at the time,was really VSAT solutions.”

This realisation proved to be a majorstumbling block in continuing the progressof the crew communications project, as thecompany struggled to find a system thatwould balance its requirements in terms ofboth performance and cost.

“In 2008, from the first look at VSATthat we did, the first point in the presenta-tion I made was that if we wanted to roll itout then the first thing we’d have to dowas to spend $70,000 to $100,000 per ves-sel on the kit,” said Mr Parkes.

“I don’t think anybody ever asked mewhat the second point in my presentationwas. It was not what they wanted to hear,and wasn’t the answer to the problem we had.”

Another issue that Mr Parkes identifiedwith the available VSAT offerings at thattime was a lack of integration of the tech-nology with maritime operations – ven-dors were merely proposing installing thesystem, with an attitude that ‘we’vesolved your problem, you can have an all-you-can-eat data package, so the crew canhave internet’.

“But it wasn’t a ‘packaged’ solution – itwasn’t a ‘solution’, as such. It’s all very wellto talk about business traffic where you’vepaid a flat fee and can use all you want, butwhen you’re talking about a crew solutionit’s different,” said Mr Parkes.

Over the past six years, shipmanagement company Wallem has invested considerable effort into an ongoing project to improve communications for its seafarers. For a time it seemed that crew internet was an unlikely goal

– and then the world changed, as Ian Parkes, Wallem Innovative Solutions, explains

Crew internet in three easy steps at Wallem

Wallem began a project to improve crew access tocommunications onboard its vessels in 2006. Photo: Wallem

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“You’ve got people who are rightlyconcerned about crew paying attentionwhen they’re at work; rest hours; watch-keeping; and a whole host of very realsafety concerns – so if somebody is thensaying to just give everybody unlimitedaccess to the internet it won’t be a viablesolution for any professional ship manag-er or ship operator.”

“I think it’s taken quite a long time forthose new entrants into the market to actu-ally understand that, when we talk abouta solution, it has to be one that suits theenvironment onboard. Though we talk alot about pricing – and I do talk a lot aboutpricing! – that’s the start of the conversa-tion or the end of the conversation. It’s notthe whole conversation. We needed to seemuch better controls and managementtools to make any kind of crew internetaccess viable.”

Mr Parkes also believes that the com-mercial environment for ship managersaround that time was not conducive todiscussions that revolved around expen-sive equipment and a sizeable monthlycommitment over an extended term.

“As it was, the relationship a vendorhad with a ship manager, and a ship man-ager had with a ship owner, typicallyfocused on a six-monthly fight on whetherwe could shave a penny off the price perminute or shave a couple of pence off theprice per kilobit.”

“You can’t take an industry that isorganised that way and come up with aplan that looks at a strategic 5-year plat-form, which is what we needed to do topay for something that would cost$100,000. It wasn’t going to happen.”

However, the company was aware thatsomething really needed to be done tomove forward on the crew issue, particular-ly with regard to the need to maintain highlevels of crew retention across the fleet.

Mr Parkes illustrates the seriousness ofthis point by noting the feedback from thefleet officers meetings the company con-ducts regularly.

“There is a huge groundswell ofdemand at these sessions to actually startto provide these internet services, and itechoes directly back to the point we wereat just before we identified a viable solu-tion for the e-mail service,” he said.

“There are real crew retention issues,and we must recognise that. Some of itmay be exaggerated, but I think there isgenuinely a demand from the crew thatthis is part of normal life now, and if it’snot normal onboard then there’s some-thing wrong.”

“We’re fast reaching the point wherewe are not doing anybody any favours byproviding crew internet – we’re givingpeople what they expect and deserve.”

As Mr Parkes notes, the modern worldfor the new generation is such that thesetypes of services are no longer a choice buta necessity for shipmanagers that want tomaintain a competitive advantage.

“I’m a service provider to Wallem ship-management, and I promise you that it’snot a choice from where I’m standing, it’san imperative,” he said.

Changing perceptionsWhile the new technologies available in themarket had proven to be beyond the realmof what Wallem was willing to commit to

in 2008, the journey had at least opened thecompany up to examining differentapproaches and prompted a re-examina-tion of the IT strategy being pursued.

“While there were moves for takingthose sorts of things forward for particularcases, it wasn’t something that we felt wecould actually move forward on generally.But what it did do is that it alerted us thatthis was probably what Step Two neededto be all about,” said Mr Parkes.

“We had to get out of this attitude of‘penny wise, pound foolish’, putting a boxround the communications and sayingthat it stands on its own. We had to changethe way that we were looking at it, and theway that the vendors were looking at it,and the way that our customers were look-ing at it.”

So, as Mr Parkes notes, for Step Twothat was really what the company tried todo, looking at the lessons learnt earlier inthe project, the value perception, andidentifying what Wallem really wanted toachieve.

This led the company to focus on pri-oritising the criteria it would follow inchoosing a communications system thatwould meet the demands of the variousstakeholders involved.

“What we wanted was effectively somekind of volume-based and predictablecosting so that people knew what theywere getting into. It was like every otherthing that they did where they knew theprice and it wasn’t an open-ended agree-ment – people don’t like getting surpriseswhen it comes to bills,” said Mr Parkes.

“Obviously it was a global solution thatwe needed, in terms of data, and a goodsolution in terms of quality and cost effec-tive voice.”

“We needed something that was actual-ly going to transition the environmentacross onto the new technology -FleetBroadband kit in our case - that wasactually going to provide a new platformso we could do more.”

Other elements that were deemed to beessential included a package that wouldoffer services beyond just the delivery ofthe equipment and airtime, and a reason-able contract period that would fit withWallem’s financial strategy.

“We wanted to wrap the other hiddenextras, the maintenance and so on, up intoit, and we wanted to end up with an over-all solution that could be justified over athree-year horizon,” said Mr Parkes.

“Not a five-year horizon, because Idoubt anybody, even today, is going towant to sign up for anything for that longin the communication environment. Three-years, most people are satisfied with thatfor most of the things that they do, and a lotof what we are doing these days is a lotmore uncertain than communications.”

“And we wanted the right price. Thatwas the key – being able to wrap the entiresolution up into a package and come upwith a single price. Then we could look atthe idea that that price was probably nomore than people were typically spending,at that time anyway, on communications.”

At the time of the search Wallem wastypically looking at $700 to $1,000 as theprice range it considered viable for thecommunications budget, and Mr Parkesnotes that he was beginning to see pack-ages that were coming in around that pric-

ing point, in the form of bundledFleetBroadband offerings.

“This worked for us, because instead ofit being a case of ‘now you have to makeyour second level investment’, we wereable to say to people that we could do allthis, we can get the kit, we can get the re-platforming and it’s not going to cost any

extra,” said Mr Parkes.“We just need to commit for three

years, and we only need to commit tospend what we’re spending today.”

“That was really step two for us, to cre-ate those FleetBroadband bundles, whichactually transitioned us from the ‘pennywise, pound foolish’ environment into amarket that was starting to take a morestrategic view of the important area ofcommunications.”

The internet questionWhile the changing communications envi-ronment had caused Wallem to update itsown strategy for providing connectivity toits vessels, progress in the three stepprocess towards onboard crew internethad stalled.

“At the sorts of volumes we were look-ing at in those days, with no increasedcost, we were looking at 30-50MB of dataper month to support little more thanbusiness e-mail,” said Mr Parkes.

“That was a realistic argument at thetime, but came with the price point forextra data at $10-15 per MB. There was noway anybody was realistically going toroll out a crew internet solution based onthose prices for browsing.”

Wallem was also still a little bit con-cerned about the control aspects of the sys-tems, and the potential for internet usage togenerate large amounts of unregulateddata traffic if not properly managed.

“We have read in the press about theseother shipmanagement companies thathave had terrible experiences with rogueusers breaking through the firewall andgenerating $200,000 bills which the shipmanager and ship owner dispute, while

the vendor pretends they don’t need toget involved in the conversation,” MrParkes noted.

“There are a lot of smart peopleonboard these ships, and if you give themenough time and access they will probablybe able to do something that you eitherdidn’t intend or didn’t want to happen.”

“So, we made some good progress inStage Two, but we didn’t crack the mainissue of crew internet.”

However, what happened next was tochange the landscape considerably. As MrParkes explains it, he began to see a shiftin the maritime communications market,where the lessons learnt by Wallem andothers, in terms of moving from a day-by-day, kilobit cost environment to a morestrategic view, had led vendors to intro-duce new products that could come closerto what was required to make the crewinternet project a reality.

“As well as us realising that theFleetBroadband bundles had been a goodidea, the vendors began to realise that itwasn’t such a poor concept either. Lookingat how things could be bundled togetherprovided things in such a way that wecould actually start to formulate solutions,and see a way forward. This kind of think-ing has seen 35,000 SIM card activations onInmarsat’s FleetBroadband just a couple ofyears later,” said Mr Parkes.

“The value perception today has transi-tioned from the point of ‘I need a little bitof connectivity so I can do my e-mail’ to ‘Ireally do need this vessel to be part of mycorporate network’. We’re sending moree-mails and bigger e-mails, with massiveattachments.”

“But more importantly, we need to stoptreating the ships as remote offices andtreat them as connected offices, and there-fore we can see that we’re not going toneed ‘tens’ of MB but ‘hundreds’ of MB -and in a few years’ time, who knows?”

Most recently, the catalyst for Wallem’schange in its thinking has been Inmarsat’sadjustments in the pricing for its larger

Wallem’s Crew Connect service allows its seafarers to access free e-mail and low cost SMS

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SATCOMS


volume packages, doubling the data avail-able under existing 1GB and 3GB planswhile also replacing the 10GB and 15GBbundles with an ‘unlimited’FleetBroadband package starting fromunder $3,000 per month.

“We’re now seeing a very realisticprospect of persuading both business andcrew customers that they can get, maybenot all you can eat, but all that you need,with these larger GB plans. Then they canthink about how to change the worldonboard rather than worry about the com-munications bill,” said Mr Parkes.

“For Stage Two, we saw a lot of ourowners take up the FleetBroadband 250bundled offers. Up until recently that had-n’t been the greatest starting point as it lim-ited what you could do with the strategygoing forward, But that’s now changedwith the latest announcements and all ofthe unlimited plans are now supported onthe 250 kit that our Stage Two put in place.”

“If we look at a fully future proof solu-tion, in terms of incorporating VSAT, thennot only can we do that for the same priceeffectively as we can for unlimitedFleetBroadband, we can also now do thatover a three year planning horizon. Sowe’ve got a credible way forward in termsof using the existing kit we have onboardand a future proofed VSAT/FleetBroadband hybrid solution justifiedover a three year planning cycle.”

Data trafficSince committing to bundled packages onFleetBroadband Wallem has been produc-ing surveillance reports which allow man-agement to watch out for rogue users that,Mr Parkes wryly notes, “of course, don’texist in our organisation.”

This report is used to create a chart thatlooks at the top 50 vessels in terms of theirusage each month.

“For the top 50 vessels in our fleet, typ-ically there’s not one of them that has usedless than 200-250 MB in any month in thelast year. That’s the top of the range, andthere’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution, whichis another of the things we’ve learnt overthe years,” said Mr Parkes.

“But what we can see now is that if youare talking to someone about using 200-250 MB, and they’re doing that on thebasis of $10 to $15 per MB, and you can goback to them and say you can have afuture-proof VSAT/FleetBroadbandhybrid solution for less than what they arepaying today, then it’s not the typicalthree-point plan.”

“There is no major investment in stepthree, and we’re back being able to say thatyou can do this for basically what you’repaying today. For the top tier at least.”

Mr Parkes believes that, once a com-pany starts to move into this type ofenvironment, it changes the whole complexion of what is required to roll

out a crew internet solution.“If we look at what’s going on in terms

of pricing for the crew, we don’t have thedirect experience yet, but we have beenable to lean on the experience of othersabout what people are prepared to pay,and what we’re seeing is that where creware getting internet for free they’re proba-bly going to use something like 8GB/mthon the vessel, typically provided throughan internet café solution based on timedaccess,” he said.

“If we’re looking at people who areoffering paid solutions on the basis of theselarge allowances, then people are typicallyusing 1-2 GB per vessel monthly.”

“If you start to look at the size of thesepackages now on offer, these are the sortsof volumes that, realistically, we’re goingto need to deploy if we’re going to havesuccessful crew internet. There’s no pointto deploy a crew internet solution wherenobody can actually use it the way theywant to.”

These changes in the satellite communi-cations pricing environment have nowpropelled Wallem into the third stage ofits crew connectivity project, where it nowstands on the brink of being able to followthrough on its initial goal from 2006 ofintroducing online access for its seafarers.

“In Step One we showed what we coulddo with limited, but well directed invest-ment. Step Two also required very little

additional investment,” said Mr Parkes.“Then there were some important

world changes, which we can’t take creditfor but are grateful for. And in Step Threewe’re at the point where there are realisticvalue propositions for the business side ofthings in terms of realistic volumes forconnecting those vessels to the network.”

“There is the right product available interms of global coverage, and we still havea solution for quality voice services at agood price. We’ve got proper manage-ment tools to make sure we protect our-selves and our users. And on the crew sidewe have a genuine opportunity for the ‘athome’ experience.”

Wallem intends to begin by deployingprepaid or internet café-style services onits ships, with built-in controls in place tomanage access. Importantly, the companyis also very keen to make sure these serv-ices are available at the right price.

“Increasingly that will mean free, butthe changes in pricing announced recentlywill allow us to offer fully funded crewinternet solutions where we’re looking atcosts certainly below $1.20 and maybebelow $1/MB for crew internet usage,”said Mr Parkes.

“We think we’ve come a very long waycompared to the ‘pre-miracle’ point wewere at this time last year, and we believethat 2013 will be the year of crew internetfor Wallem.”

www.mtnsat.com

MTN Satellite Communications (MTN)has launched its next generation MTNNexus system — a hybrid network com-bining satellite communications, terres-trial connectivity and a cloud comput-ing-based optimisation platform in onepackage.

MTN Nexus will also offer a range ofnew products and services that will beenabled only through this hybrid solution,the company said.

“There is no communication networklike MTN Nexus in the world,” said ErrolOlivier, CEO and president of MTN.

“For 30 years, we have innovated newways to deliver connectivity and contentwhere no terrestrial wireless or wirelinenetworks could connect vessels far out atsea. But passengers and crew no longeraccept limitations — they want to streamvideo, post their updates on Facebook andshare vacation images with friends … oreven family members sailing with them onthe same ship.”

The new service will make use ofMTN's recent investment in a purpose-built payload on Intelsat’s EpicNG satel-lite constellation.

MTN says it partnered with Intelsat toengineer the delivery of “maximum bit-to-hertz efficiency” for the satellite, whichwill allow for the delivery of a HighThroughput Multi-Spot Beam (HTMS)solution delivering up to 500 Mbps perbeam in the Caribbean.

MTN HTMS will enable vessels toseamlessly roam between MTN HTMSbeams and conventional Ku-beams, for extended coverage and redundancy.

The MTN service will remain backwardcompatible with existing Ku-band satellite systems, current network infra-structure and customer-preferred net-work topology.

MTN notes that this network designwas the first step in developing MTNNexus, with the second being the combi-nation of its satellite capabilities with a ter-restrial network to build a Near-Port/In-Port network using Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G,WiMAX and/or LTE.

As vessels move into port, they willswitch to Wi-Fi infrastructure using in-built switching technology. As a Wi-Ficonnection is established, MTN will real-locate unneeded satellite capacity back toships at sea, to maximise efficiencies inunused bandwidth when ships are in port.

MTN ShipCloud will provide the inte-grated shoreside and shipboard platformfor the MTN Nexus hybrid network.

Leveraging cloud computing technolo-gy, MTN says this aspect of the servicewill allow it to deliver a powerful infra-structure for processing and caching ofdata and content.

According to the company, this com-bined platform should allow for the provi-sion of a range of communication and con-tent products specifically optimised formaritime use to deliver applications inareas like social media solutions, contentand calling.

In addition, MTN Nexus will be anopen platform, to allow MTN productsand products from third parties to be inte-grated and optimised.

MTN says it is currently aiming its next-generation network at the cruise market,but it hopes to ultimately expand these

capabilities to other maritime sectors.“Bandwidth is only part of the solution

to the connectivity demands we see everyday from our cruise partners,” said Mr Olivier.

“The complete solution is an integratedhybrid communications platform specifi-cally designed for the cruise market to fur-ther enhance the total user experience.MTN’s next-generation network, built ona worldwide infrastructure, will minimisecosts, maximise throughput, optimiseoperations and deliver the greatest prof-itability to our partners.”

“MTN Nexus is a purpose-built solu-tion to deliver the at-home experience atsea and in or near port. We know this mar-ket better than anyone, and we know howto solve the problems. MTN Nexus willforever change the way we all think aboutcommunications at sea.”

Norwegian dealMTN had further cause for celebrationafter its Nexus announcement was closelyfollowed by confirmation that the compa-ny has extended its contract to provideVSAT services to Norwegian Cruise Line,to cover an additional five years.

The deal includes VSAT communica-tions, crew calling, internet services,access to MTN Worldwide TV and relatedservices.

MTN will continue to provide its com-munications solutions to the entireNorwegian fleet, including its newestships, Norwegian Breakaway andNorwegian Getaway, launching in 2013and 2014 respectively.

“Throughout our 21-year partnership,MTN has been committed to the highest

standard of excellence when it comes toproviding reliable and comprehensivecommunications services to our passen-gers and crew,” said Norwegian seniorvice president and CIO Vincent Cirel.

“MTN is always willing to test innova-tive new ideas that help keep our compa-ny at the forefront of maritime communi-cations for our guests and crew members.Their longevity and dedication to thecruise industry is truly unmatched and welook forward to continuing our successfulpartnership.”

MTN’s partnership with Norwegianstarted with the 709-ft Seaward in 1991,where MTN provided bandwidth to thecruise ship's 1,480 guests and 740 crewmembers.

With the extension of the contract,MTN will continue providing Norwegianwith communications services such asinternet cafés and Wi-Fi, so users can haveinternet access via smartphones, tablets,computers and laptops. Additional servic-es will include MTN OceanPhone.

“Norwegian has taken amazing stepsto better the passenger and crew experi-ence, and we embrace their challenge toalways be one pace ahead of their commu-nications demands,” said Mr Olivier.

“MTN values its customers and its ownservice team as seriously as Norwegian.This is a natural partnership for achievingNorwegian’s impressive connectivitymilestones.”

“MTN specialises in leveraging notjust the bandwidth, but also throughputto fleets so every last gigabyte – and eventerabyte – is optimised, resulting in serv-ice excellence and the best at-sea experi-ence the industry has to offer.”

MTN introduces next-generation Nexus platformDS

DS

p1-19:p1-14.qxd 07/12/2012 09:48

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p1-19:p1-14.qxd 07/12/2012 09:48

Randall Miller received the message just after the board meeting. MV Hemingway was forced to change course, due to an emergency in the next port of call. Recently Randall had selected Imtech Marine as their connectivity supplier. The promise of hassle-free solutions was delivered right away. Thanks to the global VSAT connection he could set up a crystal clear video conference with the captain, the cargo owner and port authorities. An alternative route was quickly agreed, the delay limited to mere hours.

Imtech Marine’s connectivity solutions excel by their global coverage and value added services. Find out more at www.imtechmarine.com/connectivity.

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p1-19:p1-14.qxd 07/12/2012 09:48

www.seagull.no

Seagull has signed a licensing agreementwith the International ShippingFederation (ISF), the employers’ associa-tion for shipowners, which will allowSeagull to utilise electronic versions of ISFOnboard Training Record Books.

The electronic versions of the bookswill be made available in conjunction withSeagull’s Competence Manager software.

The agreement grants Seagull the rightto develop an electronic version of all fourISF Record Books and sub-licence these toship operators who choose to use theSeagull Training Administrator program.

“The STCW 2010 Manila amendmentsrequire shipping operators to maintaindocumentary evidence of structuredonboard training,” said Roger Ringstad,Seagull managing director.

“This requirement has been extendedto include watchkeeping ratings, andthose seeking to qualify for the new STCWgrade of Able Seafarer, as well as officercadets who are already required to com-plete training record books.”

“This agreement will enable our cus-

tomers to use electronic versions of thewidely recognised ISF Record Books whileallowing the seamless transfer of dataabout training activity from one vessel toanother and to the company ashore.”

The four ISF Record Books – for traineedeck officers, engineer officers, deck rat-ings and engine ratings – have all beenwritten to reflect the amended competencerequirements of STCW 2010. They includetraining tasks to ensure that traineesreceive properly structured onboard train-ing.

The ISF books also assist officers whoare supervising the training to make anobjective evaluation of whether traineeshave achieved the required level of com-petence.

“ISF is pleased to allow Seagull to makeuse of our Record Books, satisfying arequest from our Manning and TrainingCommittee to facilitate their availabilityelectronically,” says ISF Secretary General,Peter Hinchliffe.

“This should provide a very useful sup-plement to paper-based record books,allowing the operator to choose the best ofboth worlds.”

MSI to install BASS across 50-ship fleet

Seagull to produce ISF e-books

www.bassnet.no

MSI Ship Management Pte Ltd (MSI) inSingapore is to perform a major IT sys-tems upgrade across its fleet, and willinstall the BASSnet software package tomanage its operations.

The BASSnet package includes mod-ules for maintenance, procurement, oper-ations, safety management, risk manage-ment, review and improvement of opera-tions, human resource management, pay-roll and report generation.

“We chose to work with BASS becausethey share a similar commitment to serv-ice quality and service excellence thatcomplements our business strategies,”said Li Kwok Hung, managing directorof MSI.

“We went for the complete modules ofBASSnet suite software solutions.”

MSI aims to use the new IT set-up toimprove efficiency in a number of areas,such as scheduling maintenance, reduc-ing down time on its vessels, achievingoptimal utilisation of spares/stores andoverall improvement in the managementof its fleet of more than 50 ships and 2,500seafarers.

The company has offices in Singapore,China, the Philippines, India andThailand.

“We are keenly conscious that MSI’s vote of confidence proves thatBASSnet software solutions and qualityof service meet the stringent standardsthat shipping majors maintain,” saidBASS’ chief executive officer, Per SteinarUpsaker.

“Furthermore, we are confident ofpartnering with MSI’s growth to proveour solutions’ development.”


SOFTWARE

www.jotun.nowww.marorka.com

The Marorka Online system has addednew functionality to make it fully compat-ible with Jotun’s Hull PerformanceMeasurement Method (JHPMM) energy-management dashboard, according to thecompanies.

JHPMM was developed specifically toenable performance-based contracts aspart of Jotun Hull Performance Solutions(HPS), as the Marorka Online platform canbe used to determine the outcome of theseperformance-based contracts betweenshipowners and suppliers of hull and pro-peller performance solutions.

“There is an increasing body of evi-dence as to the fuel cost and GHG emis-

sions saving potential related to improve-ments in hull and propeller performance,”said Marorka’s director of sales and mar-keting, Kristinn Aspelund.

“Enabling reliable measurements of hulland propeller performance throughMarorka Online is an important step in ourcontinuous efforts to help the shippingindustry become more energy efficient,more sustainable and more competitive.”

“Performance-based contracting makesit possible for shipowners and eco-technol-ogy providers to work together to realisefuel cost and GHG emissions savings. Wetherefore expect that performance monitor-ing systems increasingly will include sup-port for the transparent measurement ofrelevant performance indicators such ashull and propeller performance.”

www.evry.com

MarineLink, the maritime e-commerceservice provided by EVRY, has announcedthe launch of the next generation of itsSupplierOnline application.

The new system will be launched onthe 5th January 2013, and will introduce anumber of improvements for shippingcompanies and suppliers looking to con-nect with one another.

Since its inception, MarineLink has hadthree main products for its suppliers:SupplierAttach, SupplierOnline andSupplierLink.

SupplierAttach featured an Excelspreadsheet, sent via e-mail and handledand stored locally before being returned toMarineLink by e-mail again. The company

says that, though free to use, this productwas simplistic and limited, and will be dis-continued in 2013.

The SupplierOnline service is a webbased system, also free to use, which hashad three major overhauls since its initiallaunch, and is the service that will be thesubject of the 2013 updates.

Upcoming improvements to this sys-tem will include a direct link to productswithin an e-mail notification, availabilityof attachments in Quotes and POC (PDF,JPG, XLSX, DOCX etc), an option to per-form 'batch select' functions, and bettercontrol of data processing.

Users of the SupplierAttach servicewill be migrated to the newSupplierOnline service when the formeris discontinued.

MarineLink to overhaul e-commerce platform

Marorka adds Jotun compatibility

SpecTec reports that it has opened aProduct Development office in Poland, inTyczyn, near the city of Rzeszow. TheSpecTec Poland team is working onAMOS2 development, IDEA developmentand on testing of AMOS2 EMS.

ShipNet has appointed JonBumstead as managing director and SurenThadani as chief operational officer. Intheir new roles they will focus on innova-tion and product development to delivernew products.

www.spectec.netwww.shipnet.no

SpecTec’s new office in Poland

creating seaworthy software

www.autoship.com

Catch informationas it happens.

Stability & Strength AssessmentCargo Management & Load PlanningShip Design & ProductionWorld-Wide Service & Support

p20-26:p1-14.qxd 07/12/2012 10:41 Page 1

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Navgathi is to use the FORAN system


SOFTWARE

www.classnk.or.jp

ClassNK, IHI Marine United (IHIMU),Diesel United (DU) and IBM Japan haveannounced that they will jointly develop aship maintenance management system,with the aim of helping to reduce ship life-cycle costs.

The jointly developed system, whichwill make use of condition monitoringsensor technology and data analysis sys-tems, will be offered by ClassNK as acloud-based service to shipowners, man-agers and operators from June 2013.

From April to July 2012, ClassNK,IHIMU and IBM Japan carried out a jointresearch project to investigate methodsfor the early detection of machineryabnormalities.

Making use of ship machinery perform-ance data provided by the IHIMU Group,ClassNK and its partners analysed howmachinery performance changed in thesituations where malfunctions occurred.

This process was made possible by newdata analysis technology developed byIBM Research in Tokyo which can auto-matically identify hidden dependenciesbetween operational parameters and iden-tify sensor anomalies, allowing noise andfalse positives to be automaticallyremoved from the sensor data.

When research confirmed that the newtechnology can effectively analyse thedata from sensors connected to onboardmachinery, ClassNK began working toadapt the system for use in the maritimeindustry.

ClassNK’s new ship maintenancemanagement system will build on thetechnology used in IHIMU’s ADMAXshipboard management software, whichis already in use on more than 700 ves-sels, and IBM’s Maximo asset manage-ment software system.

The IBM Maximo Enterprise AssetManagement (EAM) system is alreadyused in power generation, manufacturing,real estate and other industries to managemaintenance and reduce the lifecycle costsof machinery and other capital intensiveassets.

The system itself will make use ofIBM’s cloud service to ensure the avail-ability of maintenance information any-where in the world.

In order to efficiently record mainte-nance data onboard ships, even wheninternet access is not available, IBM will

also jointly develop a mobile EnterpriseAsset Management application for thenew management software, using itsWorklight mobile application platform.

This mobile architecture aims to allowmaintenance data to be recorded onboardand accessed by managers or owners fromanywhere in the world via mobile devices.

In order to ensure the effectiveness ofthe sensor data analysis technology thenew system will also be verified on exist-ing bulk carriers, oil tankers, and contain-er carriers equipped with DU’s LifecycleAdministrator (LC-A) system, a sensorbased system for condition based and pre-ventive maintenance which makes use ofsensor data to determine the condition ofdiesel engines and other engine roommachinery.

In addition to assessing the effective-ness of the new analysis technology, thetests will also confirm the effect of realocean conditions and differences betweenindividual ships on the sensor data.

While LC-A requires a specialist todevelop an analysis model for each vesselon an individual basis, with IBM’s newtechnology and extensive testing on actualvessels, ClassNK says that its new mainte-nance system should minimise the needfor a custom built analysis model, increas-ing the scope of system application andallowing it to be used immediately onalmost all vessels.

The goal of the new service is to helpowners and managers detect machineryabnormalities at the earliest possiblemoment and predict where malfunctionsare likely to occur, thus allowing them toprevent machinery malfunction andlengthen machinery lifespan, while alsoreducing lifecycle costs.

This research project is one of morethan 100 R&D projects currently being car-ried out as part of ClassNK’s ‘PracticalR&D for Industry’ programme, whichunites partners from both inside and out-side the maritime community to developnew solutions to the challenges faced bythe shipping and shipbuilding industries.

IHIMU, which will soon merge withUniversal Shipbuilding under the nameJapan Marine United to become Japan’slargest shipbuilder, will use the data andexpertise developed as part of this projectto improve the ship support service of itslifecycle business, which will be one of thecompany’s key market segments follow-ing the merger.

ClassNK to introduce ship maintenance software

generation, decks and bulkheads), GeneralArrangement and Naval Architecture calculations.

The work to be performed by Navgathiincludes basic design, detailed design andgeneration of all information for produc-tion and assembly, both in new construc-tion and conversions and repairs.

The system will cover small boats up tolarge ships and marine structures.

Indian company to implement FORAN www.sener.es

Navgathi Marine Design and Constructionshas signed a contract with Sener for theuse of the FORAN software system in itsdesign and shipbuilding activities.

According to the agreement, the marineengineering company based in the town of Kochi, India, will acquire licences for a package including Forms (hull form

Boatracs to work with consultancy on compliance softwarewww.boatracs.com

Boatracs has formed a strategic partner-ship with maritime compliance consultingfirm Maritime Compliance International,to collaborate in the development of a newelectronic forms software productdesigned specifically for compliance man-agement of the upcoming US Coast Guard46 CFR Subchapter 'M' regulation.

The new product is based on Boatracs'electronic forms platform, BoatracsBTForms. BTForms is currently in use onapproximately 200 vessels and aims to assist

in collecting accurate vessel data for dis-patch, Health, Safety and the Environment(HSE), maintenance and management.

Kevin Gilheany, owner of MaritimeCompliance International, will work withBoatracs to build on this technology viathe development of a Subchapter M com-pliance product.

“Subchapter M, with all of its grandfa-thering, exceptions and other applicabilityspecifications, is the most complex regula-tion ever produced by the US CoastGuard,” said Mr Gilheany, himself a CoastGuard retiree.

“The biggest challenge is to determineexactly what is required for each individualvessel in a fleet. I have greatly simplifiedthis process for vessel owners and opera-tors by using a list of questions to deter-mine the optimum level of compliance.”

“Whether an operator chooses inspec-tion by Coast Guard or a third party audi-tor, this product is designed to make com-plying with Subchapter M manageable forany size fleet.”

The forms-based software product willbe installed on an on-board PC and, basedon certain input information, will auto-

matically generate a vessel survey check-list and all of the corresponding formsrequired to meet the regulations for thatparticular vessel.

The product will also include alerts forrequired dates to provide reminders ofupcoming requirements.

Completed forms can be stored on theon-board PC, printed, and the data trans-mitted to shore where an identical form willbe accessible from any PC, tablet or smartphone through a web-based user interface.

The commercial product will be launchedat the end of the first quarter of 2013.

www.iora.com

UK ship management company, ZodiacMaritime Agencies Limited has agreed afour-year deal to use replication technologyfrom iOra in the operation of its vessels.

Zodiac recently embarked on a reviewof its IT systems and operations with theaim of improving the way critical informa-tion was distributed.

Previously, Safety Management System(SMS) updates were delivered on a CD tovessels, a process that was judged to beunreliable and time consuming. Zodiacwanted to start distributing this informa-tion across the network in a faster andmore efficient manner.

To do this, the company selected iOra'sdata replication solution to deliver docu-ments to its ships, and has now purchased150 licences to replicate critical files,including SMS updates, to improve andstreamline its information distributionprocess.

“We selected iOra because it was thebest performing technology in its class to

address the challenge of updating safetymanagement manuals to the vessels.Using a CD to do this was very resourceand time consuming,” said Ilan Shechter,IT manager, Zodiac.

“The introduction of the technology hasenabled us to significantly improve effi-ciency and has now been deployed acrossthe fleet, transforming the way we operate.We are now looking at using this technolo-gy in other areas of the Zodiac business.”

The iOra replication system works inenvironments where available networkbandwidth is as low as 2kbps. It offersserver to server, server to virtual serverand server to laptop solutions.

“This is an exciting relationship foriOra and Zodiac, highlighting how iOra isrecognised as a leader in data replicationfor the maritime market,” said MarkThompson, CEO, iOra.

“Our patented technology has provid-ed Zodiac with a resource-free solution tothe problems faced when delivering criti-cal documents quickly and safely to shipsacross the world.”

Zodiac implements data replication system

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Sailing at sea and always online_

Fastest speeds in the industry now available 8Mb / 1Mb

Please contact NSSLGlobal Ltd w w w . n s s l g l o b a l . c o m

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p20-26:p1-14.qxd 07/12/2012 10:42 Page 4

www.adonis.no

Crew management software companyAdonis has released version 4.0 of its mar-itime package.

Release 4.0 has seen a complete make-over of the Adonis Maritime Suite, accord-ing to product director Erick Meijer, withthe inclusion of Microsoft Office ribbon-style menus and a number of new iconsthroughout the system.

An improved range of help options and'tips' have also been made available.

"The individual user has been in focusfor this release," said Mr Meijer.

"All the settings for the useful newoptions, such as the Quick Access Toolbar,the Navigation Panels and the multipleWork Spaces can be saved by the individualuser, allowing rapid access and a flexible

approach to the content of the comprehen-sive Adonis Human Resource database."

A new Analytical Module has beenadded, used to define an unlimited num-ber of database queries across all tables inthe system. The result appears with Pivotfunctionality and can be presented in tab-ular or graphical modes.

This function can be used to performtasks like definition of KPIs and examina-tion of retention rates.

A Portuguese language option has alsobeen added, and the company says that, inprinciple, any other language can be madeavailable, with further development to bebased upon customer needs.

Adonis notes that, for existing userswho are happy with the previous inter-face, it will still be possible to run the newsoftware release in 'classic' mode.

Adonis introduces version 4.0

www.napa.fiwww.futureship.net

A survey conducted by ship design soft-ware company NAPA Group into prepa-ration levels for the upcoming IMO shipenergy efficiency management plan(SEEMP) has revealed a major dividebetween large and small shipping compa-nies in the use of electronic systems toensure compliance.

The survey, completed by over fiftyship owners, operators and charterers,revealed that the industry is takingresponsibility for SEEMP compliance seri-ously and is optimistic about its benefits.However, the focus for most respondentswas to ensure compliance and maintain abusiness-as-usual approach.

Individual responses to the surveydescribed SEEMP as “absolutely needed”,“long overdue” and “one of the best prac-tices”; an assertion re-enforced by the factthat 79 per cent of respondent organisa-tions already have a system in place forSEEMP compliance.

Company size was identified as a keyfactor in levels of preparedness – 95 percent of those responsible for 30+ vesselsare “prepared”, with the remaining 5 percent in the final stages, compared to com-panies with 5-15 vessels who had the low-est preparation rate at only 43 per cent.

36 per cent of respondents were pre-pared for paper SEEMP, and 45 per centfor electronic. Organisation size was thegreatest determining factor in choosingthe method of SEEMP - 62 per cent ofthose with 60+ vessels are opting for elec-tronic, while 67 per cent of those withfewer than five vessels chose paper.

70 per cent of those without a plan inplace for SEEMP believe electronic sys-tems would be the best solution.

The results also suggest however that,even though slightly more respondentsare using electronic systems, most are notplanning to use the data collected underthe SEEMP to try and improve their fuelefficiency.

In fact, the survey found that 60 percent of the market was unaware that com-

pliance with SEEMP could also create fur-ther fuel saving potential.

“It is enormously positive to find thatthe industry is so prepared for the upcom-ing SEEMP regulation – however it isimportant to understand that in utilisingelectronic SEEMP and modern softwaresolutions savings of as much as 20 per centcan be achieved,” said Esa Henttinen, vicepresident, business development atNAPA for Operations.

“NAPA has long maintained thatSEEMP regulation is there to help ownersand operators help themselves and it isheartening to see that this opinion is sharedby most of our survey participants.”

“The survey results highlights thatthere is still scope for more educationaround SEEMP before it becomes manda-tory. Moreover, the survey shows thatthere is a significant percentage of organ-isations that don’t realise they canachieve 15 to 20 per cent in bunker fuelsavings – the opportunity is there forowners and operators to substantiallyreduce operating costs and emissions.Unless this is widely known SEEMP maynot live up to its potential and fully bene-fit the industry.”

One vessel operator that has takensteps to introduce electronic systems tomanage SEEMP compliance is EFNAVCompany of Athens, which has recentlytaken delivery of a SEEMP system fromFutureShip, the maritime consulting armof Germanischer Lloyd (GL)

Despite the results of the survey indi-cating a general lack of enthusiasm forsoftware systems, FutureShip notes thatthis delivery in fact marks the 1,000thSEEMP package that it has provided toshipping companies around the world.

The FutureShip SEEMP Solution isdesigned as a template-based form thatallows a shipping company to select meas-ures appropriate to its own business andconvert these into vessel specific SEEMPs.

Every SEEMP is checked by FutureShippersonnel to minimise the chance of error,and the SEEMP Solution comes with a ves-sel specific EEOI calculator for every shipin a fleet.

Version 4.0 includes a new Analytical module

SEEMP survey highlights lack of awareness

SOFTWARE


“Excellent service and the shortest lead-time were, alongside a competitive price,the main reasons to go with FutureShip asour partner for implementation of aSEEMP,” said EFNAV's technical manag-er, Pantelis Chondros.

“We ensure that we will have zero has-sle with Port State Control after imple-mentation, while at the same time myteam is supported in making energy sav-ing part of their daily routines.”

The SEEMP was adopted by the IMO inan effort to encourage innovation andreduce CO2 emissions, and is now a partof MARPOL Annex VI.

A SEEMP is mandatory for all seagoing ships (both new and existing ships)larger than 400 GT from 1 January 2013.

Envisioned as a management tool toassist a company in improving energy effi-ciency of ships in operation, a SEEMPmust be specific for each ship in a fleet andshould be used together with establishedenvironmental management systems.

Ideally, it will allow companies toreduce fuel consumption through simplechanges in operational measures.

The SEEMP is a cyclic process with foursteps in each cycle: Planning,Implementation, Monitoring, Self-Evaluation and Improvement.

“More than just a paper tiger, as well asallowing owners and operators to max-imise the efficiency of their fuel savingmeasures, the SEEMP has the potential toenhance the deployment of data sharingand the modern software tools that goalong with the sophisticated analysis ofship performance,” said Till F. Braun,managing consultant with FutureShip.

“Vessels with a SEEMP in place havealready shown to make marked improve-ments in fuel consumption and as theprocesses and systems become morefamiliar to the shipping industry this willcertainly grow.”

The FutureShip SEEMP Solution is cur-rently available in Russian, English andSpanish, as SEEMP requires that the planshould be established in a working language or languages understood by aship's personnel.

www.portvision.com

PortVision has signed a three-year agreement with Sunoco Logistics to provide the company with itsTerminalSmart platform.

Sunoco Logistics will be deploying theplatform at multiple terminals throughoutthe US.

TerminalSmart integrates dock man-agement, scheduling, reporting and ana-lytics with PortVision AutomaticIdentification System (AIS)-based vesseltracking services, and offers a predictiveETA of inbound vessels as well as real-time alerting of stakeholders based ondock schedule changes.

“PortVision’s TerminalSmart platformis expected to bring important capabilitiesto our business operations,” said DaveChalson, Sunoco Logistics’ vice presidentof operations.

“It is anticipated that this product willhelp our marine transportation managersimprove scheduling, vetting, logistics, losscontrol and demurrage management, andstreamline and enhance activities associat-ed with front-line dock activities and dockmanagement.”

TerminalSmart also gives terminaloperators access to PortVision’s databaseof both real-time and historical vesselmovements based on AIS vessel-trackingdata, combined with management, analy-sis and reporting tools to enhance terminaloperations.

“We are pleased that Sunoco has selected TerminalSmart for its busyUS terminal operations,” said DeanRosenberg, PortVision chief executiveofficer.

“Sunoco Logistics is widely regarded ashaving among the most efficient andattractively located pipelines and termi-nals in the Gulf Coast, and we are com-mitted to helping the company furtherimprove operational performance withthe TerminalSmart platform.”

Sunoco to use dockmanagement andtracking system

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www.napa.fi

Software provider NAPA Group is to pro-vide loading computers for 55 offshoresupport vessels (OSV) under a contractwith BOURBON.

The software aims to enable BOURBON to improve loading andunloading with maximum cargo intakewhile improving assistance to stabilityand longitudinal strength for operationalefficiency.

NAPA is also providing BOURBONOSVs with 3D systems offering 'real time'onboard loading calculations and ship sta-bility analysis, as wellas an emergencyresponse system dur-ing loading.

The software will beinstalled on twentyBourbon Explorer 500series vessels, fifteenBourbon Liberty 150series vessels andtwenty BourbonLiberty 300 series ves-sels commissioned byBOURBON and builtby Sinopacific ZhejiangShipbuilding shipyardin Ningbo, China.

Five of the BourbonLiberty 300 vesselshave already beendelivered.

“BOURBON does not compromise withsafety,” said Olivier Daniel, BOURBONmanaging director newbuilding.

“Our relationship with NAPA has beenfruitful and should mature with thenumerous coming installations. The effec-tive loading of a vessel is absolutely criti-cal, as the movement of heavy objects ontothe ship during loading impacts stabilityand increases the risk of harm.”

“The installation of NAPA’s LoadingComputers will help our crews to improvepreparation for and management of load-ing procedures, maximising safety atevery stage.”

www.regs4ships.com

Regs4ships Limited reports that it is set tolaunch the sixteenth flag based product forits Digital Maritime Regulations service.

The new Denmark flag product is avail-able as of early December, and containsflag state and international legislation in aweb-based solution.

The product contains all Danish flagstate Acts, orders, regulations, circulars,guidance and notices, along with inter-

linked and keyword searchable copies ofSOLAS, MARPOL and STCW from theInternational Maritime Organization (IMO).

The company says that it already has“thousands” of users worldwide currentlysubscribing to its Digital MaritimeRegulations services, which provideaccess to 15 additional conventions, 30additional codes, over 1,200 resolutionsand 1,800 circulars from the IMO, along-side conventions, protocols and guidelinesfrom the ILO and legislation from the EU.


SOFTWARE

Loading software for 55 Bourbon vessels

The software will be installed across a range of Bourbon Liberty series vessels

Safety management reporting from GLwww.gl-maritime-software.com

Germanischer Lloyd is releasing the suc-cessor to the Incident Management modulein its GL ShipManager software package, tobe named Safety Management Reporting.

The new application allows for fleetwide recording of all types of findings andincidents, to allow users to perform causeanalysis and monitor follow up actions.

It follows a form based approach,which GL says shipping companies aremore familiar with as they are generallycoming from a paper based Quality &Safety Management environment.

Based on the results of an investigation,the Safety Management Reporting moduleprovides only two different types ofreports - incident or finding.

An incident will be specified by its type

and sub type; type covers (as a default)accidents, near misses, and security breach-es, while sub type includes things likegrounding, personal injury and damage.

A finding is the report of an inspection,survey, or visit, and is specified by theauthority and the type, for example PortState / Port State Control.

The content of the various categories,including report types/sub types, can beconfigured by the user (depending on theuser rights), though the module will bedelivered with a default set of data basedon best practice in the maritime industry.

This is the second module in the soft-ware package, after the Certificates module,to be significantly updated and GL says thatit is also working on a new risk assessmentmodule to add to its software's Quality &Safety Management functionality.

Denmark added to Digital Regulations product

Fugro delivers high performance

navigation data in all ocean

regions over two independent links

onboard the vessel.

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Fax: +47 21 50 14 01

E-mail: [email protected]

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p20-26:p1-14.qxd 07/12/2012 10:42 Page 7

Radar simulatorfor Florida

training centre

www.classnk.or.jp

ClassNK has certified the type specificECDIS training courses provided by thenewly established Philippines-JapanMaritime Training Management (PJMTM)ECDIS training centre.

The centre has been established withfunding from the International MarinersManagement Association of Japan(IMMAJ), an association of 96 Japanesecompanies who collectively employ almost50,000 seafarers on more than 2,300 vessels.

PJMTM’s new facility in Manila willboast 56 dedicated ECDIS simulators, andwill provide type-specific ECDIS trainingfor Filipino seafarers who serve onJapanese merchant vessels.

The ECDIS training course certificationprovided by ClassNK covers type specificECDIS training for systems from all fourof the manufacturers used by the centre,including Japan Radio Corporation (JRC),Furuno, Tokyo Keiki, and Transas Group.

In related news, ClassNK also reportsthat it has certified the type specific ECDIStraining course provided by PhilippineStandard Shipmanagement Inc (PSSI).

PSSI is an affiliate of Japanese shipmanagement company NS United MarineCorp, a part of NS United Kaiun Group.

ClassNK says that the new course hasbeen set up in order to address newrequirements from oil majors and PortState Control (PSC) authorities, that arenow requesting evidence of Type-SpecificECDIS training during vetting and PSCinspections.

This has pushed NS United MarineCorp, with the cooperation of ECDIS sys-tem manufacturer Tokyo Keiki, to estab-lish a new ECDIS training centre atManila-based PSSI.

The certification from ClassNK is usedto confirm that the training centre’s ECDIStraining is carried out in accordance withthe society's independently developedrules and maritime education standards.

ECDIS training certified by ClassNK


Digital Ship

www.safebridge.net

Online ECDIS training companySafebridge has released its third onlineECDIS familiarisation course, covering theChartWorld eGlobe.

Structured in the same way as earliercourseware for the Sperry MarineVisionMaster FT and the RaytheonAnschuetz Synapsis, NSC and theRetrofit ECDIS 24, the content follows thecompetencies set out by the recommen-dations of various Flag States andrequires 16-18 hours of study (a complet-ed IMO 1.27 generic training course is apre-requisite).

The course costs €185 for a single log-in,

with fleet training or prepaid packagesalso available.

“The cost of training is proving one ofthe most significant factors determiningshipping companies’ approach to ECDISfamiliarisation training,” said Ulf Steden,managing director of Safebridge.

“New solutions have come to market toreduce expenditure and we are especiallypleased to have been chosen asChartWorld’s preferred partner for onlinetype-specific training because of its revo-lutionary approach to the whole issue.”

Safebridge says it is currenlty develop-ing courseware for a further five leadingECDIS manufacturers and that these willbe released over the coming months.

www.buffalocomputergraphics.com

Maritime License Training of Florida, US, has purchased a radar simulator from Buffalo Computer Graphics (BCG) to increase its maritime trainingcapabilities.

Maritime License Training will useBCG’s PCRDP emulation software as partof its training service following the deal.

The PCRDP is an emulation of theRDP-139 Furuno radar commonly foundon smaller vessels and vessels that prima-rily operate in a coastal environment.

The emulation software, coupled withBCG’s GUI2 user interface, will allowCapt Bob Russo, MTL’s owner andfounder, and his instructors to offer radarand ARPA training at their AtlanticBeach, Florida facility.

This training can also be extended toother locations if the need arises.

ClassNK executive vice president Koichi Fujiwara presents a certificate to PJMTM president Eduardo U. Manese

www.videotel.com

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency(MCA) in the UK has given its formalapproval to the Videotel CBT ECDIS blend-ed learning package, the company reports.

The Videotel course is intended for alldeck officers as part of their mandatoryECDIS training, and should provide anunderstanding of the principles of ECDIS,the fundamentals of ECDIS capability andoperation, and knowledge of how to use thesystem for route planning and monitoring.

Importantly, Videotel says that studentsshould also learn about the limitations ofECDIS and the dangers of over-reliance.

Once this part of the training has beencompleted successfully, candidates canprogress to an ECDIS TrainingConsortium (ETC) centre for generic andtype-specific simulator training.Alternatively, type-specific training can beconducted online at a later stage throughVideotel’s collaboration with Safebridge.

The course is delivered in a modular

form, using self-paced CBT (ComputerBased Training). The CBT contains Englishtext and narration, short video sequences,graphics and interactive capabilities.

“As ECDIS becomes part of the naviga-tional landscape, the industry hasresponded with a wide range of trainingoptions targeted at the seafarer,” saidNigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel.

“But how does the shipowner or ship-manager sift through the bewilderingarray of alternatives and select the bestroute through complex training and ISMcompliance issues? The answer must be toselect a course tried and trusted by theindustry, from a quality training providerand with third party endorsement.”

“The Videotel CBT training packagecovers perhaps one of the most importantsubjects we have undertaken in recentyears, which delivers a course that pro-vides the very mind-set and understandingso essentially required on the principles ofthe ECDIS system and how it should beused to facilitate navigational safety.”

UK MCA approves ECDIS CBT

ChartWorld ECDIS added to Safebridge

p27-36:p15-25.qxd 07/12/2012 10:52 Page 1

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION


Training centre opens in Southampton www.e-navigation.org.uk

www.nautissim.com

A new training facility called The EnavCentre, located near Southampton in theUK, has opened for business.

The focal point of the centre is a new VSTEP NAUTIS Full MissionSimulator (FMS), which the centre hopeswill offer a high level of realism for traineebridge teams.

The simulator offers a 315° viewingcapability, and is to primarily be used forBridge Team training, though it has been

fitted with four different ECDIS systemsall integrated with the NAUTIS software.

The bridge simulator has been set up with two radars and four ECDIS systems and is capable of displayingRADAR, AIS and ARPA overlays onto theECDIS. Equipment from OSI, KelvinHughes, JRC and Transas has been inte-grated, though the simulator can also beintegrated with other ECDIS manufactur-ers as required.

The FMS is to accompany the six small-er NAUTIS simulators already used tooffer visual channels as part of the IMO

1.27 Model ECDIS Course.Other bridge related courses, such as

BPC, BRM and BTM courses, and addi-tional courses such as Human Factors andAnti-Piracy, will also be offered at theEnav Centre.

Course bookings for the Enav Centrefor 2013 are already being taken, with twomore centres in Asia and the Americasalso planned to be opened next year.

“These are exciting times,” said JoeSloly, customer development manager atthe Enav Centre.

“We are now delivering a new and

exciting range of courses in addition to thetraditional bridge courses. The additionalcourses on offer vary between studies onthe subject of Human Factors rightthrough to Anti-Piracy.”

In related news, the ECDIS referencewebsite www.ECDISRegs.com reportsthat it has now reached 100,000 downloads.

The website offers ECDIS related infor-mation for the mariner including updatesfrom manufacturers about approvedECDIS currently on the market. The web-site was first launched in 2011.

www.martek-marine.com

Martek Marine has won a series of ordersto supply its MariNOx Evolution onboardemissions monitoring and engine efficien-cy system to Daewoo Shipbuilding &Marine Engineering (DSME) and HyundaiHeavy Industries in Korea.

Martek says that the shipyards haveagreed seven orders for these systems,worth more than US$1 million.

Amongst the orders is a request to deliv-er what Martek describes as “the largestand most complicated emissions monitor-ing system ever to measure SOx, NOx, CO2,CH4, NO2, THC, H2S, Benzene and N2O.”

MariNOx Evolution is designed to enableautomated Marine Equipment Directive(MED) certified compliance with the MEPC177(58) NOx Technical Code 2008, as well as MARPOL Annex VI and MEPC 103(49).

All engines are monitored via a singlesample line, which the company saysremoves the need to install a dilutionarrangement requiring dry air supplies ateach engine.

“Korean yards continue to chooseMartek over other fledgling competitorsbecause of our vast experience and theunique features of MariNOx Evolution,”said Martek Marine managing director,Paul Luen.

“Over 100 of our systems have alreadybeen installed and have clocked up mil-lions of operating hours. None of our com-petitors can even come close to this level ofcritical application experience across manydifferent ship types, hence the confidenceour customers enjoy in their choice.”

“Yards are building more fuel efficientand less polluting ships and so are turningto our world-class solution to help themachieve this. We have a team of local expe-rienced Korean MariNOx engineers whoare able to install and commissionMariNOx Evolution systems and havedeveloped a particularly close workingrelationship with the Korean yards.”

MariNOx Evolution was introduced in2010 following further development andengineering on the original MariNOx sys-tem, launched in 2005.

$1M in Korean orders for emissions monitoring system

This full mission bridge simulator will be used to offer courses at the new Southampton training centre

Fast, intuitive route planning and navigation monitoring

www.furuno.comFURUNO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.

Multifunction display capability, featuring ECDIS,

Conning Information Display, Radar/Chart Radar and

Alert Management

Instant chart redraw delivered by FURUNO’s advanced

chart drawing engine, making redraw latency a thing

of the past

Task based operation making the ECDIS operation

simple and intuitive

Fast, precise route planning, monitoring and navigation

data management

FMD-3200 [19" LCD] FMD-3300 [23.1" LCD]

FURUNO provides thoroughgoing ECDIS training programs:

Proper ECDIS training is available at FURUNO’s own training centers, INSTC

and at the NavSkills network of training centers. The training programs

consist of:

• Generic ECDIS training in accordance with IMO ECDIS Model Course

1.27. Available at INSTC Denmark only.

• FURUNO type specific ECDIS training, available at INSTC Denmark, INSTC

Singapore and at the NavSkills facilities:

FURUNO Deutschland GmbH, OCEAN TRAINING CENTER (Turkey), GMC

Maritime Training Center (Greece), COMPASS Training Center

(Philippines), A.S. Moloobhoy & Sons (India) and at FURUNO Shanghai.

Please contact INSTC Denmark at [email protected] for details

www.thomasgunn.com

A new maritime navigation start-upnamed Global Navigation Solutions(GNS) has taken a major step forward inits entry into the market with the acquisi-tion of Thomas Gunn Navigation Services,and its Poly Thomas Gunn subsidiary.

Thomas Gunn is a distributor of UKHydrographic Office/Admiralty marinenavigation products and services and anECDIS reseller, with its own brand chartmanagement and route planning toolsincluding Voyager and TGT eData.

Consideration for the acquisition hasnot been disclosed.

GNS was formed in November 2012,with the aim of providing a range of mar-itime services to shipping companiesworldwide.

The company is headed up by MikeRobinson, formerly chief executive officerof the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO),and is owned jointly by its senior manage-ment team and Phoenix Equity Partners.

Phoenix is an independent privateequity fund management business, itself

also owned by its executive team andwith an investment focus on mid-marketUK private businesses valued at up to£200 million.

Thomas Gunn, current managing direc-tor of the Thomas Gunn Group, willassume responsibility for business devel-opment in the GNS group.

“It is an exceptionally exciting time inthe marine market,” said Mr Robinson.

“We are looking forward to workingwith Thomas Gunn to develop progres-sively more intelligent navigation solu-tions that give our customers increasing-ly tangible operational benefits.”

Thomas Gunn sold to start-up

Mike Robinson, CEO at Global Navigation Solutions

p27-36:p15-25.qxd 07/12/2012 10:52 Page 2

www.chartco.com

ChartCo has released a new version ofPassageManager, its passage planningand product management platform.

The graphical management tool wasfirst introduced in 2011, and the newrelease builds on the existing productwhich is already installed across approxi-mately 50 per cent of the ChartCo sub-scriber base.

PassageManager allows the ChartCosubscriber to plot routes, attach naviga-tional products to those routes and thenproduce passage plans combining prod-uct, port and route data.

The software follows maritime bestpractice for creating passage plans and canbe tailored to meet the specific demands ofbridge procedures.

“PassageManager has been a great suc-cess and was another first for ChartCo inthe maritime data world,” said SteveMariner, business development director atChartCo.

“Following this enthusiastic receptionwe have consulted with a number of lead-ing Ship Operators to refine the passageplanning tool which now provides a fullytailored and comprehensive passage planin a matter of minutes, saving hours ofwork. Coupled with industry leadingcompression and data management tech-niques that reduce data sizes to a mini-

mum, it makes a compelling offering.”“The new software has been exhaus-

tively trialled by a select number of fleetsprior to release. The feedback received hasbeen very positive and the benefit of ves-sels having this sort of functionality avail-able is evident. All the end-users ofPassageManager have commented on theease of use and considerable time savingthe functions of the software deliver.”

Vela is one of the shipping companiesthat has been using the system, with theMaster of the Matar Star, Capt PaulArmitage, commenting that the applica-tion “reduces passage planning from 2 to 3hours to about 10 to 15 minutes includingexporting the route from ECDIS.”

Valeriy Baranov, Vela's fleet supportgroup superintendent, also noted that “theability of PassageManager to bring togeth-er product information with passage plan-ning and then provide such a comprehen-sive passage plan document is veryimpressive.”

“Nowadays time is valuable andChartCo provides key labour saving toolswhile ensuring we have the most up todate navigational data possible. Thedetailed port data, which is updated everyweek, means that it will become a vitaltool within our fleet.”

The new version of PassageManager iscurrently being rolled-out across theChartCo fleet, and is free for existing sub-scribers.

www.transasmarine.com

Transas reports that it has recently com-pleted the delivery of a range of simulatortraining systems to facilities in Georgiaand Greece.

The Batumi State Maritime Academy(BSMA) in Georgia has upgraded its train-ing facility with the installation of a rangeof new simulators.

The simulators includ-ed a full mission engineroom simulator (ERS5000) that simulates aMAN B&W 6S50MC-CDiesel Engine ProductTanker Ship Model.

The system is integrat-ed with the existingNTPRO 5000 navigation-al simulator and providesfor joint training ofengine room and bridgeteams, replicating the operation of prod-uct tanker machinery, bridge and powersystems.

Within the second part of the project,the Academy was equipped with anECDIS simulator class, which will allowBSMA students to receive mandatorygeneric ECDIS training.

This project is a continuation of anongoing relationship between Transas andBatumi State Maritime Academy, datingback to 2006 when Transas supplied anintegrated simulator complex to the

Academy.In Athens meanwhile, Costamare

Maritime Training Services has been sup-plied with a Navigational SimulatorComplex including the latest version ofthe NTPRO 5000 Full Mission BridgeSimulator with 240 degrees visualisation,an ECDIS class and a Debriefing Area.

The full mission bridge will be used for

training and certification of watch officersand chief officers in ship handling, whilethe ECDIS class will enable CostamareMaritime Training Services to carry outconventional ECDIS training and issuecertificates of competency.

The installed systems meet the require-ments mandatory for STCW 2010 compli-ant ECDIS training, such as an ECDISbackup station; use of official S57 charts;fictitious area; and instruments for routeplanning, work with licences and chartupdates.

ChartCo PassageManager updated

Batumi State Maritime Academy has installed a range of new simulators


Digital ShipSimulators installed in Greece and Georgia

p27-36:p15-25.qxd 07/12/2012 10:52 Page 3



W R Systems has been awarded apatent for the ‘Outside the Stack’ ParticulateMatter (PM) measurement technology usedin its Emsys emissions monitoring technol-ogy. The Emsys system is designed to meas-ure gaseous emissions such as NOX, SOXand CO2, as well as PM and opacity.

Imtech Marine has opened a newoffice in Barcelona, just weeks after addingValencia to its global network and a yearafter the company opened its first Spanishoffice in Algeciras. With the latest Spanishadditions the Rotterdam-headquarteredcompany now has 94 offices worldwide,

located on major shipping lanes and inshipbuilding centres.

Imtech Marine has also opened anew office in New Delhi to support itsImtech Marine India Pvt Ltd business,which is presently working on variousprojects for the Indian Navy withregard to the supply of HVAC/NBCequipment, Fire Fighting systems and Chilled Water Plants. All of theseprojects are currently in the bidding stage.

www.exactearth.com

Satellite AIS data services providerexactEarth says that it has successfullyadded its latest satellite exactView-1 (EV-1) into commercial service.

According to the company, EV-1 is per-forming with increased detection rates ofup to 40 per cent better than any previoussatellite sensors monitoring AIS signals.

Daily detection rates are consistentlyreaching 45,000 MMSIs (Maritime MobileService Identity number), says exactEarth,increasing the ships covered by its globalAIS service to approximately 90,000unique MMSIs a day.

EV-1 was launched into an 810km polarorbit in late July 2012 and subsequentlywent through commissioning activities tobring the satellite into full operation.

exactEarth says it plans to expand its con-stellation in the near future with AIS receiverson board the Canadian M3M satellite and theSpanish PAZ radar satellite, both launchingin 2013. In addition, two further dedicatedAIS satellites will also be launched in 2013.

“We are very excited to announce thatEV-1 has joined our operational serviceoffering,” said Peter Mabson, president ofexactEarth.

“We are thrilled that the advanced sensors coupled with our patented de-collision processing algorithms are deliv-ering results beyond our expectations,making EV-1 a huge leap forward in spaceAIS detection.”

“This single enhancement to our serviceoffering doubles the AIS messages collect-ed from space and delivers an even higherlevel of performance to our customersaround the world, providing the most com-plete maritime picture available today.”

In related news, exactEarth has also report-ed that the South African Maritime SafetyAuthority (SAMSA) has recently signedan agreement to renew its exactAIS dataservice through to October 2014.

SAMSA has been using space basedAIS data to try and improve MaritimeSafety and Security in Southern Africa.

Working with a number of Governmentdepartments in the maritime security envi-ronment, SAMSA is involved with marineenvironment protection, national and eco-nomic security as well as search and rescueoperations through its Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town.

With this agreement, SAMSA will nowhave access to exactAIS Premium data,delivering AIS data as one integrated feed allowing for berth-to-berth vesseltracking.

“The detection level, coverage and reli-ability afforded by the exactAIS servicegives us an invaluable resource in helpingto manage the maritime environmentaround Southern Africa,” said CaptainKarl Otto, executive head of the Centre forSea Watch and Response in SAMSA.

“It gives us visibility into sea areas thatwe cannot achieve with any other sensoror data source.”

AIS satellite enters service

www.dmca.ae

Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA)reports that it has introduced new initia-tives governing the deployment of naviga-tion aids by various entities engaged inmaritime activities, to ensure the safety ofDubai’s waters.

DMCA, the government authoritycharged with regulating, coordinating andsupervising all aspects of the maritimesector in Dubai, says it conducted meet-ings with relevant authorities to discussthe requirements and processes involvedin the deployment of navigation aids priorto their introduction.

Under the new initiatives, a NoObjection Certificate (NOC) from DMCAwill be required before any entity candeploy navigation aids in Dubai’s waters.

A deployment plan and an annualmaintenance plan for the navigation aidsare also required before the NOC is issued.Monthly updates of the navigational aids

will also have to be submitted to DMCA.“Navigation aids are essential tools in

our continuing efforts to maintain thesafety of Dubai’s waters. This is particu-larly true as we are now witnessingnumerous offshore projects and otherlarge-scale development initiatives beingundertaken across Dubai’s marinas,” saidAli Al Daboos, executive director of oper-ations, Dubai Maritime City Authority.

“The recent meeting with leading enti-ties who are engaged in various maritimeactivities gave us an opportunity to explainin detail the processes and requirementscovered by the new regulations. The sup-port of Dubai’s maritime stakeholders iscertainly crucial in our mission to maintainmaritime safety and security through theoptimal use of navigation aids.”

Dubai Maritime City Authority saysthat, in the future, it will issue detailedmaps for deployment of navigation aids inDubai and distribute them to all stake-holders and relevant bodies.

www.emsysmarine.comwww.imtech.eu/marine

Dubai unveils plan for navigation aids

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Digital Ship

tion of the ECDIS, including all updatesand alterations. Companies should haveclear procedures for using ECDIS andassisting the navigators in completion ofthe Familiarisation process.

Recommendations1. Companies should ensure that they

have addressed Familiarisation requirements as defined within the ISM Code, taking into account the minimum requirements for ECDIS outlined in Annex I.

2. Companies should ensure that mariners are able to demonstrate the competencies as defined within Annex I prior to taking charge of a naviga-tional watch, and that they maintain those competencies.

3. Companies should establish clear guidance for the use of ECDIS within their Safety Management System (SMS) procedures.

4. Equipment manufacturers should pro-vide materials to companies and train-ing organisations to assist them with the requirements outlined in Annex 1.

5. Flag States and Port States should take the contents of this guidance into account.

Delivery OptionsA ‘Company’ can consider a wide varietyof options for achieving Familiarisationboth onboard and ashore. These includebut are not limited to:� Shore based manufacturer training

followed by installation-specific Familiarisation onboard;

� Independent training on specific systems followed by installation-specific Familiarisation;

� Computer Based Training (CBT), fol-lowed by installation-specific Familiarisation onboard;

� Internet / Intranet Based Training (eLearning) followed by installation-

specific Familiarisation onboard;� Onboard training by appropriately

trained crew or training personnel;� Manufacturer provided training mode

on the ECDIS, followed by installation-specific Familiarisation onboard;

� Company bridge procedures and manuals.

Full Familiarisation needs to be specific tothe installation and may require a mix ofthe above methods and considerationshould be given to allow adequate time forthis activity, whether done ashore oronboard or both.

Regardless of the method(s) used, it isessential that all watchkeeping officersmust be competent in the use of theonboard ECDIS prior to taking charge of anavigational watch, and remain so there-after.

It is recognised that manufacturer pro-vided tools for structured onboardFamiliarisation will enhance and possiblyadd value to onboard ECDIS.

The IMO ISM Code requires the‘Company’ to establish “Instructionswhich are essential to be provided prior tosailing [that] should be identified, docu-mented and given.”

Companies must therefore make clearin their Safety Management System (SMS)their requirements for ensuring thedemonstration of competency for thesefamiliarisation issues prior to officers tak-ing charge of a navigational watch.

[The following FamiliarisationChecklist] provides a detailed descriptionof ECDIS tasks the industry expects offi-cers of the watch of ships using ECDIS tobe able to demonstrate competency in.These tasks should be considered a mini-mum requirement.

Pilots should be able to demonstraterelevant competencies contained inModel Course 1.27. However pilotsshould not be expected to meetFamiliarisation requirements.

FF ollowing on from the publication ofa statement by a group of majorindustry stakeholders voicing ‘con-

cerns’ regarding ECDIS competence (seestory on page 1, Digital Ship November2012), an expanded organisation called theECDIS Training Group, including thosesame stakeholders and a number of otherbodies, has published a new documententitled ‘Industry Recommendations forECDIS Familiarisation’ with the aim ofpromoting clarity in ECDIS training.

In the document the ECDIS TrainingGroup recommends that companiesshould establish clear guidance for the useof ECDIS within their Safety ManagementSystem procedures.

It has also produced a FamiliarisationChecklist (reproduced here on pages 32-33) that details tasks officers of the watchof ships using ECDIS should be able todemonstrate competency in.

The checklist covers the followingareas: initial preparation, basic operation,charts, navigation tools and functions,route planning and route monitoring.

The ECDIS Training Group, whichfirst came together in 2011, is co-ordinat-ed by The Nautical Institute, with indus-try organisations BIMCO, GlobalMET,International Federation of Shipmasters’Associations, International Group of P&IClubs, International Maritime Pilots’Association, International Chamber ofShipping, InterManager, INTERTANKO,International Shipping Federation,Marine Accident Investigators’International Forum and Oil CompaniesInternational Marine Forum supportingthe new guidance.

The document has been described as“an invaluable point of reference for thosekeen to establish and follow best practicein relation to ECDIS” by Philip Wake,chief executive of The Nautical Institute.

“As our industry moves away fromdepending solely on paper charts, thisguidance provides important clarifica-tion in terms of the competenciesrequired for what has become a vitallyimportant navigational and decisionsupport tool,” he said.

The text of the ‘IndustryRecommendations for ECDISFamiliarisation’ follows:

BackgroundBeing aware that the implementation ofElectronic Chart Display and InformationSystems (ECDIS) has given rise to confu-sion in regards to ECDIS Generic Trainingand Familiarisation with onboard sys-tems, an industry group, organised andcoordinated by The Nautical Institute and

comprising leading international shippingindustry organisations, has been meetingsince 2011 to produce a range of guidanceto clarify the requirements for competencyin relation to ECDIS.

It should be noted that the term ‘typespecific’ as used by some administrationsis not referred to by this industry group.After discussion it was agreed that onlythe terms ‘generic training’ and ‘familiari-sation’ are covered by IMO instruments(STCW 2010 and ISM respectively).

This particular guidance deals with theneed for competency followingFamiliarisation with ECDIS specific toonboard equipment and its arrangements.This Familiarisation will be complementa-ry to ECDIS Generic Training.

The regulatory requirements forFamiliarisation with ECDIS are covered bythe ISM Code (including sections 6.3 &6.5) and the STCW Convention RegulationI/14 which require the Company to estab-lish procedures to ensure that new person-nel and personnel transferred to newassignments related to safety and protec-tion of the environment are given properfamiliarisation with their duties.

FamiliarisationIt is recognised by all signatories to thisguidance that ECDIS, as defined by theInternational Maritime Organization(IMO) when implemented will be one ofthe most important navigation and deci-sion support tools.

The complexity of ECDIS should berecognised and the ability of a watchkeep-ing officer to be competent and confidentin the operation of ECDIS, includingperipheral equipment and actual ver-sion(s) of software and charts, as part ofthe shipboard navigational system isessential for safety, security and protec-tion of the marine environment.

ECDIS Familiarisation has, thereforebeen defined as:

Familiarisation: Following the success-ful demonstration of competencies con-tained in the ECDIS Generic Training,Familiarisation is the process required tobecome familiar with any onboard ECDIS(including back-up) in order to assure anddemonstrate competency in relation to aspecific ship’s ECDIS installation, prior totaking charge of a navigation watch.

Familiarisation should cover:� Initial Preparation;� Basic Operations;� Charts;� Navigational Tools and Functions;� Route Planning and Route Monitoring.Familiarisation includes any pertinentinformation required for the safe opera-

Concern among stakeholder groups regarding the current levels of ECDIS training across the maritime industryhas led to the publication of a new guidance document that aims to provide a point of reference

for best practice for shipping companies looking to provide ECDIS familiarisation training

Stakeholders publish ECDIS guidance document

Reference

1: Definition of Generic Training: Training to ensure that navigators can use and under-stand ECDIS in the context of navigation and can demonstrate all competencies containedin and implied by STCW 2010.

Such training should ensure that the navigator learns to use ECDIS and can apply it in allaspects of navigation, including the knowledge, understanding and proficiency to transferthat skill to the particular ECDIS system(s) actually encountered on board, prior to tak-ing over navigational duties.

This level of training should deliver the competencies at least equivalent to those given inIMO Model Course 1.27.

(Source of definition: industry ECDIS Training Group. www.nautinst.org/ECDIStraining)

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ECDIS Familiarisation Checklist1 Initial Preparation

Comments Y/N

1.1 Establish if the vessel is approved to use ECDIS for navigation

1.2 Establish whether there are Company Navigational Procedures con-cerning the use of the equipment and ensure that these are followed

1.3 Establish whether any passwords are needed for the management of the system and, if so, obtain the details from the Master (if appropriate - see end note)

1.4 Establish whether there is an onboard approved Familiarisation training package for the equipment, whether as computer based training, an inbuilt training mode or as a book or digital image of a book (eg. PDF file). Use this before completing the checklist items here

1.5 Identify the primary ECDIS equipment and the facilities for back-up.If the back-up is a second ECDIS of a different type to that of the primary installation, then Sections 2 to 6 of this Familiarisation checklist must be repeated for both systems

1.6 Understand ship procedures in event that the ECDIS and its back-up fail

1.7 Determine where the user manuals for ECDIS and its back-up are located – an electronic version of these may be available on each unit

1.8 Determine where Base and Update CDs are stored on the ship(if appropriate)

1.9 Determine the procedures to obtain additional chart permits (if appropriate)

1.10 Determine and understand the position - fix systems that feed the ECDIS. Determine the method of switching between sources, such as primary and secondary position-fix systems

1.11 Determine what other systems feed into the ECDIS, such as radar (acquired targets, Radar picture overlay), AIS, water speed logs, echo sounders, etc. For each, establish the reference framework, eg. ground-, water- or ship-stabilised (relative)

1.12 Determine where to find maintenance records related to the ECDIS and service reports, non conformity reports & inspection, validation reports (if appropriate)

1.13 Determine the power supply modes and their specifications such as UPS duration

2 Basic Operation

2.1 Determine how to switch the ECDIS on and off

2.2 Establish the function(s), position and general operation of the physical controls and switches, including cursor control, and the access and selection of menu items

2.3 Understand how to access the main menu and select menu options

2.4 Determine the methods for setting day/night viewing modes, brightness, contrast and colour correction (if available)

2.5 Determine how to switch between traditional and simplfied symbology

2.6 Determine how to put equipment in route-monitoring mode and route-planning mode

2.7 Determine the methods for scrolling and zooming charts, including determining the current scale of displayed charts and setting the display to a particular scale

Comments Y/N2.8 Determine how to select the Display Base and Standard Display

2.9 Determine how to display other information from ENCs, including the display of All Other Information

2.10 Determine how to check that information concerning own ship, such as dimensions are correct

2.11 Determine how to select the safety contour and safety depth

2.12 Determine how to select two- or four-colour contour mode

2.13 Determine how to select deep and shallow area

2.14 Determine how to set all other parameters concerning the safety domain

2.15 Establish how alarms and other alerts are given by the ECDIS and understand the procedure needed to acknowledge them

3 Charts3.1 Determine how to access the chart directory and to identify whether

charts are ENCs, RNCs or unofficial

3.2 Determine how to select a chart for display on the screen

3.3 Determine how to load new chart licence keys (if appropriate)

3.4 Determine how to load base data (if appropriate)

3.5 Determine how to check the update status of loaded charts

3.6 Determine how to update charts using the normal cumulative update procedures (if appropriate)

3.7 If applicable, determine how to apply non-cumulative or electronically-transmitted updates3.8Determine how to apply manual updates (if appropriate)

4 Navigation Tools and Functions4.1 Determine how to display the legend of general information e.g. units

for depths & heights, datums etc.

4.2 Determine how to select information about an object (Pick report)

4.3 Determine how Zone of Confidence (CATZOC) information can be displayed

4.4 Determine how to access the Presentation Library

4.5 Determine what Marine Information Overlays (MIOs) are available and how to access them. (Radar and AIS covered in Section 6 below)

4.6 Determine the single operator action needed to remove MIOs from the display

4.7 Determine the single operator action needed to set the Standard Display setting

4.8 Determine how to view, add, edit and delete Mariners’ Notes

4.9 Determine how to access all navigational elements and parameters, such as past track, vectors, position lines, etc.

4.10 Establish the facilities provided for the measurement of range and bearing (eg EBLs and VRMs) and determine their use

4.11 Determine the method(s) used for inserting Parallel Index lines

4.12 Determine what other navigational tools are available and how to access them

4.13 Determine how to change to using the ECDIS back-up system

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Digital Ship

Comments Y/N

4.14 Determine the procedure for identifying and reacting to sensor/GNSS failure.

4.15 Determine how to switch Chart Text (text for charted objects) on and off.

5 Route Planning (If appropriate to watchkeeping responsibilities)5.1 Determine how to load existing routes and enable for editing

5.2 Determine how to initiate a new route plan

5.3 Determine how to initiate and plan alternate routes

5.4 Determine how to save route plan

5.5 Determine how to add, delete and adjust graphically the position of waypoints

5.6 Determine how to add, edit and delete critical points

5.7 Determine how to display time varying objects relevant for the timing of the planned voyage

5.8 Establish all the features available for planning routes, such as use of straight and curved segments, wheel over positions, turn radii, and inserting pilotage aids

5.9 Determine the ship’s procedures for displaying MSI, T&P Notices and other relevant notes into the voyage plan

5.10 Determine how to use the facilities for checking the planned route

5.11 Determine how to load the planned route and alternatives into the back-up system

5.12 If available, determine how to use RCDS mode where ENCs are not available and as appropriate.

6 Route Monitoring6.1 Determine how to load a pre-planned route

6.2 Determine how to select the primary or an alternate route and how to distinguish between them on the display

6.3 Determine the single operator action that selects the charted display of own ship’s position

6.4 Determine the available display orientation modes and how to switch between them (eg, North Up, Head Up, Course Up)

6.5 Determine the available display motion modes and how to select them and change the parameters, such as the position of own ship on the display when Relative Motion is selected

6.6 If Radar or AIS targets can be displayed on the ECDIS, determine what target vector modes are available and how to switch between and differentiate them

6.7 Determine how to create time labels along the ship’s track

6.8 Establish familiarity with the Route Monitoring display, including the display of position, heading, course, speed and time

6.9 Determine how to set the length of own ship’s vector and intermediate time marks

6.10 Determine how to display Radar and AIS MIOs, if available

6.11 Determine how to use the ECDIS as the input to a track-keeping autopilot. This will also need reference to the autopilot handbook

6.12 Determine how to input LOP to form the reference for an estimated position

6.13 Determine how to configure the ECDIS to use this reference (6.12) for subsequent EPs

6.14 Determine how to switch to DR mode and to identify when the ECDIS is in DR mode

6.15 Determine how to use the review facilities of the voyage recorder (if appropriate and not essential knowledge prior to sailing)

Notes: Companies are responsible for ensuring watchkeepers adequately demonstrate knowl-edge of all identified issues to comply with the Familiarisaton requirements of the ISM Code.

Some tasks have been marked “if appropriate” as they might not pertain to “navigation atoperational level” but rather “navigation at management level” as defined by STCW 2010.

Tasks identified in this Annex were originally developed for, and more information can befound in, the book ‘ECDIS and POSITIONING’, written by Dr Andy Norris FNI and published byThe Nautical Institute. ISBN 978 1 906915 11 7

This checklist is annexed to ‘Industry Recommendations for ECDIS Familiarisation’www.nautinst.org/ECDIStraining

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SS hips’ bridges continue to evolvewith the growth of knowledge andthe application of newer technology.

Obviously, it means that the knowledgerequired by bridge officers also has toevolve. This has typically involved a steadyassimilation of new features but there areoccasionally significant step changes thathave to be specially accommodated.

The introduction of ARPA, GMDSS andECDIS are examples of the latter, broughtinto being by technological advances andsubsequent mandate.

These particular examples have beenaccompanied by significant training pro-grammes for existing bridge staff as wellas for those newly qualifying.

Somewhat surprisingly, other impor-tant changes have been adopted in thepast with perhaps too little concentrationon the training of existing staff, a particu-lar example being AIS.

The universal use of GNSS, notablyGPS, also came about with little or no train-ing for many already qualified OOWs.

To their credit, the appropriate use ofnew technology has generally been rapid-ly introduced into the programmes ofmany training colleges, benefitting thosenewly qualifying as well as encouragingshipping companies to send existing staffon relevant courses.

The use of new equipment on thebridge not subject to detailed IMOrequirements brings its own issues. In par-ticular, within the last 20 years ECS hasbeen fitted on many ships, often apparent-ly with little or no training – and ECS-related accidents have occurred.

However, it does seem that the climateis changing, primarily because of thethinking arising from the mandatoryintroduction of ECDIS.

In particular, the need to focus on usersbecoming familiarised with the specificbridge installation before a formal watchis undertaken has been highlighted.

The need for appropriate familiarisa-tion with safety-related equipment hasactually been explicitly embodied withinIMO’s International Safety ManagementCode, which came into force in 1998.

This has now been amplified by therecent Manila Amendments to STCW,which includes the emphasis that compa-nies need to allocate ‘a reasonable periodof time during which each newlyemployed seafarer will have an opportu-nity to become acquainted with the specif-ic equipment the seafarer will be using oroperating’.

Industry initiativeAlthough some flag states have additionalrules on type-specific training, the ship-ping industry itself has been firmly tack-ling the issues of familiarisation, concen-trating on the actual equipment on a spe-cific bridge.

This has resulted in the recent jointlyreleased statement concerning ECDIS famil-iarisation from a large number of influentialinternational organisations representing theshipping industry (mentioned in thismonth’s Digital Ship on page 31).

It includes the statement,‘Familiarisation is the process required tobecome familiar with any onboard ECDIS(including back-up) in order to assure anddemonstrate competency in relation to aspecific ship’s ECDIS installation, prior totaking charge of a navigation watch’.

Those organisations have published aFamiliarisation Checklist, developed fromthe one included by the Nautical Institutein their text book ‘ECDIS and Positioning’– OK, I do have a particular interest inthat book...

An important aspect in the issued doc-umentation is that mariners should be ableto demonstrate the competencies definedwithin the Checklist and, by implication,not just that they have attended a courseor have got a certificate.

There are a whole spread of ways thatthe competencies could be achieved,including shore based courses, computerbased training and on-board training by‘appropriately trained crew or trainingpersonnel’.

What is particularly emphasised, how-ever, is the additional need for familiarisa-tion with the ship-specific installationbefore a watch is undertaken.

The published Checklist thereforeincludes the identification of essentialship-specific items, such as the back-upfacilities, the interconnected navigationalequipment and the company’s navigation-al procedures.

It also includes a list of basic competen-cies on using the model-specific ECDISequipment, such as demonstrating how toselect the safety contour and how to checkthe update status of loaded charts.

There is a good possibility that theequipment-specific competencies will beused by manufacturers as a basis for theirown type-specific training modules, ideal-ly ordered and identified as in theChecklist.

This would help to give uniformity tothe training, allowing easier and quickerassimilation by users of each new ECDISthat they encounter.

Manufacturer-specific CBT modulescould be available on the ship, as well asbeing web or office based to allow easypre-access of new staff to its detailed oper-ation, before being introduced onboard tothe ship-specific installation aspects.

Not just ECDIS?Whilst the announcement by the shippingorganisations understandably directs itsattention to ECDIS, it is firmly based onIMO requirements, initially arising out ofthe ISM Code.

It used to be the case that acquiring aradar ‘ticket’ meant that you were consid-ered competent to use any ship’s radar.

In earlier days this was probably true.However, a modern system is softwaredriven and has increasingly greater func-tionality – and dissimilarity – to othermanufacturers’ equipment.

Examples include its integration withAIS, its increased tracking options, the useof colour in depicting radar data and theincreasing likelihood of the system beingable to display charted information andother overlays.

In particular, AIS integration hasbrought about a number of additionalmanufacturer-specific implementationsfor user set-up. These include target asso-ciation and target filtering functionality, aswell as an increasing number of useroptions for target track initiation.

Manufacturers adopt different userinterfaces to control all these features,including the main settings of the radar,such as range selection, ‘gain’ and cluttersettings.

The main difference to ECDIS is thatthe functionality of radar has been knownto seafarers for a great number of years. Itis generally fairly easy to sort out the basiccontrols but perhaps the more sophisticat-ed functions are being ignored, or – evenworse – misused.

Many have attributed the historic fall-off in the use of parallel index lines to thehuge dissimilarities of implementation ondifferent radars and, by implication, thelack of familiarisation training.

In comparison to much of the addition-al functionality on a modern radar the dis-play of PIs is a relatively simple function,suggesting that many other safety-relatedfeatures of radar are not being properlyused on many ships.

To use radar correctly, good familiarisa-

tion with the ship specific equipment beforetaking a watch is surely also essential.

Not least, it is needed to answer suchship-specific questions as – where is theConsistent Common Reference Point?What radar sensors are accessible fromeach display? Are there any blind sectors?What navigational sensors are connectedto the radar? Are there bridge specificinstructions for its use?

Total bridgefamiliarisation

It would surely be logical for the ECDISmodel for familiarisation to be extended tocover all bridge equipment.

Many aspects only require a momen-tary introduction, such as the basic navi-gational sensors, including GNSS, echosounder, log and gyro. In general, use ofthe communications equipment shouldalso be relatively straightforward.

Leaving aside the ship’s engine andmanoeuvring controls, the main naviga-tional focus will undoubtedly be on theECDIS, radar and the ship’s integratednavigation system, if fitted.

Effective use of all these systems needsa particularly good knowledge of theoverall navigation system interconnectionand the actual placement of sensors.

In addition, a good understanding ofalerts, especially their settings, acknowl-edgment and control is essential for suchequipment.

Alerts are universally acknowledged asbeing a constant nightmare on modernships’ bridges. A good understanding ofthe complete system can help in reducingthe number of seemingly unnecessary orrepeated ones.

However, there is a fear by some thatthe future familiarisation requirements fora ship’s bridge will become as onerous asthose needed for the safe handling of acommercial aircraft.

In fact, this is a poor comparison. Thehandling characteristics of aircraft arevery type specific and small operatingerrors by the pilot can rapidly escalate to amajor disaster.

The vast majority of today’s shippingaccidents have a lengthy pre-warningfrom multiple sources of information thatall is not well, which typically remainunnoticed by the navigator through notapplying basic navigational skills.

Sound basic training and specificbridge familiarisation along the lines ofthose recently issued by the internationalshipping industry organisations forECDIS is exactly what is required to sig-nificantly improve marine safety.

ECDIS familiarisation is currently a hottopic – but should familiarisation training

be extended to other technologies?

DS

Dr Andy �orris has been well-known in the maritime navigation industry for anumber of years. He has spent much of his time managing high-tech navigationcompanies but now he is working on broader issues within the navigationalworld, providing both technical and business consultancy to the industry, gov-ernmental bodies and maritime organizations. Email: [email protected]

Familiarisation training in the use of ECDIS is becoming an increasingly important topic following the commencement of the first phase of the mandatory carriage requirement – given the potential benefits,

perhaps similar training methods could also be extended to other types of bridge equipment, writes Dr Andy Norris

Becoming familiar

p27-36:p15-25.qxd 07/12/2012 10:52 Page 8

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