REMOVING IT BURDEN FROM THE CREW AND INCREASING OPERATIONAL

EFFICIENCY

Digital Ship Conference

May 22-23, 2012 Singapore

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Rob Frenks – Group ICT Manager Vroon

AGENDA

• Vroon at a glance • ICT Shipboard standards at Vroon

• Why did we have to improve ? • Our approach and the choices we made • Status and our experiences to-date • Key Learning’s

• Q&A

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VROON AT A GLANCE

• Vroon manages and operates vessels in a number of specialised and commodity-type markets: – Livestock – Dry Cargo – Tankers – Containers – Car Carriers – Offshore

• Platform Supply • Anchor Handling Tug Supply • Emergency Response and Rescue • Subsea Support • Windmill installation

• 150 vessels, of which 75% are internally managed • 3,800 Seafarers • 300 Office staff • Head office in Breskens, The Netherlands,

with 8 Management Companies geographically spread around the world.

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ICT SHIPBOARD STANDARDS AT VROON

• In order to remove the IT burden from the crew, but also to improve the operational efficiencies in Vroon, we have started three simultaneous, inter-dependent, initiatives:

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IT Networks

Satellite Communications

Maintenance & Procurement

AMOS Business Suite

For the purpose of this presentation, we will focus on IT Networks & Satellite Communications

WHY DID WE HAVE TO IMPROVE ?

IT Networks on board

• Lot’s of virus infections

• No proactive monitoring and remote support, hence required to attend the vessels regularly

• Unapproved changes

• No IT standards throughout the fleet

• No ability to implement new capabilities (e.g. AMOS Maintenance)

Satellite Communications

• Diversity in solutions

• Multiple solution providers

• High and unpredictable costs

• Unmanaged VSAT solutions

• Increasing business demands: . Vessel-Office integration . Condition based monitoring . Crew welfare

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We decided to focus first on fixing the IT Networks, followed by Satellite Communications.

OUR APPROACH

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As oppose to continue managing it ourselves (trial and error), we have decided to search the market and to take advantage of proven and tested maritime solutions.

•Cross functional workgroup, facilitated

by ICT

•Group-wide and market-specific requirements

•High level solution

architecture

•From long list (20-25 companies)

•To short list (3

companies)

•To Vendor presentations

•To Decision and

Contract Negotiation

Tendering Process

•Detailed requirements

•Standardised on

Tools and Systems

•Scripting of applications

•Security, Firewalls,

VLAN’s, etc.

Design & Development

•Piloted the solutions on 3 vessels

•Adjusted design and processes based on

key learning’s

•Commence roll-out to the fleet

Pilot and commence roll-out

Project Management (Reporting, Meetings and Change Management)

2 months effort 4-6 months effort 2-4 months effort 2-4 months effort

Specifications & Requirements

OBJECTIVES OF THE TWO PROJECTS

IT Networks on board

• Cost Effective IT Infrastructure – Standardised solution to maximise

economies of scale. – Short implementation timeframe. – Reduce support travel costs (remote

monitoring and support). – Single service provider.

• Secure and reliable solution

– Closed system. – Automated updates. – Separate VLANs for Business, Crew,

Customer and Condition Based Monitoring.

• Easy to use for the crew – Limited IT skills onboard. – Ability to re-install applications or PC.

Satellite Communications

• Ensure consistent, flexible and high quality Satellite Communication services.

• Reduce, optimize and manage our Satellite Communication costs.

• Standardise on the services and move to a single service provider (now 10+ providers).

• Ability to implement additional processes (QHSE content distribution, Condition based monitoring, on-line IT systems, ...).

• Enable and support Group-wide Crew Welfare policy:

– Telephony – Personal e-mail – Internet

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THE CHOICES WE MADE - PARTNERS

• Palantir was the only company we came across that had a proven and tested IT network solution. As a Company, Palantir is easy to work with.

• Automated build & deployment process, assuring rapid and trouble-free rollout.

• Easy process to apply software patches, antivirus, etc. including onshore dashboard to monitor status of the services and hardware onboard.

• Support being carried-out remotely (also w/o VSAT), hence hardly any need to travel to vessels once implemented.

• Limited IT skills needed from end-users, including automated client rebuild via simple F12-key.

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KeepUp@Sea

THE CHOICES WE MADE - PARTNERS

• KVH was the only company we came across that designs, manufactures, owns and operates the end-to-end solution.

• Strong focus on Quality Assurance whilst maintaining flexibility.

• Reduced installation costs and shortened time to install due to minimal size of the dome and pre-configured BDE rack.

• KVH-owned comprehensive network and data management tools (CommBox).

• Global Care (24/7 support and 5 years warranty).

• Global coverage to support our diverse businesses (Regional: TracPhone V7 & Global: TracPhone V11).

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THE CHOICES WE MADE – SOLUTION & DESIGN

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We decided on a fully managed service for both, from managing the logistics, implementation onboard untill ongoing support & maintenance.

Standardised on Hardware •Windows-based Client-Server architecture •Locked-down USB, except for the Master •V7 for Offshore ; V11 for Deep Sea and Iridium Open Port as backup. •Commbox for all vessels

Standardised on Software •AMOS Maintenance & Procurement •Watchkeeper, SPOS, etc. •MS Office, Autocad and image viewers, etc

Business Telephony & Data •Cisco VoIP “vessel – office” integration, incl. access to the Corporate Directory •Business Internet restricted through white lists •Metered plan with the possibility to migrate to fixed data plans

Crew perspective •Free, individual e-mail with web-based access both onboard and ashore •Prepaid crew calling cards •Prepaid internet cards

Seamless integration

due to aligned VLANs

STATUS – WE ARE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS

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OUR EXPERIENCES TO-DATE

Knowledgeable and Accountable people

Cost Effective IT Infrastructure • It has proven to be an enabler for standardised

roll-outs and this in a very short timeframe (for example Watchkeeper or AMOS patches).

Secure and reliable solution • The anti-virus solution, in combination with the

USB lock-down, proves to work. We had 1 virus infection, which was automatically cleaned, over a period of more than 2 year.

• Travelling due to IT issues onboard has been reduced to 1 occasion (not related to KeepUp@Sea)

Easy to use for the crew • The KeepUp@Sea solution from Palantir is in

demand

The Company • Strong Vision, Leadership & passionate

people • Focused on Quality and Continuous

Improvement. • Easy to work with; striving for win-win.

Secure and reliable solution • Good network performance • Good up-time / availability • Easy to install

Crew perspective • Good feedback on performance, free email

and quality / costs of telephony • Some of our markets are expecting “free

internet”

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KeepUp@Sea

KEY LEARNING’S People & Cooperation • Engage the business & operational levels of the respective organizations early on in the process;

ensure that the people who have to actually ‘do the jobs’ are fully on-board. • Assign qualified, dedicated resources, specifically during the RFP, Design & Pilot phase. • It is a long-term cooperation; therefore, get to know each other’s businesses, organisations and

people; be open and clear about challenges and difficulties (it is better to be aware & understand).

Processes • Develop end-to-end processes prior to roll-out, including RASCI charts and communication /

escalation protocols. • Apply Project Management and discipline during the implementation process (e.g. installation

process of the IT Network on board improved from 2 weeks (pilot vessel) to ‘one long day’).

Technology • Use these type of initiatives to consolidate on the tools and systems being used on board. It will

save you a lot of money later on in the process. • Good preparation (cabling, site surveys or evidence based) is 70-80 % of the work and avoids

high, additional costs / rework during installation. • Locked down systems works, i.e. no administrator rights and USB.

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REMOVING IT BURDEN FROM THE CREW AND INCREASING OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

Digital Ship Conference May 22-23, 2012

Singapore

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Rob Frenks – Group ICT Manager