Rickmers Signs 102 Vessel Satcom Deal

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June/July 2010

Rickmers signs 102 IN THIS ISSUE vessel satcom deal satcoms 60cm C-band VSAT antenna system The Hamburg-based Rickmers Group has embarked on a comprehensive launched by Schlumberger – 5 EU funding for Alphasat communications upgrade that will involve installation of FleetBroadband project confirmed – 6 500 terminals and completely new computer networks on every ship Iridium makes down-payment on next in its 102-strong fleet. Bjoern Sprotte, Rickmers, told Digital Ship generation satellite launch – 8 about this revolution in operations VSAT increased communications tenfold – China National Offshore Oil Corporation – 14 he Rickmers Group The contract will fea- provided through optimise the use of the T is to install broad- ture the delivery and Telemar’s partner Vizada, communications network Tband satellite sys- installation of a cus- until the end of 2014. on the ships. software tems across its fleet of tomised hardware solution Telemar also notes that it The deal is the culmina- more than 100 vessels, including Thrane & has been supporting tion of a long-term project after agreeing a deal with Thrane FleetBroadband Vizada to co-develop new whereby Rickmers has Teekay to install ABS-NS the Telemar Group, 500 terminals, as per value added services and decided to pursue a wide- software package across through its German sub- Rickmers’ specifications. an enhanced network ranging overhaul of its its fleet – 18 sidiary Telemar GmbH. Satellite airtime will be application platform, to communications infrastructure, and introduce Mowinckel and Alpha Shipmanagement the latest IP technologies go for e-commerce – 22 to its fleet of ships. Modern communications “We started approxi- in shipbroking – 24 mately two years ago, with some testing on some of our vessels with various types of equipment,” electronics and explained Bjoern Sprotte, navigation manager operations, Rickmers Reederei. “At that time the idea Seafarer safety and the role of was to see what the new technology – round table discussion generation of satellite communications systems had Space-based AIS, LRIT, Piracy, to offer. So it’s been quite a e-Navigation, Technology vs long preparation period Politics, and GMDSS – 38 for this.” “We looked at a few alternatives, looking at Maritime IT at Posidonia – Preview – 50 The Rickmers Antwerp (left) and Rickmers Singapore, like the rest of the company’s what we are using for Broadband in navigation – fleet, will deploy a completely new communications infrastructure under the project. present communications Dr Andy Norris – 54 Photo: Marko Stampehl continued on page 2 “Makes life easier” - Sigmund-Tore Grane, IT-Manager, Utkilen AS

© 2010 DUALOG AS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL RIGHTS AS. © 2010 DUALOG Bergen-based Utkilen AS owns and operates 20 Chemical Tankers equipped with VSAT as the primary communication system. “Dualog® Connection Suite™ gives me all means to manage our ship-shore communication. There is no need to shop around, it’s all there in one solution,” says IT Manager Sigmund-Tore Grane. “Dualog® Connection Suite™ is an outsourced management tool supported, at all levels, by maritime communication experts. The all-in-one concept adds real value to our company, ” adds Grane – a Manager with no need to expand his IT staﬀ. p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:36 Page 2

SATCOMS

continued from page 1 and looking at what the future communi- the project are secondary to the opera- up to date with what’s happening.” cations might be.” tional aims. New ISM and crewing applications The new FleetBroadband will replace a “With a conventional terminal it’s not have already been earmarked for introduc- range of different existing Inmarsat termi- so easy to fit another handset here or there tion following the roll-out of the broad- Vol 10 No 9 nals aboard Rickmers’ fleet. and allow the crew to talk to people at band service, all of which will be com- “About half of the fleet were running home,” he said. pletely linked to the vessel. Digital Ship Limited Inmarsat-B systems, so they need to be “This also is of interest when you start “With older systems you had to devel- 213 Marsh Wall replaced anyway, and the other half were talking about the Maritime Labour op special ship clients to use with them, London E14 9FJ, U.K. using Fleet 77 terminals, a bit more Convention [by ILO], where you need but with the new communications you www.thedigitalship.com advanced but still the bandwidth is quite proper means of communication onboard can forget about that and just connect limited,” said Mr Sprotte. which the crew can use.” them online using an IP channel,” said “So the satcom systems were reaching “However, this is not the main target at Mr Sprotte. PUBLISHER the stage where they needed to be the moment, the main target is to improve “In the end we want the vessel to Stuart Fryer upgraded, but there was also the need to the business communications and get that become a remote office location, just meet the demand for increasing up and running, but once that’s in place like the people working ashore. EDITOR e-mail communications, and communica- it’s simple to just add these services, so it’s Communications should not be a barrier Rob O'Dwyer: Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4940 tions for the crews.” an extra benefit.” anymore.” email: [email protected] The goal of bringing the vessels into the Motivation Broadband network CONFERENCE PRODUCERS organisational structure has also led the Karl Jeffery: Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4935 The motivation to pursue the project Rickmers has already identified a number company to broaden the scope of its com- email: [email protected] has come from a gradual change in the of specific areas where it intends to utilise munications upgrade to include the con- operations of the company, with the its new communications capabilities, par- struction of a completely new computer Cathy Hodge: Tel +44 (0) 20 7510 4945 way it keeps in contact with the ships ticularly in increasing the efficiency of its networking infrastructure onboard the email: [email protected] having altered dramatically since it e-mail system and automating chart and ships, allowing for better communication ADVERTISING installed its previous generation of satel- weather updates to increase the safety of between computers on the vessel while Ria Kontogeorgou: Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4931 lite systems. the vessels by providing them with more also being linked into the overall corporate email: [email protected] “In the past we had quite a substantial accurate information – however, one of network. amount of fax being sent, but that has the most important factors was to intro- “We will install new networks on all of PRODUCTION almost completely ceased nowadays, it’s duce a scalable system that would leave the vessels,” said Mr Sprotte. “With the Vivian Chee: Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 5540 all e-mail,” said Mr Sprotte. room for further expansion. previous systems our vessels were dialling email: [email protected] “E-mail is now the primary means of in on modems, and we had a couple of communication, where in previous times modems here in the office, whereas with EVENTS we had faxes, telephone, and so on. With the new systems they are just users on a Diana Leahy Engelbrecht the e-mail, we introduced it quite early network, logging on like any other user on Tel: +44 (0)118 931 3109 compared to a lot of other companies shore would do.” email: [email protected] many years ago, but now we had reached “This requires some extra investment in a stage where we felt we needed to update the infrastructure ashore too, but it should CONSULTANT WRITER and upgrade our systems to a system that make things easier as the ships should be Dr Andy Norris (navigation) would allow our crews to communicate able to be maintained as easily as any other [email protected] more efficiently.” user can be maintained ashore.” “We wanted to avoid having the mas- “On some of the newer vessels we had ter, or whoever was in charge of the com- computer networks on the ships, but on the DIGITAL SHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS munications, sitting in front of a comput- older ones we didn’t – we’ll be taking this GBP £150 per year for 10 issues er or the satcom equipment for hours opportunity to install networks on 15-year Subscribe online at www.thedigitalship.com waiting for e-mails to download, as it was old vessels now. It’s a big job, but if you do or contact Stephan Venter on with the old systems. It was also impor- the right planning then it’s possible.” [email protected], tant to add value for our customers, Under the terms of the companies’ tel +44 (0)20 7510 4937 namely the charterers, since we might be agreement, Telemar has been charged with able to offer them the benefits of the new responsibility for management of the UPCOMING CONFERENCES infrastructure as well.” introduction of the new vessel network DIGITAL SHIP USA Another area the company has identi- systems, from design through to installa- The Italian Center of Stamford fied as potentially creating a positive tion and implementation. September 22-23 return is remote access to IT systems The networks will be created on a ship- DIGITAL SHIP SINGAPORE aboard the ships. by-ship basis by Telemar based on the par- Suntec CEC “We wanted to cut down on our travel ticular specifications of each vessel, as October 27-28 costs for IT maintenance, with the other Gennaro Faella, director of corporate oper- systems you can have a lot of travel costs ative coordination and business develop- dealing with broken hardware, software, ment at Telemar, explains. Printed by planned maintenance and so on. Part “At the beginning of the project we The Manson Group Ltd of the project was to reduce this,” said Design and installation of the new received from Rickmers the ship plans for Reynolds House Mr Sprotte. communications network has been each ship in the fleet,” he told us. 8 Porters' Wood managed by Telemar Valley Road Industrial Estate “If you have any problems with the e- “Together with our technical depart- St Albans mails or whatever, you just log on to the ment, product and network developers, Hertz AL3 6PZ computer and can clarify what’s going on. “The communications bandwidth we studied these plans, and came up with U.K. A remote access session may cost a little makes you faster and more efficient, but drawing booklets, including specifications bit extra but if you can save on courier the motivation was also there to be able to and instructions, mechanical and electrical No part of this publication may be repro- charges, air freight, travel cost, then it’s implement new services in the future,” drawings, for each ship.” duced or stored in any form by any much less.” said Mr Sprotte. “This involves a network on board con- mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or other means without the “It depends on how you configure the “Many charterers are now asking for necting six or seven PCs, and several hun- prior written consent of the publisher. remote session, like whether you need a more and more reporting forms, you have dred metres of cabling. Based on each indi- Whilst the information and articles in colour screen or can you use black and more ISM documentation to be complet- vidual ship plan we made CAD (computer Digital Ship are published in good faith white, and you can avoid fancy extra ed, you have planned maintenance sys- aided design) drawings and did analysis and every effort is made to check accura- Windows things. There are lots of options, tems onboard.” and assessments on how to construct cy, readers should verify facts and state- but if you just have to log on to the com- “With the planned maintenance sys- the network.” ments direct with official sources before puter and do a few mouse clicks it will be tem, before you had to send DVDs or CD- Extra security for the higher bandwidth acting on them as the publisher can accept no responsibility in this respect. less than 5MB.” ROMs around the globe from the head satellite communications systems being Any opinions expressed in this maga- Offering additional options for crew office to update the databases, now you introduced will also be part of this net- zine should not be construed as those communications was also considered can easily do it via satellite. You have work infrastructure, with elements operat- of the publisher. while choosing the new systems, though updated information on a daily basis, and ing both on ship and on shore. Mr Sprotte notes that these aspects of that’s much better – you’re simply more “It will partly be managed on the ship continued on page 4 Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 2 p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:37 Page 3 p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:37 Page 4

SATCOMS NEWS

continued from page 2

and partly in our network operations cen- arrangement, but it’s something we are tre in Hamburg,” said Mr Sprotte. very proud of, to deliver this complete 60cm C-band VSAT launched “Whenever the vessels communicate integrated package including the design, they will be routed through Hamburg. the equipment, the network, and all of the by Schlumberger Things like compression and those things support and maintenance.” are all part of this package, you need the Speed and efficiency were the key focus www.slb.com/seaconnect to offer a 60cm VSAT service on C-Band. right tools for all of this.” for the Rickmers and Telemar project I don’t think anyone else is offering teams in their approach to the installa- Schlumberger has announced the launch it,” said Paul Khayat, marketing manag- Implementation tions, to minimise disruption to ship of a new 60cm C-band VSAT service called er, Schlumberger Global Connectivity Mr Sprotte is confident that operation on operations. SeaConnect, in what the company is Services. this new infrastructure will proceed rela- “As we all know, vessels typically only describing as a "world first". “With its high portability, mobility and tively quickly, given that Rickmers have one or two days in port, so the chal- The system is initially to be targeted at small footprint, the SeaConnect service will already has experience in integrating lenge for Rickmers and ourselves was to vessels working in the offshore and oil enable connectivity to any type of offshore remote sites into its operations. optimise everything and create a process and gas industries, and will be offered on vessel or to any service company on a rig." “It would have taken a lot of work, but where it would be possible to do every- a 'fixed-fee, unlimited data access' basis. “This unique service has been engi- we gained some experience from the trials thing in that couple of days,” said Mr C-band VSAT antennas have usually neered to meet the industry’s needs while and we have quite a modern IT infrastruc- Faella. traditionally been available in large sizes, providing vessel owners and service com- ture anyway since we have a number of “The crews have to know exactly what often in the 2.4m diameter range. panies freedom to have their own secure remote locations that are already linked they have to do, which activities at what However, Schlumberger says that its communication systems.” and connected to our Hamburg office,” stage, what to do with the different design, based on a marine stabilised anten- Schlumberger says it has successfully he said. parts of the hardware solution package na, has combined spread spectrum and trialled the SeaConnect service for the last “So we’ve drawn a lot on what we’ve that we have agreed on with Rickmers. CDMA technologies to enable the use of six months on a number of vessels operat- already done, and treat the vessel like That is delivered to the ships around the 60cm equipment, while still assuring coming in South East Asia. just another office. The systems for con- world, with the Thrane & Thrane Sailor pliance with the required specifications. The service is being made available necting other locations to the office are satcom units, cables, handsets, and other Development of the system focused on now in South East Asia, and will expand proven, and are working, and we already materials.” C-band as Sclumberger says that it will be to South Asia, Africa and Latin America in know them.” “The process is coordinated to avoid more reliable in rain fade areas such as the coming months. Installations of the antennas and the any mismatch between the materials and South East Asia, where the SeaConnect "We will be rolling the service to West new computer networks will be jointly the teams from different areas and compa- service has been trialled for the last six Africa and Brazil, again two locations performed by Rickmers and Telemar, nies that will be involved in installing months on a number of vessels. where rain fade is important and affects with the scheduling dependent on equip- them, this is managed by Telemar. We The company says that the compact the Ku-band availability," said Mr Khayat. ment availability. intervene at the beginning, with the and port-able SeaConnect technology Schlumberger says that the long term Three vessels having already been fit- design and preparation and creating the can be dep-loyed on ship in approximate- intention of the 60cm C-band system is to ted under the deal, and Mr Sprotte says instructions, and then complete the activi- ly 30 minutes. eventually move to global coverage for that he expects half of the fleet to be ty onboard in the end.” "We are very enthusiastic to be thefirst the service. equipped by the end of 2010, with the rest of the fleet to receive the equipment dur- Future evolution ing the first six or seven months of In the long run Rickmers sees this commu- next year. nications project as just the first step in a The installation process is carried out in continuing evolution of its use of technol- a number of steps, with crews onboard the ogy, which it hopes will continue to ships doing as much of the work as possi- expand as more and more of the onboard ble to help the process to be completed systems can be fully integrated into the quickly. corporate network. “First we ask the crew to do some Telemar’s Mr Faella says that this con- preparations, they will receive some other cept has been integral to the design of the equipment before they receive the antenna onboard networks that are currently being and do some pre-installation. Then they installed. get the antenna and follow some further “Part of the goal with the cabling is also steps we give them,” said Mr Sprotte. to make sure that Rickmers is what we call “When everything is ready from the ‘broadband evolution ready’, so the sys- crew side we will send some Telemar tem architecture is integrated and scalable engineers onboard to make the final con- to be able to meet future needs of the fleet nections and do the final commissioning. and the network,” he told us. We do as much preparation as possible Mr Sprotte also notes that Rickmers has with the crew to avoid idling vessels and invested additional resources into the sys- so on, and as this reduces the time we tem with this in mind, to prepare for fur- have to send people to the vessels then it ther advances in its operations. pays back in that way.” “We have not opted for the cheapest “Those engineers will do the network terminal, we chose the FB500 instead of installation and configure the software, the FB150 or FB250 terminals which both that is all done by the suppliers. We’ve offer lower bandwidth, because that gives told them how we want to connect the us more scope in the future to use the extra vessels to our network on shore and they bandwidth we will have available,” will follow the installation procedure to he said. do that.” “Our idea is to connect other equip- The installation procedures have been ment to this system, like VDR, like organised by Telemar, as part of their automation systems, electronic chart sys- remit to create these onboard networks, tems, and so on. Then whenever we have and have included the creation of detailed a problem with anything we can use that instructions as to how the work should be connection for maintenance or we can ask carried out. someone to check the system before we “We shared this information with send out a service technician. We want to Rickmers, with our technicians, and with have access to everything on the ship.” the installation teams around the world, “That’s all in the future. At the moment and developed the implementation and our target is to get the systems replaced on roll-out plan vessel-by-vessel,” said board, which we are doing, and to get the Telemar’s Mr Faella. new system installed, established and “We issued guidelines explaining what working. Once that’s done we will had to be done and by who. It’s a complex start with the next improvements.” DS

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Digital Ship

ensures that our terminals can harness the bilities across our fleet, evolving from FleetBroadband growth continues power of FleetBroadband to provide Inmarsat-B to broadband along with the www.thrane.com one of more than 100 FleetBroadband sys- high-quality global IP data and voice new IP gateway solution, 'gate4c'," said www.addvaluetech.com tems that the company will introduce functions, which enhance crew welfare Jochen Meyer, technical manager for GHS. across its fleet as part of a comprehensive and improve operational efficiency across “Intensive testing of this product and a Thrane & Thrane reports that it has communications upgrade (see page 1). the board." least-cost routing, compression and fire- shipped its 10,000th SAILOR "SAILOR FleetBroadband has struck a Addvalue’s 1,000th Skipper 150 has wall application developed by mareData FleetBroadband terminal to partner chord with the maritime communications been delivered to Nordic-IT, Addvalue’s GmbH, proves to perform excellently via Telemar, while Addvalue Communications industry and the end user. The diversity of distribution partner in Hamburg, Inmarsat FleetBroadband. In addition, has also shipped its 1,000th Wideye the product portfolio has helped to estab- Germany, and is being installed on the ‘gate4c’ will interface with our intranet Skipper 150 FleetBroadband system. lish SAILOR as the FleetBroadband termi- MV Euro Snow, part of the Global fleet management software." The Thrane milestone has been reached nals of choice regardless of the size or type Hanseatic Shipping (GHS) fleet of 15 con- "IP connectivity will replace traditional in less than two and a half years since the of vessel," commented Jens Ewerling, tainer, bulk carrier and Ro-Ro ships. dialup services one by one, as this gives FleetBroadband system was first product line manager, maritime satcom, The airtime is supplied by Inmarsat more flexibility and better rates for the launched, in November 2007, while the Thrane & Thrane. distribution partner Otesat-Maritel of data transfer. The Skipper 150 did meet all FB150 variant has only been on the market "The fact that all SAILOR Greece, which also provided airtime serv- of our criteria, including keeping the proj- since the first half of 2009. FleetBroadband products are designed ices for the first FB150 installed in Europe ect within the budget.” Thrane’s 10,000th terminal is to be using in-depth knowledge gained during last year, for Briese Schiffahrts. Addvalue says that its roll-out of the installed aboard a vessel operated by the our involvement in the creation of the “The installation of the Skipper 150 terminals now represents a 40 per cent Rickmers Group, based in Germany, as Inmarsat BGAN ground infrastructure will upgrade the communications capa- share of the global FB150 market. New Jotron Group unit to focus on VSAT development

www.jotron.com The main shareholder of the company Ottar Bjåstad. handled by its mother company Jotron, is Jotron AS, supported by two partners, Jotron SatCom is currently primarily and the group's global distribution and Jotron Group has announced that its Jotron Tronrud Engineering AS and Nerasat AS. staffed only with management and R&D service network. SatCom unit has been integrated as a new The management, as well as the main resources as it focuses on the develop- “The Jotron Group sees this as a strategic product group, to be responsible for the R&D team, consists mainly of former ment and industrialisation of a new VSAT investment and as part of making Jotron a release of new satcom products in 2010. employees of Nera SatCom. stabilised antenna product. more complete supplier of maritime commu- This is Jotron's fifth product group, “Our vision is to build a new strong This flagship product is expected to be nication products and systems," said Magnus joining its Maritime Products, Phontech Norwegian maritime satellite communica- a stabilised Ku-band antenna, which the Vold, managing director of Jotron AS. Communication Systems, Consultas tion company after the closedown of the company says will be introduced to the "The new product group will be closely Maritime Software and Ground to Air & Nera SatCom company in 2006," said market during the second half of 2010. linked with the existing product groups Coastal Communication divisions. managing director of Jotron SatCom, Support and sales functions will be serving the maritime market.” Seadream installs Ship Equip

www.ship-equip.com "To offer a good quality telecommunications service is essential to our busi- Cruise company SeaDream ness," said Kjell Sande, director of mar- is to install SEVSAT from itime operations at SeaDream. Ship Equip on two ships, "It is a key element in providing the the SeaDream I and ‘peace of mind’ that many of our busi- SeaDream II. ness passengers only get when they The VSAT system consists of know that they can handle business a 1 Mb SCPC (single channel per from the cruise ship. The previous solu- carrier) duplex connection for each tion had shortcomings that made it ship, based on coverage from the T11N tough to sell to the guests, it did not pro- satellite providing a Ku-band footprint vide enough value for money." across the Mediterranean Sea, the north- "We made the decision to move to Ku- ern Atlantic and the Caribbean. band since Ship Equip could offer an Bandwidth for 24 telephone lines will integrated service on one satellite with be included as part of the solution, high bandwidth in the areas we sail." as well as always-on internet connectivi- Ship Equip notes that it has now ty back to the company's shore offices purchased close to 10 per cent of partly configured in a Multiprotocol the capacity on the T11N satellite for Label Switching the provision of services to maritime (MPLS) network. customers. KDDI to offer OpenPort in Japan

www.iridium.com This view was echoed by Yuzuru Takayama, general manager, MSAT busi- KDDI Corporation has been appointed as ness solution sales department, KDDI, an authorised service provider for the who commented: “Iridium OpenPort is an Iridium OpenPort maritime satellite com- excellent product that meets a growing munication service in Japan. need for higher-capacity voice and data in KDDI has secured Japanese product today’s maritime industry." type approvals and will distribute Iridium "With its multiple independent phone lines, OpenPort units and service into the IP-based architecture, scalable data services Japanese merchant shipping and commer- to 128 kbps, and low equipment and usage cial fishing fleets. costs, Iridium OpenPort is an ideal solution Following this extended relationship for shipping companies and fishing fleets.” with KDDI, an Iridium service provider “In addition, Iridium’s global coverage since 2005, Iridium says that it expects to means that ships will be in constant touch see strong growth for Iridium OpenPort in wherever they sail, even including high the Japanese maritime satcom market. Polar Regions.”

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SATCOMS NEWS Globalstar announces satellite launch timetable Inmarsat outlines handheld phone www.globalstar.com Iridium, which is currently working on al launch date to be announced in the the development of its own second-gener- upcoming months. specs Globalstar has announced a timetable of ation satellite constellation, Iridium The satellites will be launched from the the key steps leading up to the launch of NEXT. Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan www.inmarsat.com its second-generation satellite constella- The planning phase for Globalstar's using a Soyuz launch vehicle. Globalstar tion, which it says will take place later new constellation began in 2005, with the expects to conduct four launches of six Inmarsat has unveiled a complete specifi- this year. company signing an agreement with satel- satellites each using the Soyuz, which has cation for its forthcoming handheld satel- Globalstar says that the launch of the lite manufacturer Alcatel Alenia Space been used to successfully launch lite phone, IsatPhone Pro. satellite constellation would allow the (now Thales Alenia Space) in 2006. Globalstar satellites on eight previous The phone will offer up to 8 hours talk company to secure its space segment Since then Globalstar has overcome a occasions. time and up to 100 hours on standby, and beyond the year 2025. number of operational challenges and The 24 new second-generation satellites be capable of operating at extreme tem- Globalstar also commented, in a state- made some important advances, including will be integrated with eight first-genera- peratures, from -20˚C to 55˚C. ment, that the deployment of the constel- a $738 million financing arrangement tion satellites that were launched in 2007. Inmarsat says that it is the only satellite lation would create "up to a five-year com- agreed in 2009 to help fund the construc- As such, the company's stated timeline phone to support Bluetooth, has a GSM- petitive advantage over [Globalstar's] pri- tion of the 24-satellite network. going forward includes an expected satel- style interface with a colour screen, and has mary mobile satellite services (MSS) com- In January 2010, Globalstar announced lite delivery announcement and launch a larger keypad for easy dialling in gloves. petitor, which still has not yet named a that the first 90-day window to launch six vehicle readiness review in July, followed Voicemail, text and e-mail messaging manufacturer for its second-generation Globalstar second-generation satellites by an announcement of the launch date in will all be available over the standard satellites." will open on July 5, 2010. The launch of the August. handset. While not explicitly named, the com- new satellites is expected in the September "While there are some critical activities “IsatPhone Pro raises the game in the petitor being referred to is most probably or early October timeframe, with the actu- ahead of us, from a pure timeline perspec- satellite phone market,” said Helen tive we're about 95 per cent of the way Stalker, commercial director of global through the process of planning, design- satellite phone services at Inmarsat. ing, manufacturing and launching the first “It works in just about any conditions, of our new satellites," said Tony Navarra, from rain storms to dust storms, from president, global operations for tropical humidity to freezing blizzard; it Globalstar. has a long battery life you can rely on "Our committed team of highly skilled when you’re in the middle of nowhere; a partners and employees continue to deliv- totally reliable global network connection er on-time and on-budget, giving us the with clear voice quality; and it’s some- confidence today to announce the remain- thing that anyone can pick up and use.” ing milestones that will take us to the fin- Inmarsat has confirmed that the sug- ish line." gested retail price for IsatPhone Pro is "Although it may seem overwhelming US$699, although pricing promotions are to be so close to delivering a state-of-the- expected to bring the end-user price to art network that will secure the Globalstar US$500-600. Retail airtime rates will be at space segment for the next 15 years, we around US$1 per minute. are simply continuing to execute on a Korea Telecom, Station 711 and RRSat detailed plan that we began to implement have also recently been confirmed as dis- more than five years ago." tribution partners for IsatPhone Pro, Once the constellation is fully joining companies like AST, China deployed, the new constellation and Telecom, Evosat, MCN, MVS, Network ground network are designed to provide Innovations, NSSL, Satcom Global, data speeds of up to 256 kbps in an inter- Singtel, Stratos and Vizada. net protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) The new phone is planned for launch in Globalstar says that its new satellites will be launched during the second half of 2010 configuration. June 2010. EU confirms funding for Alphasat project organisations for aeronautical, land and Europe's space industry to innovate, es to people in remote regions. It will www.esa.int maritime research. contribute to jobs in the knowledge be a symbol of the Europe 2020 Strategy www.inmarsat.co.uk The EIB is providing the up to €225 mil- economy and bring much-needed servic- in orbit." lion in funding to Inmarsat as a loan to be The Alphasat telecoms satellite, to be used for the construction and launch of launched in 2012, is to be backed by up to the satellite, expected to cost around €598 €225 million in funding from the EU's million in total. Risk-sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), The RSFF loan is backed by funds from according to reports from the European the European Union’s 7th research frame- Investment Bank (EIB). work programme (which has a €1 billion The RSFF has been created by EIB and budget) and EIB’s own resources (also the European Commission to assist in the approximately €1 billion). realisation of the satellite project, a joint ESA is contributing around €230 mil- project between the European Space lion to the project through the provision of Agency (ESA) and Inmarsat. the Alphabus platform. The prototype Alphasat satellite will be “This satellite will put European indus- the first satellite to be launched using a try in a leading position in this segment next generation satellite ‘bus’ that has and could bring significant spill-over been developed by the ESA and the effects for research and innovation in French agency CNES, and will be avail- Europe,” said EIB president, Philippe able for maritime, aeronautical and land Maystadt. mobile users. “This is the type of investment the EIB The system will be available under an intends to finance further under the ‘open access’ policy to research organisa- Europe 2020 initiative.” tions, initially housing four technological EU Research, Innovation and Science demonstration payloads developed by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, The construction and launch of Alphasat is expected to cost almost €600 million European universities, industry and space also commented: “[Alphasat] will help

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SATCOMS NEWS Average SEVSAT ship data traffic tops 19GB

www.shipequip.no megabyte of 19.7 gigabytes of traffic maybe one in the mess," said Frank and to handle peaks. After all, we want to works out at approximately $0.175, or sev- Bjoernsen, Ship Equip fleet manager. make sure customers get what they are Ship Equip has released details of a recent enteen and a half cents. "This has changed for a number of rea- paying for." customer survey, revealing that the aver- The company says that, although it has sons. Many customers are installing WiFi In other news, Ship Equip also reports age monthly data traffic for the 770 ships seen a recent shift in customer requests networks and allow a higher number of that it has launched new websites in the using its VSAT systems has increased to towards 256 kbps bandwidth speeds, and PCs on board, both for operational and Chinese, Spanish and Russian languages, 19.7 gigabytes per ship per month, as of has a number of contracts that go into personal use." which will operate in parallel with the April 2010. megabits, the largest proportion of its cus- "One reason is they have deployed on- company's English version. This figure has more than doubled tomers have 128-128 kbps contracts and board IT systems that require to be online The company sees the provision of compared to a similar survey a year previ- still exchange 10 to 15 gigabytes of data with the land office. Problem solving by information in these languages as a step ously, when an average figure of 9.1 giga- per month. sending pictures of damaged equipment towards growing its SEVSAT customer bytes per ship per month was reported in "A few years ago customers were more to vendors has become a popular way of base in international markets. April 2009. cautious and only deployed a small num- getting acceptance of the problem and a The choice of languages has been influ- Ship Equip notes that the typical ber of PCs when the SEVSAT satellite quick response from the suppliers. Others enced by the multi-national nature of the monthly bill for its customers is about communication was installed - one in the file applications for port access and com- crew on board most commercial vessels, $3,500, meaning that the price per wheelhouse, one in the machine room and plete procedures to comply with environ- with high numbers of seafarers coming mental requirements before entering from Asian and Eastern European coun- restricted waters." tries. Mr Bjoernsen, responsible for maintain- Ship Equip says that, since it is providing the operational capacity of the Ship ing VSAT communication links for these Equip network, says that shipboard net- crews, it has become important to provide works can be split into operational and information in their native language about crew networks with separate bandwidth the product the crews use on a daily basis. allocations, to ensure bandwidth is avail- In addition, the company says that it able for operational use. also sees countries like Spain, Portugal, "A lot of ships have limited the tele- and other South American and American phone to operational use and let the crew countries as growing areas in the shipping pay for their personal use through the pre- market, where it sees it as important to paid crew calling solution from Ship communicate in the native language. Equip," said Mr Bjoernsen. "That way the New value added services are also soon monthly cost for all practical purposes to be made available through the stays within a narrow window." MySEVSAT customer portal, such as cred- "We monitor bandwidth usage, and it card purchasing for crew calling time, in when the utilisation reaches 70 per cent multiple languages. within a segment of ships using SEVSAT Content and news added to the English satellite broadband we add more band- website is expected to be available within Frank Bjoernsen, Ship Equip, manages bandwidth utilisation from the company's Network Operations Centre width to always have a margin for growth 3 days in all languages.

Optimisation system deployed Iridium makes down payment on US research vessels on satellite launch

www.expand.com satellite links.’ Then we found Expand.” www.iridium.com Scripps says that it evaluated a number Expand Networks reports that it has of different optimisation options for its Iridium Communications reports that it supplied its WAN optimisation technolo- communications network before deciding has made a deposit of $19 million with an gy to support satellite communication to implement this particular system. unnamed launch services provider to services for Scripps Institution of “We found that Expand was the only "secure the terms and conditions" associat- Oceanography at the University of one that had the features geared towards ed with its next generation satellite con- California, San Diego, operator of one of making our low-bandwidth satellites use- stellation, Iridium NEXT. the largest US academic fleets. ful," said Mr Foley. The company broke the news in a state- Expand’s Accelerators are being "Our issues aren’t about running CIFS ment to the US Securities and Exchange deployed to manage critical applications across our high delay links, but we really Commission, noting that the deposit is and communications over the low band- care about things like UDP acceleration, fully refundable "if financing is not Iridium NEXT will be comprised width – high latency satellite links SCPS, and auto fragmentation. We were secured or if a full scale development con- of 66 satellites between the ships and shore. also impressed when Expand didn’t look tract for the design and manufacture of the The system combines integrated Space at us funny when we said we wanted to Iridium NEXT satellites is not signed with- previous model, is a two-way device Communication Protocol Standards put their gear on ships! To them it was in 12 months." designed to be embedded into partner- (SCPS) with compression and byte-level the norm.” The Iridium NEXT constellation of 66 developed products and systems that caching. Initial roll-out was performed aboard low Earth orbit satellites is expected to enable remote M2M (Machine-to- “Our research vessels need to squeeze Scripps’ research vessel Roger Revelle and cost $2.7 billion between now and 2016, Machine) asset tracking and monitoring. every bit of bandwidth out of those fixed Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s the company confirmed. The launch marks the culmination of a satellite links," said Steve Foley, network vessel, Atlantis. The list of potential partners to con- two year R&D collaboration among engineer at the Institute of Geophysics “Non-IT folks have been receiving struct the network currently stands at two, Iridium and its technical partners, accord- and Planetary Physics at Scripps accelerators straight from Expand, pop- with Lockheed Martin of the United States ing to the company. Oceanography. ping them in the ship’s equipment racks, and Thales Alenia Space of France the Already planned Iridium 9602-based "The more data we can send home, the setting IP addresses, then walking away remaining bidders left in the process. applications include fleet management better. The more satellite images, phone while we do the rest remotely," said Mr Iridium has indicated that it expects to applications, enterprise logistics and sup- calls, support, etc. that the scientists on the Foley. name a final contractor shortly. ply-chain visibility. ship can get from shore, the better they "The amount of management control In other news, Iridium has also “The [new unit] provides our partners can do their science.” we have from shore is very impressive. announced that its new satellite short flexibility to serve new markets that require “Satellite is notoriously problematic for Now, with the savings in bandwidth our burst data (SBD) transceiver is ready for a smaller, lighter transceiver that is more bandwidth acceleration, and we’d Expand Accelerators are paying for them- market one month ahead of schedule, and easily integrated into their technology and resigned ourselves to sufficing with what selves within nine to 18 months. We esti- that the company is accepting orders. is more affordable to their end-user cus- we had. It was a case of ‘if only network mate we are saving over $600 per month The Iridium 9602 SBD transceiver, tomers,” said Joel Thompson, vice presi- accelerators weren’t so ineffective over for each of our large global ships.” smaller and lighter than the company’s dent of product management at Iridium.

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 8 p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:37 Page 9 3HWL[P[LHNLUJLKHUZSHWYHPYPL7OV[VZ!(U[VPUL2YHSPR

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SATCOMS NEWS

Inmarsat maritime director resigns GSE and Ocens in partnership deal

www.inmarsat.com and was promoted to head of maritime www.gsat.us long-distance rate. business in 2004 before becoming director www.ocens.com Voice or fax over IP services are also Inmarsat director of maritime business of maritime business shortly afterwards. available as an option on GSE’s own cus- Piers Cunningham has resigned from the One of the focal points of his tenure as Global Satellite Engineering (GSE) and tomised terminal, which plugs into the global satellite communications company, head of maritime at the company was the Ocens data services have agreed a part- internet. The terminal integrates with the with a successor yet to be chosen to fill launch of the three FleetBroadband servic- nership whereby Ocens will use GSE’s worldwide SatCollect platform and can be the position. es, FB500, FB250 and FB150. SatCollect software to reduce in-bound programmed with its own local number. Mr Cunningham has left the business Activation levels for these services have call expenditure for satellite phone usage, Real time billing and reporting are after nine years for personal reasons, now reached approximately 10,000 termi- via Inmarsat and Iridium networks. available, with bills able to be prepaid or and is set to join maritime communica- nals in total, since the first variants were SatCollect allows satellite phone users post paid. Activation is done online. tions company SatComms Australia, initially launched at the end of 2007. to select one or more local phone numbers “We wanted an easy, flexible and cost- in Queensland, as executive director in In other news, Inmarsat has also in 41 different countries that will termi- effective means of helping our customers July 2010. announced a reorganisation plan under nate to their satellite phone. address a recurring challenge...that is While the post of maritime director at which the ownership of Stratos Global SatCollect customers will receive dialling Iridium and Inmarsat phones," Inmarsat is now vacant (at the time of writ- Corporation and its subsidiaries will be calls via a local number that has been said Mark Freeberg, CEO of Ocens. ing), the company says that it is currently transferred within the Inmarsat group. forwarded from their satellite phone. "SatCollect provides the most intuitive actively looking for a successor, and that it Inmarsat previously completed the They will only be charged the local rate solution to this problem...simply dial a expects to announce a replacement shortly. acquisition of the Stratos company, in for that particular country to receive a local number like you would to call the Mr Cunningham joined Inmarsat as a April 2009, under the terms of a call call, as opposed to paying the satellite neighbours or the local pizza delivery." business development manager in 2001, option originally negotiated in the first quarter of 2007 with Canadian investment company Communications Access Controller incorporates new Investment Partners (CIP). comms management tools Under the reorganisation plan Stratos will repay all of its outstanding indebted- www.livewire-connections.com and firewalls, controlled through the ness backed by Inmarsat funding, and Access Controller unit. become an indirect wholly-owned sub- Livewire Connections has added 'Spend These limits can be set either per call, sidiary of Inmarsat. Control' and 'DNS Blocking' as part of the per day or per month and the user can At the end of December 2009, Stratos latest software upgrade on the company's alert, block or drop the call as required. had outstanding long-term debt com- communications management system, the This feature will come as a free upgrade prising $209.3 million and $150 million Access Controller. on existing Access Controllers and as a through various respective financing “Users can be unaware that they are standard feature on all new units. facilities. roaming or have an open data session and In conjunction with this, the 'DNS Stratos will use available cash resources can soon find themselves using high vol- Blocking' system offers additional security and financing from Inmarsat to fund the umes of data” said James Ashworth, com- and can prevent heavy data use by repayments, with Inmarsat confirming mercial director of Livewire Connections. restricting the use of bandwidth hungry that it will use its own available liquidity "Charges can accumulate rapidly, with websites such as Facebook, You Tube and in this regard. At the end of December no knowledge to the user until the invoice Windows updates, which will run in the 2009, Inmarsat had available liquidity of is received. We developed the Spend background unless firewalled. $436 million. Control feature to directly tackle this and The Access Controller can manage up As a result of the reorganisation, to be allow the user to control their off-vessel to 10 off-vessel communications devices completed in June, Stratos will become communication costs." including FleetBroadband, VSAT, Iridium Piers Cunningham has left Inmarsat, with subject to the terms of Inmarsat's out- The system helps with cost control by OpenPort, off-vessel Wi-Fi and GSM, via a the post of director of maritime now vacant standing debt. setting alerts and incorporating data limits Graphical User Interface (GUI). Fifth Greek shipping company signs for CapRock VSAT

www.caprock.com the demanding maritime industry." capabilities and fewer equipment require- “We are one of the first licensed This new Greek deal has followed ments than analogue, to reduce mainte- providers to offer video on demand content CapRock has secured a 60-month fleet quickly on the back of news from nance and operational costs, and doesn’t to the offshore energy market that allows contract with Diamlemos Shipping CapRock announcing the launch of a new require users to switch out equipment customers to legally view digital content.” Corporation of Greece to install nine C- 'Crew Infotainment' service for the mar- when moving into a new region. “Whether it’s for the crew onboard an band VSAT systems, in cooperation with itime industry, that will incorporate televi- The first crew infotainment service con- offshore drilling vessel or cargo ship or its Greek partner Setel. sion, music and gaming. tract has already been signed, with an off- even for personnel stationed at a remote CapRock notes that this is the fifth The system is operated via a consoli- shore drilling contractor. camp, employees can now complete a VSAT contract it has signed in the Greek dated media console that allows access to “Our Crew Infotainment solution is the mandatory safety training class, watch a market in the last six months. a range of electronic content for entertain- first of its kind for the markets we serve,” movie in their downtime or record their The nine vessels from Diamlemos' bulk ment, as well as allowing companies to said CapRock director of product manage- favourite television show during working carrier and oil tanker fleet require global disseminate information on industry prac- ment and marketing, Rohit Chhabra. hours.” coverage for their multi-region trade tices and technologies to remote employ- routes, hence the requirement for ees and offer new options in corporate CapRock's SeaAccess C-band services. training and certification courses. “Gaining trust from such dominant Similar to the interface and menus Greek shipping companies is testament to found in hotel television systems, users the reliability and benefits delivered with access networked and on-demand content our SeaAccess service,” said SeaAccess busi- through a television graphical interface ness development executive Claus Høyer. and remote control. “We look forward to developing new The IP-based solution is scalable and relationships in the Greek market." modular, and contains functionality not "Setel’s services go hand-in-hand with found in traditional analogue solutions CapRock’s and reinforce the total service such as trick-play capabilities – pause, fast offerings of both companies. Setel’s forward, rewind and seek – quick channel Intelligent Vessel features an integrated changing, closed caption options and bundle of equipment, software and quali- interactive programme guides for live TV. ty services that enable shipping compa- CapRock also says that the system fea- nies to respond to the unique challenges of tures improved remote troubleshooting Diamlemos Shipping will install nine C-band VSAT systems

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 10 p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:53 Page 11

Digital Ship Marlink to add Vipersat to Intellian 60-cm VSAT gets Eutelsat validation www.intellian.com All three v-Series models are three-axis C-band VSAT service stabilised, and support a multi-band LNB Intellian reports that it has completed (low-noise block converter), used for www.marlink.com limit of coverage will be automatically work on preparing its v60 maritime satel- VSAT beam switching. prepared by the Vipersat system to switch lite VSAT antenna system for validation Marlink is to incorporate the Comtech to a new satellite beam. for use with the Eutelsat satellite network. Vipersat bandwidth and capacity man- When the vessel reaches the position The Intellian v60 is a 60-centimetre agement platform into its Sealink VSAT which is determined for satellite beam Ku-band, three-axis stabilised VSAT solution. switch, the system automatically switches antenna system, capable of receiving The company says that the integration of to the next satellite, eliminating the need SCPC, MCPC, TDMA or spread spectrum the Vipersat technology will provide a for manual intervention from the crew transmissions. range of enhanced features, including effi- onboard. No service interruption should The v60 is the smallest VSAT v-Series cient management of bandwidth allocation occur during switching. antenna available from the company, between vessels, and global automatic In other news, Marlink also reports that offering service in the -10 degrees to +100 roaming between C-band coverage spots. it is launching a new reduced cost "entry- degrees elevation range. "The integration of the Vipersat tech- level" VSAT service, called @SEAdirect, to The series also includes two addition- nology to our Sealink solution makes add to its existing offerings. al models, the 1.05-metre v110 and Marlink the only provider of maritime This service will provide multiple data the 1.25-metre v130, though these anten- satellite communications to offer both rates of up to 1024/256 kbps, offering nas were not part of this particular The 60cm antenna is Intellian’s Vipersat and Vados platforms," said Tore internet, e-mail, and voice capability for validation process. smallest Ku-band system Morten Olsen, CEO, Marlink. increased operational efficiency and crew The new Vipersat technology enables communication at sea. the VSAT system to allocate bandwidth on Marlink also says that it will provide Marlink has been certified as a 'Gold Blog', an information source providing demand, particularly useful for customers leased hardware options for companies Partner' by Inmarsat under its Partner answers and opinions on effective remote that operate multiple vessels within one that would prefer such an arrangement for Accreditation Programme. The companies information systems. Initial posts will bandwidth pool per satellite beam. their installations. have worked together for more than 30 highlight topics including examples of 400 Where some vessels within the band- This entry-level service will use the years in delivering satellite communica- per cent productivity gains from remote width pool do not require full bandwidth same antenna system as Marlink's tion services. monitoring systems, and best practices to capacity, Vipersat helps to reallocate the WaveCall VSAT solution, so companies Station 711 has been appointed by avoid excessive satellite charges. spare capacity to other vessels in the pool. that install the @SEAdirect system can eas- Inmarsat as a distribution partner for its This provides those other vessels with ily upgrade to the WaveCall service, with- Global Satellite Phone Services (GSPS), to www.marlink.com additional bandwidth and ensures effi- out any modifications to the hardware, if be launched in June 2010. Station 711 is www.inmarsat.com cient use of bandwidth across the fleet. they so wish. expected to offer the IsatPhone Pro in the www.station711.com With the global automatic roaming fea- WaveCall is Marlink's multi-regional second half of 2010. www.skymira.com/skymira-blog ture a vessel heading towards the outer Ku-band service. Skymira has launched 'Skymira

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Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 11 p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:53 Page 12

SATCOMS NEWS VSAT for Goodwood and Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines

www.mtnsat.com president and general manager, MTN commercial shipping and energy services. MTN Satellite Communications (MTN) “Our committed information rate has been selected to provide VSAT servic- (CIR) service plans ensure that the ship es for Singapore-based Goodwood Ship will always have access to sufficient Management and Fred.Olsen Cruise bandwidth to meet its communication Lines, in two separate deals. requirements.” For Goodwood MTN will initially Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines, based in install C-band antennas and below-deck Norway, is also to outfit its entire fleet of equipment on three Ore/Bulk/Oil (OBO) ships with VSAT from MTN. ships, and one capesize bulker managed The Balmoral, Boudicca, Black Watch, by the company. and Braemar will be provided with The vessels are to be fitted with four VSAT broadband connectivity, as well as separate phone lines for crew calling, as services such as OceanPhone calling, well as computer stations for e-mail and StreamXcel, a bandwidth optimisation internet access. service, toll-free inbound line dialling “We chose MTN because of their global service for passengers and crew, and C-band coverage and reliable network credit card processing. backed by responsive worldwide service,” Installations on the Black Watch have said Captain Ashok Sabnis, managing been completed, with scheduled rollouts director, Goodwood Ship Management. for the rest of the fleet expected over the MTN’s new European teleport, a joint venture with ERZIA Technologies “MTN’s flat-rate, continuously avail- next few months. able internet connection provides the “At Fred.Olsen, we strive to offer our European satellite teleport in Santander, significant improvement in network effi- most cost-effective solution for our busi- passengers reliable, high-quality prod- Spain, as a joint venture with ERZIA ciency, reliability, and customer service ness and will achieve significant cost ucts and services,” said Ian Watson, Technologies. augmenting our worldwide infrastructure savings compared with pay-as-you-go cruise systems manager for Fred.Olsen The teleport will serve as a centralised of redundant teleports and dedicated fibre satellite services.” Cruise Lines. gateway for MTN’s VSAT communica- optic links,” said Mr Hadsall. The VSAT will be used for all ship oper- “MTN provides superior services with tions with coverage over the Americas, “It will have a fully manned 24/7 net- ations and remote management communi- faster connectivity, excellent quality of Europe, and Asia. work operations centre providing cations, with the contract calling for a guar- communications, and unmatched service The facility will be one of the first in the European time zone coverage and local anteed minimum continuously available support throughout the globe. We are con- world to provide C- and Ku-band com- language operators.” bandwidth of 64 kbps, with maximum fident that this new service will totally sat- mercial service as well as secure X-band As part of the joint venture ERZIA is bandwidth of 128 kbps when needed. isfy the requirements of our passengers service for government customers at a sin- also establishing a service centre and spare “Goodwood joins the growing number wherever they are cruising.” gle location, according to Richard Hadsall, parts depot at Santander to provide ship- of fleet operators switching to MTN VSAT In other news, MTN has also chief technology officer, MTN. board technical support and maintenance services,” said Bradford Briggs, senior vice announced the opening of a new “The Santander teleport will provide a for MTN-equipped ships visiting the port. Communications service Grimaldi extends GSM contract

introduced by SAM www.mcp.com out its passenger service package to go with their fast and punctual ships,” said www.sam-electronics.de VSAT into one system. Naples-based Grimaldi Group, operator Bernt Fanghol, MCP’s CMO and VP sales Wireless port services will also be a of Grimaldi Lines and Minoan Lines ferry and marketing. SAM Electronics has introduced SAM feature of the service, to provide broad- services, has extended its existing deal “The addition of mobile communica- ConnectNet, a new communication band connectivity of between 6 and 100 with Maritime Communications Partner tions represents a true step up. While the networking system for ship-to-shore Mbps while a vessel is berthed in applica- (MCP) to provide GSM and GPRS wireless products from MCP can provide an extra communications. ble ports. mobile services and systems on the MV profit stream for Grimaldi, the company SAM says that the goal of the system is Integrated capabilities for telephony, Cruise Olympia and the MV Florencia. is much more concerned with providing to merge vessel communication systems e-mail and messaging services will be The contract includes the delivery of a full range of passenger value-added into complete enterprise-wide IT net- included with SAM ConnectNet, in addi- network equipment and services, engineer- services.” works, helping to optimise supply chains tion to file and data synchronisation. ing and product management, network This agreement represents the fifth deal and provide online reporting capabilities SAM says that it also expects to offer design, system integration and operations. that MCP has agreed to provide mobile for monitoring purposes. audio, video and information on “Grimaldi has been looking to round services in the Italian maritime market. The SAM ConnectNet system aims to demand services as the system is rolled seamlessly combine wireless LANs, out to the market, including chart 2G/3G mobile networks and satellite updates, telemedicine and remote IT services such as Inmarsat, Iridium and management. Otesat launches satcom management tools

Wireless hot spots from SeaVsat www.otesat-maritel.com The e-mail alerts can be set to activate when reaching a monthly threshold on Otesat-Maritel has launched a new value- implied, non-implied, or all services of www.seavsat.com on to the service, and will not require any added service for its satellite communica- standard plans or allowance package rate additional software to be installed. A nor- tions customers, for monitoring and con- plans, to be sent to the e-mail addresses SeaVsat has released a new 'Hot Spot mal PC-based system running Windows trolling satcom traffic. defined by the user. on board' system designed to make it is required. The ‘Usage Monitoring and Control’ The SIM card can also be automatically easier to access the internet while 'Hot Spot on board' can be personalised tool is to be used with the Inmarsat suspended when these thresholds have onboard ship. with a company's own logo as well as cus- FleetBroadband service, and consists of been reached, with the shipping company The system offers what the company tomised messages for the crew to receive e-mail alert and auto-suspend applica- receiving an e-mail informing them of the calls "controlled access" to a wireless when logging in. tions which provide the user with the commencement of the suspension at WLAN network, which the crew can then The wireless service connects to ability to set monthly thresholds on each defined e-mail addresses. connect to using their own mobile devices SeaVsat's VSAT offering, based on activated SIM card and be informed A suspended SIM card cannot then and laptops. DVB-S2/RCS technology, in Ku-band or and/or suspend the card when reaching pass traffic and will be reactivated only at An unlimited number of users can log- C-band. these thresholds. the customer’s request.

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SATCOMS VSAT increased our communications tenfold – CNOOC

Chinese oil and gas company CNOOC has seen its data traffic rocket since it began installing VSAT systems. The company now has dozens of installations completed, and intends to double this number in the near future as roll-out continues across the fleet. Digital Ship spoke to Wujian Zhang about how CNOOC uses VSAT

hina National Offshore Oil Corpo- “Now that VSAT is available and the floating crane vessels, and a pipe laying CCration, or CNOOC, is China's service is based on flat monthly rates we vessel,” said Mr Zhang. largest producer of offshore crude are no longer referring to the ‘total num- “These systems are used for broadband oil and natural gas, and one of the largest ber of megabits used’, but rather to the satellite communication and in this respect independent oil and gas exploration and instantaneous or average data rates are replacing the legacy Inmarsat systems production companies in the world. (Mbps). We are currently using 128 to that are of much lower throughput.” The company operates a fleet of vary- 2Mbps links and expect these limitations “Originally CNOOC used Inmarsat serving types of vessels in pursuance of these to continue to increase in the future.” ices, that were the main commercially avail- activities, and has recently embarked on a As Mr Zhang noted, CNOOC has part- able satellite based services. We started with communications upgrade programme nered with VSAT provider Orbit in this Inmarsat–A and –B, the original Inmarsat aimed at introducing always-on satellite upgrade programme, which supplied a services that offered analogue voice and links between the ships and the shore. range of its OrSat antennas to CNOOC, telex services as well as ‘high speed’ data CNOOC decided that it wanted to mainly consisting of Ku-band systems. services of up to 64 kbps and 128 kbps move away from pay-per-megabyte sys- The relationship between the two com- respectively, and moved on to Inmarsat-C, tems to a fixed monthly fee arrangement, panies goes back to 2007, when CNOOC Mini-M and Fleet that are still in use.” to remove limitations on its use of the began its evaluation of various satcom Mr Zhang also notes that he has been onboard satellite systems and introduce alternatives to see how it could best meet pleased with the straightforward nature of new applications that could change the its requirements. the installation process, and that the com- way it does business. The outcome of this process led the pany has not had any major issues in ‘The flat rate service payment has The resulting increase in the communi- company to choose Orbit’s 1.28m radome rolling out the VSAT systems to the ships. increased the use of the communications cations traffic between CNOOC ships and diameter Ku-band antenna as its main “We do not have any particular diffi- link tenfold’ – Wujian Zhang, CNOOC its bases on shore has been enormous, communications system, while it also culty installing the VSAT systems, they explains Wujian Zhang, senior engineer decided to install a number of TVRO are designed to allow very simple and and general manager of CNOOC sub- antennas in certain cases. straightforward installation, almost plug- for running our business,” Mr Zhang sidiary Bohai Oil Communication & IT The Orbit systems have been approved and-play,” he said. explained. Company. by satellite operators Eutelsat, Anatel and “They all come with automatic satellite “But beyond the bandwidth benefit, we “Following recent developments in Intelsat for use with their satellite net- search and lock process, all we have to do are experiencing a great cost saving due to high speed broadband satellite communi- works, removing the need to individually is to select the satellite in the menu and the the fixed service rate that the VSAT is cation systems, and the ever increasing verify the RF performance of the VSAT system will find and lock up to the satellite based on. Alternative technologies charge demand for broadband data links for prior to entering into operation in their automatically.” on a ‘per use basis’, and for high band- modern business applications, CNOOC coverage areas. “We usually do not even use back up width needs it might accumulate very has started shifting to the use of stabilised CNOOC is now in the process of rolling for these systems, due to their high avail- high service charges.” maritime VSAT solutions based on Orbit out these systems to its entire fleet, replac- ability and low failure rate.” “The VSAT systems appear to be geo- VSAT systems,” he told us. ing the different generations of existing Israel Adan, executive VP, sales and graphically independent and with high “The passage to VSAT has allowed the Inmarsat systems onboard the ships. marketing for Orbit, notes that CNOOC has efficiency, and you can always communi- use of many new high bandwidth applica- “To date, we have installed dozens of been very much involved in making sure cate with your land stations independent tions, and the flat rate service payment has OrSat VSAT systems on a variety of ves- that the installation process runs as smooth- of time and location.” increased the use of the communication sels, including drilling ships, social sup- ly as possible, making its own resources CNOOC followed a number of different link tenfold.” port vessels, a geological exploration ship, and manpower available to the project. selection criteria in its evaluation of its “CNOOC is using their own personnel VSAT options, divided into three main in order to install the antenna systems on areas - technical capabilities, reliability and their marine platforms,” he said. maintainability, and cost of ownership. “For this purpose CNOOC has trained With regard to technical capabilities, its technical staff on Orbit’s equipment CNOOC was looking for a system that both in a technician course that was con- could perform in harsh environmental conducted at Orbit’s facilities and in a special ditions, with a close eye on reliability and technician course that was commissioned maintainability as it was important that this by Orbit and conducted in a CNOOC facil- performance level could be sustained over ity by an Orbit specialist.” the length of the antenna’s life on board. “CNOOC also maintains a stock of “In the oil and gas industry, effective and spare parts to assure immediate response reliable communication is essential for day- to service calls.” to-day business activities,” said Mr Zhang. “The continuous operability of the plat- System choice forms are crucial and every stop in opera- CNOOC says that the single most impor- tion results in high losses. This is why it tant driver in its decision to introduce was important for us to carefully select the VSAT was an increasing demand for high solution and system that we can rely on.” bandwidth data applications, and the “Last but not least, the cost of owner- need to have access to multiple voice ship of the solution was also carefully con- channels simultaneously available while sidered. Starting from the initial capital exchanging data traffic. expense, through the life cycle cost and the “The top benefits of VSAT systems are, service cost of the solution, we have found CNOOC has already completed dozens of VSAT installations first of all, their broadband capabilities out that the VSAT solutions are cost effec- on a range of different ship types that allow implementation of high band- tive in the long run and generate the best width data applications, which are a must value for the money.”

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 14 p1-17:p1-14.qxd 21/05/2010 09:53 Page 15 3HWL[P[LHNLUJLKHUZSHWYHPYPL7OV[VZ!(U[VPUL2YHSPR

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Mr Zhang says that reaction to the new valuable drilling information about seis- all operating as part of one network but And naturally, satellite communication is broadband systems has been very posi- mic surveys, mapping of the ocean floor, we are not there yet,” he said. the most common and practical solution for tive, both in terms of business usage and and mapping of underwater obstacles that “Establishing such a network is a chal- broadband connectivity at sea.” the additional communications options it interfere with underwater pipe laying.” lenge that we are facing and we are hop- “We have started installing VSAT has created for crews onboard the compa- “In addition, the broadband connection ing to overcome it using our own propri- equipment and we believe that we will ny’s ships. can be used for passing back analysed etary management software system.” eventually connect most of our maritime “We are using the VSAT systems for information and commands from the head “Remote Monitoring is one of the most platforms to VSAT, to allow broadband voice applications, video transmission, office on shore and floating vessels.” important applications that we can foresee. connectivity and the use of modern appli- internet connectivity and data links from One potential downside to the tenfold The ability to remotely monitor the equip- cations that will help us become more and to the land office,” he said. “Most of the boost in traffic CNOOC has seen since the ment on board can centralise the service competitive and successful.” applications are used for business purposes introduction of VSAT is the heightened and maintenance process, save costs and in Mr Adan is also confident that the mar- but we are using the infrastructure also for likelihood of unwanted and malicious many cases even increase revenues as we itime communications market will contin- improving crew morale and allowing them applications finding their way into the will be able to continue operation of the ue to grow in the future, and that the internet connectivity as well as voice.” network, an issue the company says it is equipment even on unmanned platforms.” bandwidth requirements of shipping com- “Availability of internet connectivity at taking steps to combat. “Also video conferencing could be ben- panies will expand at a rapid pace. sea, for personal use by the crews, is “The significant increase in the use of eficial as it will allow remote expert tech- “The economic crisis did slow down becoming more and more important for the communication link and its connectiv- nical support from a central on-land loca- market growth, but did not stop it com- both the company and the crew. Having ity to the internet has increased the risk of tion (instead of having to transport expert pletely,” he told us. “The number of appli- personal e-mail connectivity and access to getting hit by viruses, spywares and support on board).” cations requiring broadband communica- the world wide web is considered by many Trojans,” said Mr Zhang. With these types of broadband-based tion increases, and so does the number of of the workers as a significant work benefit “CNOOC is aware of the changes in the applications now on the agenda for marine vessels that are enjoying broad- and it helps attracting better and higher environment and is taking appropriate CNOOC as it looks at the next generation band internet.” level professionals to the company.” measures to protect itself and its network.” of its IT infrastructure, Mr Zhang says that “Similarly, one can expect to see contin- “Naturally, the internet access helps to “Accordingly, a Firewall application is he expects that all shipping companies uous efforts to develop products with improve crew morale and indirectly con- being used in the routers and we continu- will have to join the move to broadband, improved performance which are also tributes to the efficiency and quality of ously control the number of ports. In addi- or risk being left behind as their competi- lighter, smaller and more cost efficient. their work.” tion, all PC terminals use antivirus soft- tors take advantage of these improved These products will have enhanced RF and Mr Adan of Orbit also notes that the ware for protection.” operational efficiencies. superior tracking technologies to achieve range of communications options avail- “Broadband communication, anywhere higher accuracy and better stability.” able over the VSAT system has created Future and anytime, is no longer a question of ‘if’ “Orbit estimates that the high price of significant efficiencies for CNOOC in its With the VSAT systems soon to be but rather a question of ‘when’, and in Inmarsat services will slowly shift many oil and gas operations. installed aboard all of the vessels in the many cases the answer for the ‘when’ narrowband Inmarsat users to VSAT, “Many applications are needed and CNOOC fleet, Mr Zhang and the company question is – now!” he told us. enabling them to enjoy all the benefits of a become possible with the availability of are looking at new ways of leveraging the “We, at CNOOC, believe that the transi- broadband link for a fixed monthly rate. the broadband link like video, data, voice, technology to further improve operations tion to broadband is already taking place We believe that in the near future, the fax, and internet,” he said. in the future. and sooner or later every moving platform combination of price, speed and band- “For example, in the oil and gas indus- “Our goal is to reach a position where at sea (as well as on shore) will be connect- width will favour faster Ku- and C-band try, the oil companies can pass to shore all the computers both on and off shore are ed via some form of broadband connection. VSAT services.” DS

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SOFTWARE NEWS Teekay to install ABS-NS fleet Ocean Shipmanagement signs management software antivirus deal

www.abs-ns.com pany with extensive maritime industry www.port-it.nl experience and the ability to support us – Teekay Corporation, which carries more now and into the future.” Dutch company Port-IT has agreed a deal than 10 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil, “ABS Nautical Systems has provided with Ocean Shipmanagement to provide has selected ABS Nautical Systems to act as us with a knowledgeable on-site team to its Antivirus Service for installation on 32 its fleet management software provider. help develop and implement the software. vessels in July 2010. Teekay will replace its existing soft- We are confident that with the system’s Ocean Shipmanagement quality manag- ware system with ABS Nautical Systems’ integration capabilities and the team’s er, Oliver Kautz, notes that his company NS5 integrated package, including experience, this project will be a success.” was looking to implement a solution that Maintenance and Repair, Purchasing and Karen Hughey, president and COO of would remove the need to send CDs with Inventory and Drydocking modules. ABS Nautical Systems, noted her pleasure updates to the ships, but without incurring Since the beginning of the project ABS- at securing this deal with a major player in excessive satellite communications costs. NS has operated a special team in the tanker market. “We looked for a low-maintenance Vancouver, Canada, to provide on-site “We are very pleased to be working [antivirus] solution, which will effectively support for Teekay to manage the imple- with such a prestigious company like protect our PCs and at the same time will mentation. Teekay and that our software was able to not keep us busy sending CDs every month “We had a very a focused selection fit all of their needs,” she said. or quarterly like other solutions,” he said. ‘We are happy with the results of the thorough trial of the system’ process and criterion in place,” said Lesley “We will strive to achieve the best “Granting a long trial period we could – Youri Hart, Port-IT Green, manager, TMS Business Systems, results possible and provide Teekay with assure ourselves of the functionality of the Teekay. the one-on-one support we are able to [Port-IT] software. But at the end, the com- maritime industry, which was launched at “It was important that we chose a com- offer all of our customers.” bination of the good antivirus solution, a the Sea Japan exhibition in Tokyo. proactive service approach and a reason- The new application aims to improve able price were the decisive factors. We computer security protection against mal- have been convinced that Port-IT does ware, spyware and advanced Trojan threats. understand shipping needs.” The system has been developed follow- Trials of the system were carried out ing a 2009 research study conducted by aboard the CSAV Panamby, beginning in the company into virus and malware August 2009, and after six months of satis- threats onboard sea vessels. factory operation Ocean Shipmanagement This led to a focus on creating an applica- decided to proceed with a contract cover- tion that uses anti-malware techniques to ing 26 existing ships and six newbuilds detect and remove malicious programs from for which Ocean provides full technical onboard computers, which can be updated management. via satellite systems but using small file sizes The rollout will be managed by Port-IT, to keep airtime costs to a minimum. which will provide custom made ‘starter The software employed within the anti- kits’ tailored for Ocean’s operational infra- malware service is a combination of the structure that will allow the crews to Malwarebytes system, developed by install the solution onboard. Malwarebytes Corporation, and Port-IT’s Teekay’s vessels will now be managed using the NS5 software package. Photo: Teekay “Ocean Shipmanagement’s signup for own technology. us is a great marker that validates the [per- The application is specifically maritime- formance] and efficiency of our service,” focused, with a vessel-based licensing sys- commented Youri Hart, Port IT CEO. tem and online client management portal. PortVision unveils web-based system “The dedication that Port-IT provides Port-IT says that the anti-malware sys- in support and guidance was noticed and tem monitors all of the computer’s for terminal operators highly appreciated. The additional vessels processes and can stop malicious software to our service can easily be supported and before it begins to operate. www.portvision.com streamline vendor and resource manage- managed online and every aspect can be This service can work in parallel with ment, handle all traffic scheduling, dis- controlled. We are very happy with the Port-IT’s Antivirus solution, with a sepa- PortVision says that it has created the patch and management, perform integrat- determination of Mr Kautz to learn all rate set of security features. world’s first web-based service platform ed demurrage reporting and analysis, and details of our service and to run a thor- The maritime antivirus product has that integrates vessel tracking, manage- improve incident response. ough trial.” already been employed in combination ment and analysis into a single operational “Marine terminal operators are under This agreement with Ocean with the new anti-malware product on all dashboard for marine terminal operators. more pressure than ever before to improve Shipmanagement has followed closely vessel visits by Port-IT engineers during the The TerminalSmart solution gives ter- efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance their after Port-IT’s recent release of a new six months prior to launch to test the prod- minal operators access to PortVision’s visibility into every aspect of the increas- ‘Port-IT Anti-Malware’ service for the uct for service usage, the company says. database of both real-time and historical ingly complex terminal environment,” vessel movements based on AIS vessel- said Dean Rosenberg, chief executive offi- tracking data, and combines it with man- cer with PortVision. Web based system for brokers launched agement, analysis and reporting tools. “TerminalSmart not only delivers all PortVision’s covered AIS service necessary information about current and www.s-bis.com The system’s web-based platform regions include most major US ports and historical vessel locations and events, but allows for mobile access, and helps to save regions, and more than 50 international also provides all of the tools to leverage Maritime INFOSYS has released its new time by pre-populating brokering infor- ports. that information for business intelligence Ship Brokering Intelligence Solutions (S- mation into the necessary documents. Users of the new system can define and analysis, critical decision-making, and BIS) ship brokerage support tool, an inte- As a web-based product S-BIS requires their own customised fleets of chartered comprehensive, integrated operational grated web and mobile solution to sup- no special software or hardware installa- vessels, workboats, tugs, and barges, and reporting.” port the ship brokering process. tion - subscribed users simply log-in to can receive and share e-mail and text-mes- “Plus, TerminalSmart is the only mar- The system is designed to give ship the website for access. sage alerts about movements within that itime intelligence platform that gives ter- brokers, owners, managers and charterers “This is about finding the right ship at fleet. minal operators access to PortVision’s access to the latest information, able to the right time with the right price and the The system also allows users to access comprehensive database of vessel infor- search among more than 160,000 ships right paperwork – all in one easy-to-navi- historical data and animated playback for mation – we currently process over 40 mil- using over 600 data fields. gate helm,” says Maritime INFOSYS any selected vessels and events. lion vessel location reports every day and Decision support tools and multiple founder and chief architect, Roy Devlin. Based on PortVision’s maritime intelli- our data warehouse contains 10 billion live data feeds are also included, from “We take brokering into the 21st centu- gence platform, the company says that ter- arrival, departure, passing, and vessel sources such as Veson Nautical, AIS Live ry utilising all that today’s technology has minal operators can use the system to movement records.” and Worldscale. to offer in one simple solution.”

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SOFTWARE NEWS Thome implements crewing software across fleet

www.thome.com.sg as in all branch offices, manning offices, Netvision, was a significant move for- system, COMPAS,” he said. and travel agents. ward in the company’s history. “This is yet another important mile- The Thome Group of Companies, head- Captain Michael Elwert, director of “Thome and all its branches, sub- stone in our strategic drive and ultimate quartered in Singapore, has installed the Thome Group Human Resources and sidiaries, partners and manning offices goal – to be among the best performing COMPAS crew management software Crewing, said the introduction of the worldwide are now working together in ship managers in the world.” system across its fleet of vessels, as well system, developed by IT company our new web based crew management According to Captain Elwert, the Thome Group implemented the COMPAS crew management system to imp- LEADER IN MOBILE BROADBAND rove efficiency in its data collection and distribution, and develop better time management. The system will also help in allowing Thome to share Global data on crew management Expansion operations with relevant What broadband at sea was Continues! third-parties, on a real-time ® basis. SM ® mini- The web-based third gen- BROADBAND meant to be – TracPhone V7. SM eration crew management Africa & Indian Ocean system has a number of fea- are now live! tures to assist in operating Coming soon: Brazil crew pools, and can produce Dramatically cut your airtime costs crewing reports and statis- and improve your ship’s operations tics such as retention rate, age profiling, OCIMF matrix SM with KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband– compliance, CVs, training logs, certification, crewing the most affordable service for strategies and more. broadband Internet, e-mail, and “COMPAS is a state-of- the-art manpower manage- telephone! ment system that addresses the needs of any ship management company regardless of staff capacity and locations," said Netvision general manager and chief software architect, Cornel An end-to-end communications Ciocan. Fast, low-cost Internet at sea – solution with a compact 60 cm “It provides necessary Rely on broadband Internet with speeds as antenna and a fully integrated functions to manage all fast as 2 Mbps down and 512 Kbps up while control unit and modem. aspects of crewing such as saving 85% or more vs. other solutions. advanced crew planning, “We were particularly impressed with crew change management, the TracPhone V7’s small size and afford- crew database, training, Crystal-clear telephone calls – able airtime. assessment, logistics and Make calls whenever and wherever you want We are excited to have a new more.” using either of the two lines of integrated voice solution for day-to-day shipboard satellite "Our crew information service optimised for maritime customers or communications that is both affordable and database provides efficient KVH’s crew calling solution. easy to install alongside our existing means for storing and retrieving a large amount of Easy to install and setup – Inmarsat and GSM systems. This helps to crew-related data besides ® ViaSat’s exclusive ArcLight spread spectrum keep our business operations efficient, and job history, experience, edu- technology enables a small 60 cm antenna allows the crew to use the services to stay cation, training, vital statis- with dramatically superior performance, easy in touch with their loved ones. This is espe- tics, photos, nearest airport, installation and activation in as little as 1 day! passport and visa informa- cially important, because in our industry tion and general payroll Seamless global coverage – retaining quality crew and officers is essen- transactions.” mini-VSAT Broadband is a rapidly expanding tial.” Ku-band global network with totally automatic satellite switching and seamless roaming - Runar Gaarder, ICT Manager for Mowinckel Ship Management SDSD has appointed Paul between regions. Jarvis as a new business consultant, where he will be involved in the deployment of the SD Matrix software system. Mr Jarvis has previ- Find out how KVH TracPhone V7 can change your business at: ously worked at shipbroking group Simpson, Spence www.kvh.com/digitalship and Young (SSY), and at Electronic Shipping Solutions. KVH Europe A/S • Kokkedal Industripark 2B • 2980 Kokkedal • Denmark Tel: +45 45 160 180 • Fax: +45 45 160 181 • E-mail: [email protected] ©2010 KVH Industries, Inc. KVH, TracPhone, and the unique light-colored dome with dark contrasting baseplate are registered trademarks of KVH Industries, Inc. 10_KE_V7miniVSAT_Comm_DigitalShip “What Broadband at sea was meant to be” and “mini-VSAT Broadband” are service marks of KVH Industries, Inc. www.sdsd.com ArcLight is a registered trademark of ViaSat, Inc.; all other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Patents Pending.

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 20 p18-31:p15-25.qxd 21/05/2010 10:24 Page 4

Digital Ship Autoship launches latest vessel Seagull acquires design system Green-Jakobsen stake

www.autoship.com The stability and strength calculation www.seagull.no program, Autohydro, has been expanded Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC) of to include the latest regulations, including Seagull AS has acquired a 20 per Canada has launched the latest version of new probabilistic damage assessment cent stake in Copenhagen-based its Autoship marine design software. rules and enhanced handling of free sur- Green-Jakobsen, a company specialising The new version of the surface model- face effects. in human resource development ling program, Autoship, aims to improve A new configurable report tool is also for shipping. usability following a re-write of the sur- in the works for the updated version, Seagull has also retained a further face-to-surface intersection function and which the company says will shorten the option to acquire a larger portion of the removal of certain requirements with time needed to create customised reports, shares in Green-Jakobsen, and reached a regard to tolerances. as is a new Modelmaker (for model cre- formal agreement to work jointly on Many of the user-input dialogues have ation and editing) built to updated user- developing training concepts for the been streamlined in order to simplify control interface control specifications. shipping and offshore sectors. of the program, with the Pro version allow- ASC says that planning has begun on a The two companies first started col- ing import of IGES (Initial Graphics closer integration of modelling for laborating in 2007, with Seagull going on Exchange Specification) entities 141 and 143. Autohydro from within Autoship. to offer Green-Jakobsen leadership training modules as part of the Seagull ‘Library for Seafarers’. Software upgrade from FarSounder While the companies say that they will continue to operate as two separate ‘The way of delivering training www.farsounder.com also been the subject of an overhaul, with businesses, the new agreement will see has changed profoundly’ new display windows, processor controls Seagull engaging Green-Jakobsen to run – Roger Ringstad, Seagull FarSounder has released SonaSoft 2.1, a and profiles locations. certain competence management projects software upgrade for its FS-3DT Forward While some of the changes have been due for Seagull clients, while at the same time “In a relatively short period of time, a Looking Sonar system. to ongoing efforts, the company says that acquiring the rights to all CBT modules large number of Seagull’s clients have The update has been developed to many of the operational ones are the result developed by Green-Jakobsen to include embraced the CBT-based management include system improvements based on of information received from system users. in its training library. training developed by Green-Jakobsen user feedback, and features enhancements SonaSoft 2.1 is available at no charge “The need to develop the highest lev- and offered through Seagull’s compre- such as a vessel speed upgrade, offering as an upgrade for existing customers, and els of skills in the most senior officers has hensive onboard library.” 20 knot capability, and better automatic is included in all new deliveries. not changed, but the way of delivering “Part of the extended collaboration is bottom detection, with improved sea floor A copy of this latest software demo the training to achieve those skill levels to further develop a concept for manage- visualisation. may be downloaded from the has changed profoundly,” said Roger ment training, an area where Seagull is The Graphic User Interface (GUI) has FarSounder website. Ringstad, Seagull managing director. aiming for market leadership.”

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SOFTWARE NEWS

New version of ship design software released Mowinckel and Alpha go for e-commerce

www.intergraph.com data reuse capabilities. The system can www.shipserv.com orders and requests for quotes through a now reference external data from different single, electronic connection to all of their Intergraph has released the new version sources for visualisation, clash detection ShipServ has signed two new agreements suppliers. of its SmartMarine 3D software for ship- and routed systems connections. to provide e-commerce services to Mowinckel already uses AMOS for builders, with expanded automation Intergraph notes that in shipbuilding Mowinckel Ship Management and Alpha purchasing, with the roll-out of ShipServ capabilities. buildups the elements created are often Shipmanagement. scheduled for the end of May according to SmartMarine 3D is the rule-based treated as single entities during the pre- Under the deals Mowinckel and Alpha the project plan, while Alpha has already design and fabrication component of FEED (front end engineering design) and will both subscribe to ShipServ's online been involved in pilot testing of the sys- Intergraph’s SmartMarine Enterprise soft- FEED phase, but are separated into inde- ship supplies trading platform TradeNet, tem prior to agreeing this contract. ware portfolio, used for the modular pendent parts at the detail design and which will allow the companies to route Both companies believe that the intro- design of structures, piping, equipment, manufacturing stage. duction of this technology will help to and electrical modelling with automated The new software version allows users to improve efficiency in operations. detailing drawing capabilities. bring these new features all the way from “Mowinckel is a progressive shipping The newest version of the software design to manufacturing without remodel- business company and after finishing introduces enhanced rule-based design ling, to ensure consistency of designs. other projects to make our business more automation capabilities, with graphical SmartMarine 3D can also copy 3D data efficient ShipServ is a good choice to programming capabilities, referred to as within a model or to another model while streamline our purchasing process,” said 'geometric constructions', to enable the maintaining relationships within the Ove Berntzen, managing director, definition of complex elements and struc- design. Entire modules or units of a vessel Mowinckel Ship Management. tures based on engineering, construction can be replicated with all their associated Hartmut Koester, purchase manager, and manufacturing rules. intelligence. Alpha Shipmanagement, also commented: Once defined, the geometric construc- “The industry no longer has to rely on “Alpha Shipmanagement is a modern tions can be applied to other similar situa- old, limited systems with limited and pro- shipping business and ShipServ is part of tions in the model. With Intergraph’s asso- prietary technology. Now, clients can take a broader initiative to innovate our busi- ciativity engine, the geometric construction advantage of this technology to bring pro- ness processes.” will be fully adapted to the new situation ductivity into their business and enhance “With ShipServ we will transform how using other objects as input parameters. global competitiveness,” said Patrick we manage our purchasing, becoming The new features also include expand- Holcomb, Intergraph process, power and more efficient, as well as gaining better ed multi-3D model referencing and model marine executive vice president. insight into our operations.” ShipServ says that nearly 150 ship man- Sener joins OpenHCM consortium Ane Fosseng, ShipServ, and Ove Berntzen, agement companies are now using Mowinckel Ship Management, TradeNet, connecting to more than 10,000 www.sener.es to plates, stiffeners, compartments, thick- celebrate the new agreement suppliers worldwide. ness measurements, cracks and coating Spanish ship design company SENER reports conditions, and is mainly intended for that it is to participate in the OpenHCM shipyards, owners, classification societies New ShipDecision version released (Hull Condition Monitoring) Consortium, and thickness measurement companies. an initiative to increase ship safety through The exchanged files are written in XML the transparent electronic processing of con- and can be visualised as 3D models. The www.shipdecision.com the need for in-house servers, with data dition assessment data for the in-service partners have already developed commer- stored on Stelvio-owned server farms operation of ships and offshore platforms. cial tools to handle the 3D models and the Montreal-based software company Stelvio housed at two separate hosting facilities in The consortium has been formed to related data, including automated meas- has released the latest version of its the Greater Montreal area. carry on the work started under the EU’s urement data input from robotic systems. ShipDecision technology, version 3.0. “We fully understand the enormous CAS project, which focused on improving In addition to SENER, the consortium's The new system has been developed time pressures and information sharing the efficiency of the thickness measure- initial members include IACS classifica- using the Adobe Flex framework, and challenges that confront the maritime sec- ment process onboard ships in service, tion societies Bureau Veritas, operates like a "virtual command centre", tor,” said Albert Carbone, president of making it fully electronic. Germanischer Lloyd and the Russian according to the company. Stelvio Inc. CAS created a neutral exchange stan- Maritime Register of Shipping, Dutch Each business partner involved in the "As software developers, our job is to dard to support both this process and the company Materiaal Metingen Europe and voyage process can be linked into the sys- design solutions that make it easier for exchange of thickness measurement data. French robotics firm Cybernétix. tem to access the information they require, people to handle their work. When you The consortium will retain the latest ver- The consortium members believe that it once they have an internet connection. Data log into your system in the morning, you sion of the exchange standard, called is in the interests of the maritime industry is protected through the use of encryption. want to see your critical information OpenHCM, manage its evolution, and for OpenHCM to be widely used, in order The software processes data, docu- organised in a way that makes sense to update it where appropriate. to provide reliable and efficient seamless ments and communications related to you. That’s exactly what you get when With the first version of the standard as communication across all in-service opera- each voyage, saving every piece of infor- you use ShipDecision.” developed by the CAS project having now tional processes. mation in an electronic vault which can be The new software version features been in use for two years, the consortium Following further practical implemen- accessed by authorised users. This also specific modules for brokers, operators, has determined that new versions are tations, they say that they intend to apply provides a tamper-proof audit trail of all charterers, surveyors, agents, insurers required to improve its operation. to have the standard made official by business activities. and registries, which can be customised The standard addresses issues relating IACS and other regulatory bodies. The web-based architecture removes as required. Online gas supply website launched Seanique route for Gardline

www.martek-marine.com fied product type, unique to the company. www.soft-impact.com operations at its offices in Great By placing a product in the site’s shop- Yarmouth, UK. Martek Marine has launched Fastcalgas, a ping basket owners will receive a propos- Cyprus-based software company Previously known as Gardline Surveys, new calibration gas supply service for ship al by e-mail, which they can then translate SOFTimpact has signed a contract with Gardline Marine Sciences Ltd was estab- owners and managers which will be avail- into an order if required. Gardline Marine Sciences Ltd, whereby lished in 2003 and today claims to be the able over the internet. Payments can be made by credit card Gardline will implement its Seanique world’s largest independently owned sur- Vessel operators using the system will through the site, with the Fastcalgas system 9.0 solution. vey group. log-in to a secure website to access the also incorporating a customer rebate based The Seanique system is an ERP solution The company specialises in geophysi- Martek Marine database, which includes on user spending over a 12 month period. developed for the maritime industry, cal, hydrographic, environmental, ocean- information on the availability of calibra- Martek Marine says that, as well as ves- based on Microsoft Dynamics Ax. graphic and geotechnical surveys, and tion gas from various manufacturers. sel operators, it will also look to market Under the terms of the agreement, operates a fleet of dedicated vessels All manufacturer part numbers and the new service to shipyards, including SOFTimpact will implement its crew and including multi-role, nearshore and descriptions will be translated into a uni- repair yards. payroll functions to support Gardline’s coastal and wind farm support vessels.

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 22 p18-31:p15-25.qxd 21/05/2010 10:24 Page 6

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SOFTWARE Modern communications in shipbroking

Controlling and accessing information is vital to the success of the modern ship broker, and modern advances in maritime communications have changed the game in the industry, making the sector more dynamic than ever before, writes Krishna Prasad, Tradex Marine Global

hip brokering, as a profession, has Everyone involved in chartering acts, to find suitable ships for the cargo which his broker had a few contacts with whom he been in vogue since the early days a large extent, as a collector, judge and dis- principal (the charterer) wants to trans- had interacted regularly using telex as the SSof commercial shipping. tributor of information. Ship broking can port. This function requires an in depth primary mode of communication. Initially the owner of the ship was also be seen as an information network; a net- knowledge of ships and cargoes, informa- With telex being expensive and not so the trader – or in other words, the trader work of people, as well as technology that tion about ports, methods of loading and user friendly (relatively speaking), the was the owner of the ship. He bought facilitates information exchange. discharging of various cargoes, weather interaction was limited to bare essentials. goods in one place, carried the goods in his A great deal of the flow of information patterns, demand and supply of ships and Telephone, the other communication ship to another place and sold them there. consists of details on fixtures all over the so forth. method available during that time was As trade evolved, the trading activity world. ‘Making a fixture’ means that the prohibitively expensive, and unreliable and the shipping activity were separated; parties interested in a specific sea trans- when used for long distance contacts. the ship owner merely carried cargo from port contract reach an agreement through ‘Urgent’ and ‘Lightning’ calls were not the trader or various traders in one loca- negotiations. connected for hours and hours. tion to another location and handed it over The parties involved in a chartering deal Modern digital communication to the buyers. are, on the one hand, someone who owns, changed this drastically. Instant commu- With the evolution in trade specialisa- controls or operates a ship (as an owner, nication to any part of the world – be it tion in shipping, the role of shipbrokers time chartered owner or disponent owner). land, sea or air – is available at the click of became more pronounced. The shipbroker We shall call him Owner for simplicity. a button. was the intermediary who would find On the other hand, there are persons Information exchange has become reli- ships for the merchants; and cargoes for who require some cargo to be carried by able and far more affordable. Large the ship owners who often travelled with sea transport between two destinations. amounts of data can be transmitted across the ship. Normally (but not always) he is the cargo the globe instantaneously. The modern day shipping market com- owner. Let us call him Charterer. The This includes details of fixtures con- prises of, on one side, shipowners with Charterer can also act as an Owner when cluded, market reports and other informa- varying fleet sizes and operators, and he controls the tonnage. tion about ports, economic situation, gov- those who do not own ships but neverthe- Shipbrokers normally specialise in a ernment policies, weather and a host of less control the commercial operations of specific segment of the market; be it dry other factors that affect shipping business. ships, and on the other side, charterers of cargo, chemical, passenger vessels, RORO The shipbroker can practically be con- varying sizes who control different car- vessels etc. The various market segments sidered as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the owners goes – large and small lots; the shipbroker have their own peculiarities and the mar- and the charterers. He tracks the shipping is an intermediary between the owners ket behaviour is also varied – forcing the market closely. Port position, vessel avail- and the charterers. practitioners to adopt specialisations. ‘With the advent of digital communication ability demand for ship, contacts conclud- The primary role of the shipbroker Shipbroking, particularly for a com- and powerful computing techniques ed or failed, all of these things are closely the shipbroker’s network has grown’ – remains as ‘finding ships for cargoes and petitive broker, is an opportunity-based monitored. Shipbrokers also track the com- Krishna Prasad, Tradex Marine Global cargoes for ships’, but modern day com- business. petitor’s activity for their principals. munication and computing tools are As and when opportunities for new As said earlier, shipbrokers track the redefining the finer aspects of shipbroking. business crop up, the broker has to be on With the advent of digital communica- market activity closely. It is this informa- This paper looks at the role of the ship- his toes to help conclude the deal. The tion and powerful computing techniques tion that is used by many owners and brokers in the past, the impact of technology importance of time is all the more acute the shipbroker’s network has grown far charterers to formulate their business on the profession of ship brokering, and the these days, when certain segments of the and wide. strategies. changing role of shipbrokers. The dry-cargo market see highly volatile fluctuations. Each ship broker gets cargo and ship Large ship brokering houses have set market is taken for analysis as it is the least The charterers value the broker’s infor- positions from a hundred sources or so – up elaborate research outfits. These standardised shipping market – and per- mation, knowledge, and skills for negotia- over a thousand e-mails a day. Each broker research units constantly collect data on a haps one of the most complicated in terms of tion, as well as his perception of the mar- circulates his prospective businesses – wide range of parameters and analyse practices and commercial operations. ket. As in other businesses, value added ships looking for cargoes or cargoes look- them. Analytical reports are given to their services generate goodwill and brokers ing for suitable ships – to his contacts. Some clients and associates on a regular basis. Information exchange who offer such services stand out among of these are re-circulated again and again. The Baltic Exchange and some leading Shipping is an international business. A other ordinary ones. Managing the vast number of e-mail ship brokers publish information on fix- person dealing with ship-chartering has to The shipbroker’s role can be broadly messages received by a ship broker every tures (contracts) concluded. They also work with the conditions prevailing day classified as follows: finding ships for car- day is a challenge in itself. publish indices on various segments of by day in the international freight market. goes and cargo for ships; a source of infor- Simple solutions like filters, ‘rules’ etc the market. A large number of customs and rules of mation; analysing market trends; advising can be used to minimise the inflow of mes- The broker is also expected to advise on the trade have been established through owners and charterers; and acting as a dis- sages, but this may not be an easy task the possible trends of rates or availability the years all over the world. These rules pute resolver. considering the fact that almost every of cargoes or ships etc. For example, if and ethics are scrupulously followed by message with cargo and ship information demand for iron ore increases, the ships practitioners worldwide, otherwise it Managing is a source of information for the shipbro- available for carriage of grain may drop, would not be possible to do business communications ker. It shows the state of the market in and so much so that the grain freight rates worth millions of dollars with parties The primary function of a shipbroker rep- terms of demand and supply of ships. may shoot up. across the world at short notice. resenting a ship-owner is to find employ- Activating filters often sends many of the Is it better to go in for long term time Chartering work is essentially a form of ment for the ships under the control of his wanted messages to the ‘junk’ folder. charter or prefer spot market for our exchange of information. It is a business principal (the ship-owner or ship operator). The shipbroker’s role as a source of infor- requirement of space for the next 12 where the right information at the right In the case of a shipbroker representing mation has also evolved. In olden times the months? An experienced broker can give moment is essential to be successful. a cargo interest, the shipbroker’s role is to shipbroker had rather limited reach, each sound advice in such matters.

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 24 p18-31:p15-25.qxd 21/05/2010 10:24 Page 8

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SOFTWARE

The shipbroker also has an important Once the basic terms are agreed, the The world's trading requirements in the are a wide variety of contract formats used role as a dispute resolver. Disputes are broker prepares the recapitulation of the dry sector are far more complex than in in the dry cargo segment. unavoidable in any business deal – partic- negotiation. This recapitulation often has a the liquid cargo segment, and movements ularly when it is carried out across differ- clause which refers to the finer details of are dictated by the needs and the wants of Communication ent cultures and under conditions which the contract. The Owners and the the world economic situation. revolution are dynamic and unpredictable. Charterers negotiate on these finer con- The dry bulk shipbroker has not only to About two decades back shipbroking was Although every contract provides a dis- tract details. know his own market, but to have a very mainly conducted in a few shipping cen- pute resolution mechanism, the parties to The contract of carriage is considered keen eye for world developments, tres, namely New York, London, Sydney, the contract look to the intermediaries to concluded only if they reach an agreement whether they be of an economic or politi- Tokyo, Singapore, Rotterdam and Piraeus. anticipate potential dispute areas and take on all the details. If any time during the cal nature, or just some disaster or failure London was the leading international cen- corrective action. They also look to the ship- negotiation of contract (called the Charter of a crop in one country or another. tre with a wide variety of maritime servic- broker to help resolve any disputes that Party) the parties fail to arrive at an agree- The dry cargo market is mainly con- es readily available. may come up in spite of the precautions. ment, the business is dropped. cerned with the carriage by full shipload Only with physical presence in one of Shipbrokers, having built up a close The broker prepares the contract of the world's primary ‘dry’ commodities: the prominent shipping centres could con- rapport with the owner and the charterer (Charter Party) and gets it signed by the coal, grain, iron ore, phosphates, fertilis- tracts of carriage be negotiated. Telex was are in a position to forge formulas to find Charterers and owners. ers, sugar, etc. the only reliable mode of communication, solutions to complicated problems. Chartering negotiations are carried out The dry cargo market consists of a wide but it was expensive and time consuming. Commercial prudence brings most peo- day and night, and almost always under variety of segments; bulkers, multi-pur- With the onset of digital communica- ple to realise that legal disputes take much time pressure. Whichever mode of com- pose ships, container ships, Roll-on Roll tion, the scenario change drastically. Voice time and money, and both parties will like- munication is used – be it telex, e-mail, –off (RORO) ships, passenger ships, cruise communication over long distance ly accept a mutually acceptable and fair voice or SMS – all agreements are equal. liners, cattle carriers, off-shore supply ves- became reliable and efficient. Documents solution from an unbiased broker rather The age old dictum ‘Our Word is Our sels, tugs and barges, project carriers, etc. could be transmitted by facsimile. than go in for costly litigation. Usually the Bond’ applies. There are sub-divisions within each Long messages with documents, pic- parties to the contract resort to judicial and tures and video clippings could be trans- other dispute resolution mechanisms only Information by segment mitted using e-mails. Messages to a num- after the intermediaries fail. The freight market is not a uniform one; it ber of recipients could be sent easily and at consists of various market segments that negligible cost. Chartering process are not dependent on each other. Mobile phones and internet accessibili- The process of chartering starts with the The demand and supply and the mar- ty facilitated regular contact, even while pre fixture analysis when the trad- ket behaviour of each of these segments the person is on the move. Instant messen- er/charterer gives the basic details of the are not necessarily inter related. ger on the internet added to the flexibility business to his broker (or in-house ship- Individual segments behave in their own by offering instant discussions using inter- ping department), who estimates the way. It is not uncommon to see one seg- net protocol. Physical presence in any achievable freight rate. ment riding the crest of a market boom location was no longer vital. The broker, in addition to giving the when another one will be reeling under Ship broking, although a profession freight rate, also advises the trader about depressive pressures. which was slow to adapt to modern tech- important parameters affecting the partic- The information and data required for nology, began using the multitude of com- ular business. analysing the market trends for each seg- munication modes. Using this information, the trader con- ment are as different as the various seg- Today, chartering negotiations are car- cludes the sale deed and asks the shipping ments in the industry. ried out using a wide variety of communi- department or the broker to fix the ship. In addition to supply and demand, the cation methods; e-mail, mobile phones, The broker then floats the inquiry state of the market also depends on the instant messaging and facsimile all at the among his contacts who in turn may cir- economic situation, price of oil, war, Some brokering practices have carried same time. A single negotiation may use culate it further. Various ships are pro- strikes, weather and climatic factors, good over from the days of Telex, all or any of the available methods. posed for the business. These ships are or bad harvest, governmental policies, and when communication was expensive. Modern communication methods have Photo: Kierant evaluated in terms of operational efficien- so on and so forth. drastically reduced communication costs. cy, available dates and freight levels. The hands-on broker needs to have his During the telex days every character Once a suitable ship is identified for the data base spread over a wide variety of was costly and therefore the industry business, firm negotiations take place parameters to give meaningful informa- segment. Within bulkers one can find adapted a system of abbreviations; SHINC between the owner and charterer through tion to his clients. Cape size ships, Panamax ships, for Sundays Holidays Included; SHEX their broker(s). Usually the negotiations The dry cargo segment of the shipping Supramax, Handymax, and Handys. The EIU for Sundays Holidays Excluded Even are carried out on accept / except basis: market will be examined for this study, market behaviour of each of these seg- if Used; MOLOO for More or less at meaning only the points of disagreement due to the fact that it is one of the least ments could be different. Owners’ Option. are repeated in each message and the organised and the least standardised of The practices followed within each seg- The unaffordable cost of communica- accepted points are not mentioned at all. all segments. ment have peculiarities of their own. tion earlier had limited the number of con- This is a practice carried over from the There are a wide variety of ships and While larger container ships are usually tacts with whom shipbrokers communi- telex days, when each character was cargoes and the parameters affecting each employed for period charter, a lot of bulk- cated. Usual communication was only expensive (and difficult to transmit). segment of the market are not the same. ers are traded in the ‘spot market’. There with a few important contacts.

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 26 p18-31:p15-25.qxd 21/05/2010 10:24 Page 10

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SOFTWARE

With inexpensive and versatile modern The importance of efficient communi- every broker now has hundreds of con- ticular business, the owner almost always communication, the situation reversed. cation methods need not be stressed; it is tacts. Each and every business is flashed to chose to negotiate through the channel Shipbrokers transmit their positions for one of the key factors. these contacts many times – sometimes which offered the business first. ship and cargoes to hundreds of contacts; Modern communication systems pro- more than once a day. Nowadays, thanks to e-mail and instant sometimes more than once a week, or vide efficient and inexpensive communi- During the telex days negotiations messengers, the same business lands on even daily. cation – instantly to any part of the world. were carried out on the basis of a short the owners’ computers from 10 or 20 bro- The e-mail system is, however, posing a Pages and pages of documents, photo- offer, having only the basic details. kers at the same time. The owner chooses challenge to the ship broking community in graphs or even video clippings can be Standard contract forms (charter parties) the most suitable channel – not necessarily terms of authenticity of the contact through exchanged instantly – even when a ship is were referred to for all other details. the one who offered the business first. whom negotiations are carried out. in the midst of an ocean. This method has undergone a major Even after commencement of the nego- When telex was the primary mode of The main advantages of e-mail can be transformation now. The offer for a char- tiation, it is not uncommon for owners (or communication ‘answer back’ was an summarized as follows: it’s relatively ter has many clauses; there is a tendency charterers) to look at other businesses. authentication of the party contacted. But, inexpensive; easy to archive for future to include every operational aspect in the They may leave a negotiation half way in case of e-mails, unless it is a regular con- recall, with search/find options to help offer. through and choose to work with another tact the contacted party’s authenticity is track e-mails efficiently; they contain Negotiating the finer details of the con- business. not clearly established. details of correspondence, so no need to tract (charter parties) used to be much In the past, once the owner (or charter- The virtues required for a shipbroker in rely on memory or filed papers for the simpler. The base contract form used to be er) chose a particular business and started the era of inexpensive and instant commu- details of the correspondence. a standard format and the parties talked negotiations they tried to conclude it. nication are changing; with more and Only if the chosen business fails do they more verbal communication, a certain go for another. One could say that the level of ‘salesmanship’ is required. negotiations are no longer focused. The broker is left to talk-out and con- vince the parties on the contentious issues A changing market in a contract. This often involves modify- The charter market is not only dependent ing the clauses of a contract many times so on the demand and supply of ships but a that the anxieties of the parties concerned variety of other factors. are addressed. With modern technology, information Apart from knowledge of the industry on the parameters which affect the ship- and practices of the trade, information dis- ping market gets transmitted far and wide semination can perhaps be termed as the in seconds. Every new piece of business crucial aspect of shipbroking. spreads like wildfire – and the perception A shipbroker’s role can be termed as a of the owners and charterers change with network of relationships between various every bit of new business they see. entities; the ship-owner, the charterer, A multitude of other factors, economic, other brokers, etc. political, financial, government policies, In short, shipbroking can be termed as every small bit of information is analysed ‘an information network’. The broker is in in depth and its impact on the market constant contact with a variety of sources ascertained. to gather information. The downside of it all is that unsub- At the core of this activity is the bro- stantiated rumours can vitiate decision ker’s access to available ships and/or car- Contracts have become much more complex as cheap and easy communication making. The ultra sensitive brokers may goes. This primary information helps the allows for multiple revisions read too much into an event and may broker to widen his network among own- change their decisions. Just like the stock ers, charterers and other brokers. In effect markets, ‘sentiment’ may affect the rates. this forms a network which exchanges E-mails also give you the facility to edit only of very few changes to this basic con- Shipping has generally been an indus- information on a reciprocal basis. them any number of times before the e- tract. try which was slow in adopting modern Almost all brokers circulate their open mail is transmitted to the recipient; they Instead, these days’ charterers have technology, though it can be seen that positions – ships and cargoes – to their provide a time-stamped proof of interac- their own charter party formats which are shipbrokers nowadays use all the avail- contacts frequently. The contact list con- tion; and they can be sent to multiple mail- worded very differently from the standard able means of communication. sists of brokers, owners, charterers, opera- ing lists. contract form. This has led to lengthy However, the practices and methods tors and other associates. While, in the past, shipbrokers worked negotiations on details of the contract – followed for many years have still not With the advent of internet based com- on the basis of authority given to them by every minute detail of it. changed in such a way as to optimise the munication systems, which are relatively their principals, the modern communica- It is also not uncommon nowadays for time and effort of the practitioners during inexpensive, the contact list of every bro- tion systems provide the leverage to get charterers to ask for copies of the ship’s a negotiation. Some of the practices have ker is updated frequently as newer and decisions from the principals at all stages certificates. Pages and pages of certificates become complicated and less versatile. newer players enter the domain every of negotiation. are faxed or sent by e-mail. This eventually leads to a scenario other day. Be it day or night; whether at sea or In the past, charterers and owners fol- where there has so far been hardly any The shipbroker is a vital source of infor- while in an aircraft – contact can be main- lowed the principle of ‘first come first concerted effort from the practitioners or mation for the ship-owner and the charter- tained. Therefore, instead of working on served’ meaning that when a ship is open the international bodies representing them er. Shipbrokers track each and every busi- the basis of authority, shipbrokers now get the ship-owner chose the business from in optimising the methods and practices of ness concluded and this information is orders from their principal. the broker who offered the business first. ship chartering using modern communi- regularly passed on to their principals. In the olden days contacts were gener- When more than one broker offers par- cation methods. DS Market information is also collected ally between owners and brokers, or char- from various other sources like the Baltic terers and brokers. There was not much Exchange, the research divisions of some contact between charterers and owners About the author Chartering, Oasis Ship Management and prominent broking houses and a host of directly. Krishna Prasad is currently a director in Huadao Shipping Ltd, Hong Kong, a sub- other information sources which churn Ease of modern communication has Tradex Marine Global, a shipbroking com- sidiary of BM Shipping Group of Italy. out information that could have an impact changed this – very often we see now char- pany based in Dubai. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of in the shipping market. terers and owners being in direct contact. Mr Prasad has previously worked with Chartered Shipbrokers and the Chartered Shipbrokers normally specialise in a No longer do brokers give the excuse of the Shipping Corporation of India, Puyvast Institute of Logistics and Transport. specific segment of the market. The char- their principals being not available, due to terers can gain from the broker’s informa- weekend holidays or it being after office tion, knowledge, skills for negotiation as hours. With mobile phones and the well as his perception of the market. Blackberry almost anyone is accessible on Reference: – Pisanias and L Willcocks – Journal a 24/7 basis. 1) Shipbroking and Chartering Practice – of Information Technology (1999) 14 Changing roles The chartering methodology is in the L Gorton, R Ihre and Sandevarn; 5th 3) Advantages of e-mail communication – Chartering is primarily dependent on process of transformation as a result of the edition, LLP J Babcock. http://jonathanbabcock.com communication. Shipbrokers, who are the revolutionary changes brought in by digi- 2) Understanding slow internet adoption: 4) Review of Maritime Transport 2006 – intermediaries in chartering, are mainly tal communication and computing power. ‘ infomediation in shipbroking markets’ UCTAD Report involved in information exchange. Instead of a short list of close contacts,

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SOFTWARE Making software a good investment

In an economic downturn technology investments can be hard to justify – but may be the very best way of improving competitiveness. Dr Torsten Büssow, Germanischer Lloyd, gave Digital Ship some advice about how to make the most of software investments

verybody in the modern world is points to some software projects he tance to invest in software has been a typ- this is about €340 billion – bigger obvious- using software to manage and con- has been involved in in other industries ical feature of the maritime market for ly, but useful for comparison.” EEtrol a wide variety of aspects of to demonstrate. many years, with the overall market worth “The oil and gas industry is currently their day to day lives. “An oil upstream company rolled out a a small amount of money relative to the spending about 3.5 per cent of this CapEx Even those of us that don’t spend hours complete ERP system across its European size of the industry. on software and related services, half of a day in front of a computer will be sur- organisation and reduced its purchasing “If you talk about the shipping technol- which is on software licences and half of rounded by systems running basic appli- costs by 8 per cent, on an €800 million pur- ogy market you’re talking about different which is on IT services. The shipping cations, from the mobile phone in their chasing volume – that’s a pretty signifi- segments, there are systems for naviga- industry is currently spending only €700 pocket to the onboard technology in their cant number,” he said. tion, systems for communications, sys- million on this, so it’s 0.7 per cent of the car telling them how far they’ve travelled. total annual CapEx investments. This is a At the business level software tends to big difference, in percentage terms its only be a lot more sophisticated than a dash- 20 per cent of the relative spend for the oil board clock, but the fundamental reason- and gas industry.” ing driving the use of these systems is the Dr Büssow says that even this compar- same – making life easier and more effi- ison does not show the full extent of the cient through the use of specialised tools. differences in approach between the two Dr Torsten Büssow, head of maritime industries when it comes to technology software at Germanischer Lloyd, believes investment. that understanding these principles “The total software spend will be about behind the use of technology and software more than just the licences. Look at our systems is a key ingredient in making €300 million spend in the fleet management them work for you. software sector – let’s say the new licences He argues that the principle of effec- are about €100 million. Maintenance and tively using tools to manage processes is support, which can be licence related like quite a simple one, and has been under- updating the software, those things are stood long before we had computers – about €130 million,” he said. drawing on the early parts of the twenti- “Training, implementation and con- eth century to illustrate the point. sulting, the ‘services’ share of the spend- “Think of the Model-T Ford car, one of ing, is only about 25 per cent of the total, the most successful cars in the last century maybe around €70 million together. In – for two decades it had a 60 per cent mar- other industries this services share would ket share,” he said. be about 50 per cent of the total, every “Henry Ford didn’t invent the car, it was time they spend €1 on software they a German guy. He didn’t invent the assem- should be able to spend another €1 on bly line either, like many people think, he services to go with that.” just copied the idea from other industries “The shipping industry currently does- that were using this type of production.” The Ford company knew the value of tool building in managing its assembly lines, n’t do this, and the results are that imple- “When somebody asked him what he more than 100 years ago mentation projects do not run on time, did differently, he said ‘we put a higher people have trouble getting the software skill into management, planning and tool “At a logistics service company we tems for ship automation,” he said. “Those on the vessel, they have insufficiently building’. To me, the interesting thing is managed to increase the profitability by 20 are mostly hardware driven, I think. trained crew, and so on.” that tool building is only one part of the per cent by just using the software to help There’s software that you buy to run them, equation, and the tools he is referring to them understand how profitable each sin- but a lot of that is to do with the hardware Software deployment would today typically refer to software. So gle client group was. An insurance com- that you buy.” Software deployment projects within the this principle is nothing new.” pany introduced a company-wide CRM “There are two segments that have a maritime industry are often plagued with From Dr Büssow’s point of view, system and were able to increase their rev- pure software focus – one is freight or problems, according to Dr Büssow, with appreciation of this principle has been enue per client.” transport management, getting a ship- companies often expecting miracles from somewhat lacking in the maritime indus- “An oil major reduced its back office ment from A to B, and the other is ship their new systems which have very little try in recent years – however, with a glob- function costs by 25 per cent, costs for and fleet management, so that’s the core chance of being delivered. al downturn forcing many to re-examine administrative functions like finance and shipping applications that you know “Clients’ full expectations are rarely the way they do business, there is the pos- HR and purchasing, by integrating into a about.” met, especially in terms of things like sav- sibility to draw more attention to the tools modern ERP environment and restructur- “The market size for these two seg- ing time and having better information they use within their operations. ing the company into what we’d call a ments is about €300 or €400 million, for flow and so on. Software is not usually “From my perspective I think we’re shared service environment.” each segment. That’s the annual spend as successful as they expected it to be,” now at a stage where the shipping indus- Dr Büssow points out that the evidence globally of shipping companies investing he said. try is changing its focus from just trying to linking IT spending and growth is there, in software – a very small market, though “People give us feedback saying they manage huge growth, to starting to look at and notes that growth in the US has accel- it has been growing by about 10 per cent have many island solutions that only solve increasing competitiveness,” he said. erated in line with increased spending each year.” partial problems, or that the software “This means looking at competitors in on technology systems over the last twen- To put those figures into perspective, providers are IT people that don’t under- the same local markets as you, but also ty years. Dr Büssow looks at the oil and gas indus- stand how their business works, or the looking at completely different markets. try for comparison. systems are too complex and most func- And when focus switches from growth Software spend “If you ask engineers that know both of tionality could be done with Excel.” to competitiveness, software can play a While there may be a certain logic these industries they will tell you that a “A lot of them will say that they under- key role.” behind this argument for software, the less ship is in no way less complex an asset estimated the time and effort needed for So how can software contribute to acceptable part for many companies expe- than an oil and gas asset,” he said. implementation, and complain that the making a company more competitive? Dr riencing the squeeze of a shrinking market “We calculate that in shipping the expenses for implementation are much Büssow suggests that efficiencies can be is that dirty word ‘spending’. CapEx (capital expenditure) spend is higher than for the licences.” realised in a wide range of areas, and By Dr Büssow’s calculations, a reluc- about €100 billion annually. In oil and gas One issue that can affect this imple-

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Digital Ship

“The second is innovation – are there “The next step is to look at innovative funds available for this and do they have a maintenance systems, combining any track record of being able to invest in planned regime that is currently the com- product innovation? What is their innova- mon standard, with condition based sys- tion cycle like and what kind of new prod- tems or systems concerned with the struc- ucts have they created in the past? It’s not ture of the vessel. Things like hull integri- enough to just change the colour and the ty management and condition based buttons in the PMS system each year.” machinery maintenance.” “Third is independence. It’s funny that “Then the next step, where there are out of the software providers a lot of them few players working on this, is to get a real belong to other shipping companies, some integrated ERP suite that combines all of are obvious but some are not as obvious. If these things. This will combine all of your you buy software from this company are information with your financial informa- you making your competitors stronger tion too.” with your money?” Dr Büssow is hopeful that, despite the downturn, more maritime companies may Road map begin to embark on such a journey, and Dr Büssow says that, in his experience, invest in improving their competitiveness. most companies that he has seen success- “We talked to a number of clients in the fully deploy and enhance their IT systems last year about IT budget development, have followed a somewhat similar succes- and there were some good signs. About 50 sion of steps, beginning with the most per cent of those we asked said the IT Developing a state-of-the-art maritime software product is basic operational functions. budget had increased, 40 per cent said a €2 million to €3 million investment “When a company looks into using they’d stayed the same, and only 10 per software to support operations they cent said it was decreasing,” he said. mentation process is the company’s ship management software providers, always, from my experience, start with “You can check for yourself the value of deployment strategy, with Dr Büssow pin- coming from a planned maintenance and technical management and procurement. a good software system. A good shipman- pointing three alternatives that different technical management and procurement Those systems are well connected from agement software system could cost you companies tend to choose between. angle. They are joined by different special- most providers, and there are a lot to about €10,000 per year, per vessel. This is “One type of company could use ‘best ist providers for voyage management, for choose from,” he said. only a small fraction of any other costs you of breed’ solutions, so for each single chartering, quality and safety systems, “The second step, if they have a well would have in your operating budget.” process it chooses one of the market lead- voyage management, and so on.” implemented PMS, is to look into other “Compare the difference in missing or ing applications,” he said. “One part of the problem is that, with- administrative processes – compliance over-ordering spare parts, in the effort you “Then there is the mixed approach, in this landscape, this market is not support, getting ISM regulations right, need to prove quality of maintenance to where you might have standard software really viable. What is the value to the crewing support, and so on. There are your charterers, in the workload for your for things like technical management market of the planned maintenance mod- fewer solutions in the market for this, and key staff. The benefits available from a and for finance, and then for things like ule number 30 or number 31 entering the some will be in-house developed, though software investment are usually not that chartering and crewing they will do it market? They’re not better than the oth- this is changing.” difficult to derive.” DS themselves.” ers. We have clients who come to us and “Then you will have people who will say that they chose this system last year do in-house development for their appli- or two years ago, and now the company cations. They might have legacy systems is struggling.” that are old that they are still using, and Another issue that Dr Büssow high- there are still some big players in the mar- lights is the potential lack of R&D funding ket that invest in developing completely available in a highly competitive market. new systems even though there are stan- “If you have 100 different companies in dard systems in the market.” a market of €300 million, each vendor Dr Büssow believes that the third of makes a revenue of €3 million. How can a these strategies, in-house development, company invest in new products and should really be avoided as far as possible, innovative products out of this €3 mil- with the likelihood of success very slim. lion?” he said. “Let’s take a planned maintenance or “If you assume that there’s a 10 per cent purchasing module, typically at the margin, which is probably not the case at moment you might pay €6,000 per vessel, the moment, they make €300,000 per year and also pay some customisation and con- – developing a state-of-the-art maritime figuration costs,” he said. software product is a €2 million to €3 mil- “A software development project, if lion investment.” run properly, for those systems would “Also, how much does a small vendor cost €2 million. There’s no way that a ship- have to depend on one big client to keep ping company, even with 100 or 150 ves- them alive? For another shipping compa- sels, can manage to get this down to a ny, if I’m not the one big company but the competitive rate, even though they might other small one I know what will happen think they can.” if there are resource constraints, which is “Data capture and the roll-out will often the case at the moment.” come on top of this, it doesn’t matter if you Dr Büssow argues that, in an environ- create your own software or buy your ment such as this, there are two likely out- software.” comes – the shipping company will pay too much, or get too little. Crowded market “I think it’s probably the second one, So, if in-house development is to be avoid- because prices are pretty competitive and ed, it would seem that the best approach is low at the moment,” he said. to go to an existing provider – however, With this in mind Dr Büssow says there Dr Büssow notes that this can also be a are three key factors that he would sug- perilous process. gest a company looks at when evaluating “At the moment, in this €300 million a potential provider. software market, we are talking about 100 “One is investment security – ask if this different software providers globally from company going to be around five or ten our count. Maybe it’s 150, but these are years down the road, which would be the just the ones we come across,” he said. typical length of time you could be using “At the core of this market are about 35 the software,” he said.

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 31 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:41 Page 1

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS Digital Ship Norway to launch space-based AIS

www.kongsberg.com AISSat-1 is a demonstrator and experi- mental satellite carrying equipment for The launch of a Norwegian space-based reception and relaying of AIS signals, AIS satellite, AISSat-1, has been delayed expanding the AIS coverage area from the following the Indian Space Research coastal waters covered by those base sta- Organisation's (ISRO) decision to post- tions to all maritime zones controlled by pone the mission after it detected a "mar- Norwegian Authorities. ginal drop in the pressure in the second The technology will be employed in the stage of the vehicle" while carrying out identification and coordination of vessels mandatory checks ahead of the scheduled in search and rescue missions, as well as May 9th launch. being used for monitoring of vessels car- The launch is now expected to take rying hazardous cargo and other environ- place some time in June. mental risk assessment situations. The new satellite, when launched, aims "This satellite is an example of how a to offer maritime authorities an additional long-term investment in Norwegian expert- means of ensuring safety at sea in the ise leads to innovative and high-technology Norway’s AIS satellite is expected to be launched some time in June 2010 High North by detecting AIS signals from solutions designed for Norwegian purpos- space. The satellite was one of a number of es," said Norwegian Minister of Trade and K-Chief system works as the cargo control whole range from low complexity alarm payloads set to be transported aboard the Industry, Trond Giske. room while the CHS represents the vessel systems to highly integrated alarm and Indian space agency's Polar Satellite In other news, Kongsberg Maritime, system outside of the control room, fully monitoring systems, with process control Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15). developer of the satellite system, has also controlled from an instructor station. and power management. The AIS satellite is equipped with tech- completed a Site Acceptance Test (SAT) The new simulator features the same "By connecting the K-Chief to our CHS, nology developed as part of a joint effort for the delivery of a Suezmax Cargo number and volumes of cargo/ballast reflecting the real ship's systems, Gungen by the Norwegian Defence Research Handling Simulator (CHS) interfaced to tanks, whilst the pumps and pipelines has the capability to train its officers and Establishment (FFI), Kongsberg Seatex AS, the Kongsberg K-Chief-500 marine have the same characteristics as the crew on how to operate the automation the Norwegian Coastal Administration automation system, to the Turkish ship Ottoman Equity. Functionalities like inert system and learn cargo operations before and the Norwegian Space Centre. The owner Gungen Maritme & Trading A/S. gas and cargo heating are also included. they board the ship," said Steffen Jensen, project is funded by the Norwegian The K-Chief 500 is identical to the The integrated system provides the product advisor, Kongsberg Maritime. Ministry of Trade and Industry. automation system installed aboard same response to Gungen's officers and "In addition Gungen will benefit from There are already 35 existing AIS base Gungen's newest Suezmax tanker, Ottoman crew as they would experience from the the possibility of running more intensive stations deployed along the Norwegian Equity; a 150 dwt Hyundai Suezmax. real system onboard. It has a modular and extended training on the simulator coast. This system is seen as being comple- The interface between the two systems design, so can be configured as required than the trade patterns of the vessel mentary to that established infrastructure. creates a training environment where the from 16 to 20,000 channels, covering the will allow."

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Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 33 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:41 Page 3

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Digital Ship Wärtsilä and ABB develop diesel Internet connected alarms emissions technology system launched

www.wartsila.com density by up to 10 per cent. At the same www.bjorge.no www.abb.com time, both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced. Bjørge Marine Automation (BMA) of Wärtsilä and ABB Turbo Systems are co- Further emissions reduction can be Norway has launched a service module operating in a joint development pro- achieved with additional engine systems or for its SMARTChief II Alarm and Control gramme examining the application of by the use of exhaust gas after-treatment. System that creates a direct link to shore- advanced engine technology to two-stage Using the new technology, a prescribed based service engineers via the internet. turbocharging on large diesel engines. combination of fuel consumption levels Service engineers or the operator of the The technology has been developed and reductions in CO2 and NOx emissions vessel can remotely interface with the through co-operation between Wärtsilä can be selected through detailed systems alarm system to check on its status, pro- and ABB. Wärtsilä has focused on develop- configuration. Intelligent engine control viding support to the vessel’s engineers ing engine technology, while ABB is deliv- allows optimum operation of the new remotely while also being able to assess ering the turbocharging elements manag- engine design over the whole load range, the vessel’s overall condition. ing airflow, pressure ratios and efficiency. allowing NOx emissions to be reduced. To enable the remote connectivity a In the new engine design, two tur- The two companies have carried out SMARTLink computer is added and inte- bochargers are arranged in series to gener- extensive joint testing of the 2-stage tur- grated with the SMARTChief II system ate increased air pressure, airflow and a bocharging system on the engine at using a redundant network connection, The BMA system allows onshore superior turbocharging effect. Wärtsilä's test facility in Vaasa, Finland, and but with an extra network connection to technicians to directly access The companies say that this results in say that the targets for the development the ship’s network. equipment onboard an efficiency rating of up to 76 per cent. programme have been successfully met. This means that the engineer on shore The increased air pressure, combined Wärtsilä and ABB Turbo Systems are is able to connect to the onboard control formed by the onboard crew themselves with the advanced engine technology, planning to initiate a pilot project of the system, typically with a remote desktop after consulting BMA engineers, reducing improves the engine output and power system with a customer in the near future. connection from the office, enabling access service costs. to the same screens and information as Bjørge Marine Automation has also those onboard the ship. launched a new SMARTAcademy, an in- BMA’s own service centre can connect house training facility equipped with an directly to the vessel and perform real- operational SMARTChief range of sys- time service and status checks of the systems, to help users to increase their com- tem remotely, and can assist by offering petence in maintaining the systems. advice in terms of the most appropriate A vessel’s technical crew attends a two response for the alarm in question. day training course at BMA’s main facto- Changes and upgrades to the system ry, where they are introduced to the sys- can be managed remotely as required, and tem’s key principles and steps to manage hardware tests and changes can be per- system maintenance.

The two companies are developing technology to work with two-stage turbochargers

Kelvin Hughes reports that it has Wheelmark certification, in accordance expanded in Singapore and moved into with EU MED (Marine Equipment larger premises. The new office, with a Directive) 96/98/EC, meaning that the staff of 30, holds stock of Kelvin Hughes product meets IMO SOLAS require- navigational and bridge equipment, as ments for all classes of commercial vessels. well as paper and electronic charts and ECDIS Ltd has opened a new nautical publications. It also offers train- eNavigation Centre at Solent Business ing and customer support. Park in the UK, to deliver its MCA Kongsberg Maritime Tech has accredited IMO 1.27 Model ECDIS opened a new office in St. Petersburg, course. The company hopes to add to the Russia. This new Kongsberg more than 1,000 people it has trained in Maritime company has been estab- the use of ECDIS with the new facility. lished to offer the group's simulation and ECDIS manufacturer Adveto is training technologies, as well as working expanding its presence in Turkey, follow- on developing new systems, and will ing a new partnership deal with Anel E- employ 15 staff. sistem in Istanbul. Anel will provide McMurdo’s new SMARTFIND S5 sales and service coverage for Adveto AIS SART has received UK Type products in the country under the terms of Approval, authorising it for installation the agreement. on UK flagged vessels in accordance with MCA (Maritime and Coastguard www.kelvinhughes.com Agency) regulations. The S5 AIS SART www.kongsberg.com is designed to assist in life raft location www.mcmurdo.co.uk during search and rescue operations. www.ecdis.org.uk The Kannad Marine SAFELINK EPIRB www.adveto.com from McMurdo has also achieved www.esistem.com.tr

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 35 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:41 Page 5

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS PC Maritime ECDIS Cardiff begins switch to paperless compatible with e-Navigator www.transas.com www.pcmaritime.co.uk “We’ve completed the integration of www.ukho.gov.uk Navmaster ECDIS with e-Navigator early Transas has agreed a deal with Greek ship on so that our customers will be able to operator Cardiff Marine, whereby Transas PC Maritime has announced that its benefit from the UKHO’s product as soon has begun equipping vessels within the Navmaster ECDIS is now fully compatible as it is released to them," she said. company's fleet of more than 90 vessels with the UK Hydrographic Office's "Currently e-Navigator is being trialled with its dual ECDIS system. (UKHO) e-Navigator platform. onboard a number of vessels before the The Cardiff Marine fleet features a The e-Navigator service aims to act as UKHO releases it into the market. Once it range of different ship types, including an integration system combining different is distributed to end-users, Navmaster bulk carriers, product tankers, VLCCs and navigation data sources, to be displayed at users will be able to export their existing drilling vessels. a single point to the navigator onboard. routes into e-Navigator and make full use Along with ECDIS, the contract Further to this, PC Maritime’s market- of its passage-planning and chart ordering includes the supply of the Transas ing director, Anne Edmonds, says that her features." Admiralty Data Service (TADS), which company wishes to work within this "Equally, future customers will be able will provide Electronic Navigation Charts framework to ensure that customers can to create their routes in e-Navigator and (ENCs), Admiralty Digital Publications make best use of the enhanced services then export them into the Navmaster (ADP) and the Transas TX-97 world chart that can be offered. ECDIS." folio as a basic set-up for each installed unit. All dual ECDIS-installed vessels will shift to paperless navigation immediately after the systems have been commissioned. Navigators from the vessels will be Cardiff has begun to install dual ECDIS trained, under Transas supervision, at systems aboard its fleet of ships designated training centres equipped with Transas simulators, including the Cosmos such as ENCs, chart updates, and weather Training Centre and EIM Training Centre forecasts. in Piraeus. Transas ECDIS systems already feature In addition, Transas Hellas, the compa- online ordering of ENCs and updates ny’s Greek arm, will install a medium directly, if the ECDIS is used with the scale simulation complex in its premises company’s Chart Assistant software, but consisting of NTPRO 5000 and ECDIS the new type-approval certifies the securi- 4000 MFD simulators. ty of this direct connection and communi- The first systems have already been cation. Users of the Navmaster ECDIS will be able to integrate with e-Navigator when it is released installed at a Shanghai shipyard. Transas dual ECDIS with online con- In other news, Transas has also nection via TFAP has already been launched a new DNV-certified solution installed on two vessels operated by the for direct connection and communication Five Star Shipping Company. between shore and Transas ECDIS and Both vessels have navigated paperless radar on ships, via the Transas Firewall since launch, and receive ENCs and chart and Antivirus Protection system (TFAP). updates via their broadband connection TFAP is used for safe transfer of data directly onboard into the ECDIS. Imtech introduces new ECDIS

www.imtech.eu like buoys, cables, and warning areas. The PC systems built into the ECDIS, Imtech, parent company of Radio including the network, graphic and other Holland, has developed a new Electronic Imtech specific interface cards, have been Chart Display and Information System environmentally tested to make sure that (ECDIS), which will be marketed under they continue to work under harsh marine the name ECDIS 4500. conditions. The new system will feature a menu Full integration with Imtech’s other structure designed to support manual digital bridge systems can also be update of data products, support for posi- achieved with the system, providing radar tion fixing and dead reckoning, route plan- overlay and direct autopilot control when ning, monitoring by intelligent anti- fully connected. grounding settings, transfer of planned The ECDIS 4500 has additionally been route to an integrated adaptive autopilot, certified for warship use, as the and additional information on chart objects (W)ECDIS 4500.

The ECDIS can be fully integrated with other Imtech digital bridge systems

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power consumption. New SART Kew Bridge gets vessel lanterns Each pair of lanterns was supplied with from www.tidelandsignal.ltd.uk MLED-140 MaxiHALO-60 lanterns, together one power supply and a battery box housing with a blanking plate to provide a dark back- a 12V VRLA battery to provide a harmonised McMurdo LED-based warning lights from Tideland ground for the light during the day. power supply plus standby power in the Signal have been installed on London's Kew All the lanterns show a fixed flash yellow event of AC power outage. www.mcmurdo.co.uk Railway Bridge for the benefit of vessels pass- light and have a nominal range of 5nm. The Opened in 1869, Kew Railway Bridge is a list- ing up and down the River Thames. lantern can be de-rated if required, to ed structure which crosses the Thames between McMurdo has introduced its The bridge is marked by two pairs of decrease the intensity of the beam and the Kew and Strand-on-the-Green, Chiswick. latest Search and Rescue Transponder (SART), the Rescuer 2, which will form part of its Kannad Marine range. The Rescuer 2 is a 9GHz X-band Radar transponder, designed to assist in ship and survival craft location during search and rescue operations, in accordance with IMO, GMDSS and SOLAS requirements.

The signal from the unit will be displayed on nearby vessels’ radar screens

The system is manufac- tured to operate in the marine environment, and its shape and twist action activation have been designed to make the unit easy to store, grasp and operate with 506+66+/'(14'#%%'55` gloved or cold, wet hands. Once activated the SART automatically transmits an emergency response signal 4#&+6+10#./#4+6+/'%1//70+%#6+105%#0.'#8';17(''.+0).156#6 when a radar signal is 5'#T1/2.'6'.;1761(617%*T769+6*'#%%'551//70+%#6+105{ received from a ship or aircraft. (41/#21%-X;17)'6#.9#;5g10X$75+0'55g%.#55$41#&$#0 The emergency signal is #0#((14&#$.'X(+:'&X/106*.;%156T+6*176/'6'4'&5'48+%'#0& then displayed on nearby %156(.7%67#6+105X;174%#26#+05#0&%4'95%#04'/#+0+0%106#%6 ships’ radar, enabling its 9+6*6*'%14214#6'1((+%'X.'8'4#)'6*'%14214#6' 0'6914-#0& '#%%'556740-';51.76+105+0%.7&'U position to be pinpointed. 56#;+0617%*9+6*6*'+4(4+'0&5#0&(#/+.+'5#0;6+/'T..6*'5' h 14214#6'0'6914-+0) The signal identifies the sur- #&8#0%'5.'#&61/14''((+%+'06(.''612'4#6+105X/14'g+0(14/'& vival craft on the radar h 06'40'6#0&'g/#+.#%%'55 &'%+5+10g/#-+0)#0&+/2418'&%4'9/14#.'T screen by means of a stream h 4'9%#..+0)51.76+105 of 12 in-line dots. h FHfK*'.2&'5- When in use the unit will 656+/'(14#9#8'1(%*#0)'T h 14.&9+&'5'48+%'.1%#6+105 remain in standby mode for over 96 hours. 999T#21%-T%1/f'#%%'55 Buoyant and waterproof to 10 metres, the Rescuer 2 weighs 360g and has a 5 year replaceable battery. It features audio and visual indi-

cation of operation and has a ¥$BQ3PDL$PNNVOJDBUJPOT *OD"MMSJHIUTSFTFSWFE built-in test facility.

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION Seafarer safety and the role of technology – Round Table

Digital Ship recently organised a round table discussion session in London, bringing together experts in a range of different areas to discuss the impact that technology can have in improving seafarer safety. In the first part of this two-part feature, we look at the topics of space-based AIS and LRIT; Piracy; e-Navigation; Technology vs Political Will; and the GMDSS

he Digital Ship round table on seafarer safety and the role of technol- TTogy, hosted by Inmarsat at its headquarters in London, brought together a panel of nine experts with decades of experience in areas such as communications, system design, search and rescue, training, and navigation. The goal of the discussion was to examine some of the current and emerging technologies influencing the maritime market, and to offer opinions on how these systems might contribute to improvements in the safety and wellbeing of future generations of mariners. Digital Ship posed a number of specific questions to the panel (identified in the table below), starting with a look at the possible consequences of introducing global vessel tracking systems.

Q – Space-based AIS and mandatory LRIT requirements should make it possible to have a constantly updated picture ‘Things like AIS are great, but it can be a problem if anyone can go online and see it’ of global ship traffic. What are the likely – Peter Bradley, RNLI (left); with (l-r) Dan Mercer, Iridium; Kyle Hurst, Inmarsat; and Rob O’Dwyer, Digital Ship implications of this, with regard to the positive and negative aspects of ly agree with that, SAR responders would personal tracking satellite devices. You can get for $1,000. He’ll plug it into his increased visibility for Search and like have open link, unsecured communica- can protect regulated data on one hand, computer and sit in a remote position Rescue responders, and increased visibil- tions so they could get as much information but there are now about six providers that viewing the area he’s interested in. You ity for potential pirates and terrorists? as possible. But from a security perspective build Iridium-based personal tracking can’t get into LRIT, it’s closed, so the obvi- KH – One of the primary things when you really need to be looking at closed loop devices, and these are going to flow into ous weak link is AIS. search and rescue (SAR) takes off is actu- systems, things like AIS are great but it can the market more and more. S-AIS is probably the way forward, but ally knowing where the vessel is. You may be a problem if anyone can go online and From the point of view of commercially I understand that at the moment it’s still have some slight bit of information about see it, even terrorists. available equipment it’s going to be very pretty limited. When that gets down to the problem, but the major thing you want So from a SAR perspective you want it difficult to keep that information private, I something like one [global collection of to know is where the vessel is. In my expe- as open as possible, but for security you think ultimately it can be protected but it AIS transmissions] every four hours it’ll rience [working on rescue attempts with need closed loop – there’s a bit of a dilem- will need to be a coordinated effort. be getting better than the LRIT system. maritime enforcement in Australia], get- ma there. I’m not sure that you can bal- JH – LRIT has been going through IMO BL – LRIT is starting to mature nicely, ting that information is the first crucial ance them out because they are conflicting for the last five or six years, and is finally 80 per cent of the world’s fleet is step. So that is definitely a positive aspect. requirements. If, through the space-based up and running. There’s talk about equipped, the system seems to work well, The negative aspect is the security AIS (S-AIS) we could develop a closed whether or not we should be doing it, but and the Flag States are getting the infor- aspect – if every knows where you are you loop system so the information is only I think, in the 21st century, with the value mation they want for some very useful can get help, but you can also be open to available to certain organisations then that of the ships and the cargo, it’s entirely rea- applications, especially in SAR. other dangers, so it can be a double-edged might be the answer. sonable for the Flag States to expect to I have some doubts about S-AIS, my sword. But that can be managed. DM – What we’re seeing is a very large know where all the assets are carrying concern is the security of data since there BR – From the SAR perspective I’d total- unregulated movement into the world of their flag. are commercial companies dealing with it. There are still questions about who is They’re going to want to make money out going to fund future Data Centres and all of it. these things, but I can see already since it’s There will also be issues with clashes of Who’s who: The Panel started that it can be very valuable used spectrum use, as the AIS 1 and 2 channels for SAR and other purposes. are not dedicated to maritime use, and The panel consisted of (abbreviations in brackets): AIS has been out there for maybe eight have been sold off in many cases for taxis (KH) - Kyle Hurst, maritime marketing team, Inmarsat years, and it’s a valuable tool. You have a and trains. That could cause problems in (DM) - Dan Mercer, VP and general manager EMEA, Iridium Satellite lot of web-based systems where you can picking up ‘rubbish’. (BR) - Peter Bradley, staff officer communications and information, RNLI see real-time pictures of ships, and it’s use- If we look at using other channels, that (JH) - John Hardcastle, director, Joining Shackle ful in getting provisions to ships, getting will add costs for new equipment, which (BL) - Peter Blackhurst, head maritime safety services, Inmarsat engineers there, and so on. won’t be readily accepted. So we have to (HP) - Hugh Phillips, head of products, UKHO There is a negative side that it could be be wary of the cost and benefit issues – (DP) - David Patraiko, director of projects, Nautical Institute used by terrorists to attack the ships, but what’s the benefit to the mariner, and (NB) - Dr Nick Bailey, asst. director, Seafarers International Research Centre any terrorist who really knows what he’s what’s the benefit to the Flag States? (JE) - Dr Jonathan Earthy, human factors specialist, Lloyd’s Register doing is not going to be looking online, HP – As well as safety there are bene- he’ll have his own AIS receiver which he fits in environmental monitoring, seeing

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where vessels are going, looking at oil ing that may not be too much of an issue, We’re seeing these days that charterers potential of increasing public awareness of spills. You could also see things like but for situational awareness it will be. are allowed to communicate with ships, the scale of sea transport – you could say tracking for cargo, and a whole range of JE – If the whole picture could be part which is not a positive thing, it can lead to ‘this is world shipping trade’. We’ve never other uses. of a single data resource there would be additional stress and pressure. The visibil- really had that before and it would make it I can say it’s not perfect yet, having potential for routing of trade and manage- ity of traffic to a broader community needs public, an image of what shipping trade watched a vessel sail across the Sahara ment of shipping in the long term, ports to be examined, but whether it can be looks like for the rest of the world. desert on a screen! Unless those kinds of could have a lot more information about managed is another matter. That might change people’s perspec- issues are resolved then safety and SAR what’s going on. It could be used in many More generally, if the availability of this tives a bit, as to the scale of what we do as could have to deal with confusion as well ways that we don’t yet know about. data creates a complete picture there is a an industry. as benefitting from it, if it’s not accurate. DP – Certainly in the short term mariners will be concerned with their position being known to the general public, through AIS or other networks. Piracy is a real issue, terrorism is a concern – however, while turning off your AIS may be a short term fix it’s not the answer to the issue of piracy. That will have to be done through means other than AIS. In the long term I think we need to accept that the age of anonymity for the vessels is gone. Political pressures, commercial pressures – key information will be out there, even with personal devices as already mentioned. One of the things we’re working on is to engage a new relationship between the ship and the shore, otherwise tracking and monitoring becomes very ‘Big Brother’, and totally one way – ‘You’re being tracked because we want your statis- tics to use against you if it suits us’. There are a lot of positive things that can be developed with the ship-shore communications if data is harmonised and shared between various shore users, a lot of reporting can be reduced and that can be very beneficial. There are also services that can be offered from the shore, to advise on bunching traffic, economy of voyages, things like that. This technology for tracking needs to be a two-way street. NB – One thing that struck me about the benefit to SAR was the Air France plane that went down in the South Atlantic [in 2009], had they had access to the sort of information we’re talking about the response could have been much quicker. At SIRC we did a study looking at the implementation of VHF-based AIS, and found that there were a lot of technical problems and input problems. If the satellite system is more complicated it strikes me that there may be more potential for issues. We found ships that were appearing to be two miles parallel to the actual location – maybe for long range track-

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DM – We see many clever companies I think that the Flag States are catching up the data owner, which is the vessel itself or Q – Looking at piracy and terrorism out there that can use the data to make with technology, we’ve had an explosion the company that owns the vessel. It will specifically, are there any technologies money, be it condition monitoring, engine of technology of all of this information just take some time for them all to catch up that you could suggest that might help to management whatever it is. But what’s the becoming available. with this ‘data explosion’. protect seafarers from these threats? benefit to the mariner in terms of safety? It comes back to those Flag States, on DP – It’s interesting looking at the PR JE – It’s all about awareness, avoidance, There are benefits to the owner, maybe one level, to be the administrators on that value of this, it could be a way of attract- and support if it happens. Information the person leasing the engine, but these information and make the decisions on ing people to engage with the industry, about the threats, dynamic information things have to be kept separate from safety. safety and security, but in the IT world looking at cargo and ship trade and vari- about what’s happening in this area of sea, KH – In terms of keeping the data safe, some of that administration comes back to ous other aspects of shipping. and over the last 24 hours, is important. Ships can become isolated, so they need information upon which to base decisions on what to do. Avoidance is knowing what to do immediately with the ships to minimise the chance of being the one ship that gets singled out – making your ship less of a target than anyone else. Then, if a ship is attacked, facilitation of support is important, there often seems to be a breakdown in communication, partially because the channels of communication are quite limited. Information sharing for that support is needed. However, technology depends on training to use, so whatever is provided is useless unless the crew is properly trained to use it. NB – I went to a talk from a British captain who recounted his experience of being hijacked, and quite clearly the ability to communicate with the company over how to deal with the pirates was a huge thing, so having technologies that facilitate that would be beneficial. I’ve also been on some ships with video cameras where you can see what’s going on via the internet, so the idea of video streaming and conferencing with multiple functions could serve a purpose. I’ve also read of other situations where ships have avoided being hijacked by the crew retreating to a citadel and then naval officers coming on board and dealing with the pirates. What occurred to me was that there is no communica- tional control of the ship from that space, you’re quite isolated and inside some black box. So a secure space with some communication to the outside world would be good. I don’t know how feasible it would be, but you could also add to that something like an electronic chart and control of the steering maybe. DM – As the network operator, we’re regulated communications service providers and have rules and processes to follow when it comes to assistance,

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and that means that you have to hope that I think the worst thing you can do is NB – Thinking about delegating control today, progress will be about how you the pirates don’t decide to pull all comms show aggression, because they’ll just come of the engine to the shore, it occurs to me coordinate it and regulate it. We can col- immediately and cause complete denial of back with more aggression. What you that it would create a hostage situation lect the data from anywhere on the planet, communication, leaving the crew isolated. have to do is have a passive device which unless the crew were secure. If they had but how that is presented in the applica- KH – We have found that the piracy denies the pirates the ability to take the hold of them they would just say ‘we’ll tion layer is a key point. issue does not necessarily lend itself to a ship and move it into an area where they shoot the crew until you turn it on’, so it We’re working in the EfficienSea proj- technology solution. A lot of the time the can control it. could end up putting them at greater risk. ect [EU-backed maritime data exchange solution is more of an agreement situation. programme looking at e-Navigation] There are lots of technologies available doing testing in the Baltic Sea later this to say where the ship is, and tell the year, and that’s about asking the end users authorities where they are going, so we about the types of applications they need to keep all of these vessels advised want to see as part of e-Navigation – it will and appraised of what’s going on to help be interesting to see what comes out of protect them. the pilot. Technology can do almost anything BR – It’s a complex issue, I think the you want it to do, if you give an engineer important thing to recognise is that all of a problem he can solve it, but the main the devices are already there, and we want problem is getting the cooperation and the to integrate and harmonise them. political scenario organised rather than We’ve done some work in the RNLI on finding a technical solution. a system called SIMS, an integrated man- DP – It’s important that people look at agement system on board, which is one the ship as a whole, with the procedures big black box with all the components in and the training. It’s a complete package, there and one screen at each seat where you will be using the technology with the they can select the bit of information they training and the procedures to deal with want. So I’ll watch this space with great piracy. interest to see how it will translate into I’ve read reviews of some pirate attacks better management of SAR information, where the best weapon the crew had was for example. turning out the lights, and the pirates JH – The more I come to understand e- couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights Navigation I see it as a ‘re-looking’ at the back on. ‘It’s important that people look at the ship as a whole, with the procedures and training’ whole infrastructure that helps a ship nav- HP – In places like Somalia using the – David Patraiko, Nautical Institute (right); with (l-r) Dr Jonathan Earthy, Lloyd’s Register; igate from A to B. tracking to see vessels coming in and and Dr Nick Bailey, Seafarers International Research Centre If we look over the last 200 years ships knowing when they’re going to arrive haven’t really changed in the way that could definitely help. they navigate – obviously there are things BL – I have a philosophy that the mes- I don’t know how the technology Q – IMO's much talked about e- like radar, gyro, Loran, GPS, ECDIS, these sage needs to be to keep it simple – make would work, but being able to trip the Navigation strategy aims to harmonise have all come along but they’re following sure you know what your processes are, main engine from ashore, so it can’t be all of the systems used in the navigation the original philosophy. A navigator of and that you’re well practised. started and the captain or chief engineer of vessels, on ship and on shore – could 200 years ago could still go on the bridge The crew needs to know exactly what don’t have the ability to start it, would be you tell us what you think it might mean and follow the system he was taught. it’s going to do when it comes under attack, good. to the industry in terms of developments As I see it e-Navigation is a review of whether it’s squirt a hose over the side or BR – Maybe if we get a few thousand in the use of technology? the whole thing to see if this can be done turn off the lights, but particularly they years into the future we’ll have Klingon KH – Ourselves and our competition more efficiently and bring everything need to know how to put out a distress call technology to cloak the vessel so it can’t be will probably be a big part of providing together. to get help. It’s a very difficult situation, seen! I think it’s a political thing more than the links and the data for this, so we’re BL – There’s some really good work and it’s happening all over the world. anything, and the Western world needs to supportive of that, but the important part going on within e-Navigation, but it’s still I think the citadel idea is one of the bet- help out in this. is where it all leads. such a fluid subject that nobody really ter ones – lock yourself away and make All communications rely on GNSS, and Technology can be injected into the knows exactly what it’s going to be. sure you’ve got the comms, CCTV, chart the ability to knock out GNSS by GPS jam- industry, but by itself it can create as People need to sort out user needs, from displays and all the rest. ming can be bought on eBay for £75. You many problems as answers. You need the shore side and the ship side and look JH – Piracy is a business, the reason could knock out all three channels for up the training. We don’t want a situation at what the advantages will be. they’re out there, in Somalia, is that they to 20 nautical miles easily, as well as Wi- where people move away from responsi- I can think of lots of reasons why you can’t do their traditional business of fishing Fi, and these things are being bought by bility and say ‘it’s not me doing it, it’s the should ease some of the load on the anymore. In the Gulf of Aden, with the the criminal element. computer’. mariner, with crewing reducing but naval forces there, it’s stopped making busi- eLoran would be one solution to that, DM – We’re working with some part- more to be done on the ship. We need to ness sense so they’ve turned to people traf- but a more immediate solution would be ners on the edge of this on integrated address what the guy on the bridge look- ficking. The solution isn’t a technical solu- to have anti-jamming devices, which I bridges, and trying to collect the data via ing out the window really needs to con- tion, it’s to sort out the problems in Somalia. know the MoD are working on. satellite. The technology is there to do it cern himself with. Let’s find the user

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needs first, and then design a system to of becoming highly complex, highly frag- finding that training is causing a problem, just changes, so we’re talking about hav- meet those user needs. mented, and very difficult to use – hinder- new equipment is put on board, they don’t ing a highly integrated system with a set HP – There is a problem with a lot of ing good decision making. get enough training and the manuals are of data on the ship and a set of data technology that it is a solution looking for To highlight some of the user needs often far from adequate. With multina- ashore, and the communication will be a problem – companies have a clever thing that have already been identified and tional crews the manuals may not even be about passing over the differences. they can do and want to see what they can agreed by IMO, one is using harmonisa- in an appropriate language. That would mean creating a massive apply it to. tion to standardise automated reporting. Thinking about harmonisation, one area ICT system, possibly the most complex From a data provider point of view I Ships have to report the same informa- would be the ability for Port States and ICT system ever created in the world. think e-Navigation is very much about tion over and over again to different coastal authorities to get local information With this there will be a strong data input integration of data sets, and I would authorities ashore – we can harmonise to ships in a readily available form. At the or data validation activity on the ship, so extend that beyond pure navigation. It’s that so you report once and that informa- moment it comes in VHF warnings, NAV- there’s going to be an increased data input more about all of the logistics of moving a tion is shared. TEX, Inmarsat-C messages and so on. responsibility for people on the ship, vessel around and delivering a cargo, so I Alarms are another issue, it’s very easy If you think of the case of the Tricolor though in return they will get more infor- think what the future will see is integra- to have in excess of 500 separate alarms on [which sank in 2002] in the English mation to use for decision making. tion of information covering all of those the bridge of a ship, which is distracting – Channel, several ships ran into it even There will be new roles on the shore aspects – engine monitoring, voyage effi- harmonising those alarms will hopefully though messages were being broadcast. If and on the ship, and we need to define ciency, information from shore about pira- be an outcome of e-Navigation. that could have been presented on my these as much as we need to define the cy, and all of those things. With all this integration comes the need ECDIS I could see a warning in that spot information systems, we need to know From a navigation data point of view for improved reliability, and I very much and avoid it. what those new jobs are rather than just it’s about moving everything into a digital hope that e-Navigation will look at issues Paperwork and forms are another thing letting them emerge. If they just emerge environment and providing decision sup- of reliability, because as these systems that comes up, not just arrival papers but they won’t relate closely to safe and effi- port tools. The feedback we get is that peo- become more integrated and better deci- immigration, information for charterers cient operations. Merely harmonising the ple don’t want computers taking over, sion making tools they have to be reliable. and so on. If it was possible to have a sin- data won’t harmonise the system. they want the clutter taken away and Ship-shore communications also are gle database where you could enter all of BR – I saw a presentation by UKHO things made easier for them. If a computer absolutely crucial for e-Navigation, how- your information and that could be dis- recently highlighting some of the incom- proposes a solution they want to see why. ever I don’t think that it should be tributed in the different forms required as patibility between some of the standards DP – e-Navigation is not a black box, assumed that e-Navigation equals high- the ship approached, that could save used [for electronic charts], S57, S58 and so it’s not a system, you’re not going to ‘plug bandwidth. I’m sure that as time goes on mariners a lot of work. on, which was producing some horren- it in’. e-Navigation is a concept, and to my we will inevitably use more bandwidth if JE – e-Navigation is about data dous results in terms of the information mind the most important part of that con- it’s available, but it’s not necessarily a exchange as much as anything, and displayed on ECDIS. Whatever we do, cept is harmonisation. At the end of the requirement. because there will continue to be a band- looking at harmonisation again, the stan- day it’s to support decision making. NB – I would reiterate the point that it width issue, or a need to manage band- dards must be written in a very robust, Before the IMO takes on a work pack- must be user-led, not just in terms of func- width, we’re looking at a rather sophisti- understandable way so we don’t get a con- age like this it requires the industry to tionality but in terms of how it is present- cated data system architecture. flict in the future. define the critical need for it. In terms of e- ed. Too often the equipment is just com- If you’re trying to optimise the band- Navigation the critical need was that, plex in the user interface. width then where does the data live, and Q – As a further point on e-Navigation - without harmonisation, the existing and Equally there are issues in training and which is the true data? Presumably what how far are we from getting the various evolving technology would be in danger manuals – from our own research we are you will report in each direction will be available technologies effectively and

M in

Know where you’re going

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Fugro Seastar AS, Oslo, Norway Tel: +47 21 50 14 00 Fax: +47 21 50 14 01 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.fugroseastar.no

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 42 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:42 Page 12

Digital Ship

gration but won’t have the integrity required. Then no-one will trust the system and it won’t be reliable. It has to be established, tested, trialled, and all of these things – I think that’s a major issue that we’re not talking about yet in a lot of these debates, and that will be the acid test. HP – The standards are going to take a long time. If you look at the examples with the forms already mentioned, if you go round the world there are thousands of different forms in different formats, with silly differences like American dates or UK dates. Getting some sort of harmonisation on the data formats is going to take a very long time. BL – Legislation has moved forward and caught up in as much as the new standards that have been introduced in the last few years for integrated navigation systems, but it does make that one piece of ‘If you go round the world, there are thousands of different forms in different formats’ – Hugh Phillips, UKHO (second from right); equipment something that everyone may with (l-r) Dr Nick Bailey, SIRC; David Patraiko, Nautical Institute; and Peter Blackhurst, Inmarsat come to rely on. You want to make sure that all of the robustly integrated? What big stum- side of the river they’ve got to give one set going to ‘fly by wire’, everybody’s saying equipment talks to each other in a proper bling blocks are left to be overcome - of information, and on the other side they that you still look out the window and still manner, and reliability absolutely are political will and bureaucracy a big- have to give completely different informa- use terrestrial navigation. becomes a key issue. It’s fascinating the ger issue than developments in technol- tion. They couldn’t come to agreement on However, slowly we’re getting this way things are going, but we mustn’t get ogy? Will politics always lag behind the harmonisation of what was required by creep of people relying on them, particu- too carried away with it and imagine technology? both sets of authorities. larly with the younger generation who are something which may not be achievable, JE – There is a truly massive scalability I think there are real issues about frag- more computer savvy, and as the systems or might be out of date before its time. issue, we’re talking about a new architec- mentation of jurisdiction – getting people become more integrated the complexity JH – If you consider networks where ture in order to optimise bandwidth and to agree on that is a major challenge. requires enormous levels of integrity and you put all of this equipment together, we’re doing it internationally. There are DP – One of the major ‘white elephants’ reliability compared with standalone sys- who’s going to take responsibility if some very few successful private or govern- is the quality issue, and integrity of these tems. That will cost – it costs in the equip- part of the system fails? Over the last 20 ment-led massive information systems, let systems and data. Historically in the com- ment, in the installations, in the training. years, with all of the new products that alone those that integrate this much. mercial shipping sector, all of the systems It’s easy to talk about an integrated sys- have come along from the manufacturers, Against the background of this being we have had, like radars, AIS, GPS, Loran, tem linking lots of bits together – but those they’ve started off very expensive and phenomenally difficult to do, without ECDIS – they’ve all been brought in as aids bits have never been designed to be relied by the time they’re into the market being critical I don’t see the ability within to navigation. They haven’t been specifical- on as part of a safety system. they’re virtually giving them away to get IMO to manage massive IT projects with ly designed to be wholly relied on. We’re slowly moving that way, and if market share. this level of complexity. We have type approval and certain we don’t recognise this what we’re going In the 1980s a new colour ARPA radar The bottom line of that is, whatever the standards, but nobody has said that you’re to find is that we’ll have defined the inte- was £30,000, plus cables and installation – aspirations, we won’t get that far. What we need to be sure of is that, whatever is delivered, it doesn’t make the situation worse than it is now. A half-implemented system, but with legal requirements to use certain sorts of information might actually leave mariners worse off. There should be clear progress, maybe with a staged implementation of clear steps. NB – The equipment is made by a number of com- peting manufacturers, and I know that the concept is that there would be a common default position that they would all work to as a starting point, and then they can add extra functionality, but I don’t know if that’s realistic. They sell their products on their distinctiveness and cost. Even ships coming into European ports have to present different information to different authorities. I went to a meeting about short sea shipping and one of the problems discussed was ships going into some European rivers, and on one

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

at the time you could buy a small house There are standalone systems, not often for that. Now an ARPA radar might cost used, the interfaces are widely different, you £8,000 or £10,000, installed with the procedures for setting up DSC calls are everything – you’d now need at least 10 complex and aren’t being used much. You ARPAs to buy a house! shouldn’t need to worry about that, you Every time a requirement comes out just need to make a call and all the clever from IMO, by the time it comes to the fit- stuff should be done inside the box. ting day, the prices are down to about one- The Ukraine produced a paper to IMO fifth of the original price. As we go for- recently, noting that GMDSS and AIS both ward, who’s going to want to take the risk have MMSI in common and asking why of putting these systems together? can’t you click on an AIS target with your BR – I don’t think the manufacturers mouse and select ‘call using DSC’. There will take that risk, they won’t manufacture was a lot of support for that. the equipment if they can’t afford to do it, I don’t know how technically feasible no matter what the regulations say. that is, but that fits with the concept of Manufacturers are market driven, they see harmonising the systems. Whether a gap in the market and manufacture GMDSS comes under e-Navigation is based on that, and they can do it very being debated, but I hope the approach to quickly. usability will be the same. The technology changes very quickly, BL – There’s too much talk going on at the political side, the standards side, is the moment saying ‘we must change this always lagging behind, and always will and this’. At the moment we need to look because of the complexity of how it’s set at the bigger picture and see which bits up. It takes years to do these things. actually work, and then leave those alone. DM – Because it’s such a complex, My personal view is that GMDSS per se is multinational effort of people sitting actually a good system. It has some parts around a table trying to coordinate and on the edges which may be ragged and get this done, invariably what happens is outdated, and certainly the biggest prob- that the manufacturers will say ‘We can do lem is the communications within it, all of this now, here’s our system’. Then which are very outdated. it’s a question of how useful that is, how I think integration with the systems configurable it is, and whether it can get to you are using on a day-to-day basis, hav- a level of reliability that can be unilateral- ing a direct connection to that red button, ly agreed. is absolutely vital. At the moment a whole KH – Politics will always lag behind rack of equipment generally sits on the ‘Every time a requirement comes out from IMO, by the time it comes to the fitting day technology, mainly because the job of side and spews out paper with some infor- the prices are down to about one-fifth of the original price’ – John Hardcastle, technology is to deal with limitations or mation on it that’s not integrated else- Joining Shackle (right); with Peter Blackhurst, Inmarsat hindrances and find a way round them – where. There is so much scope for improv- and to some degree the technology indus- ing on this, but we have to still be aware try sees politics as one of those challenges! and standards connections involved, but demand. Whilst these scoping studies and that there are still states that haven’t even A classic example is AIS over satellite – without any doubt I would say, from a other things progress, more and more implemented GMDSS at the basic VHF the authorities said ‘we need a high-fre- SAR perspective, don’t fix what’s not bro- other methods of communicating distress level, so you can’t go rushing ahead. quency system delivering lots of informa- ken. Add whatever you can to the system, are being used. That’s fine, but it’s not We also have to take the perspective of tion that we can put in a big database to which is reliable. fully regulated. As a network we have to looking to 15 years time, and if the tech- know about every ship in the world’. They The future addition of satellite commu- go at the pace of IMO and COMSAR and nology will still be helpful. There are didn’t go to IMO for this, they started put- nications is an obvious one, MF, for exam- respond accordingly when it comes to some good ideas out there, and I’m sure ting the technology on satellites and are ple, is a very expensive method of com- GMDSS. some people are going to throw some real now starting to get that information municating long-range. The equipment, JE – Because it’s a safety system there curve balls in there, but that’s just a start- through. So this is an example of how that the shore-based aerials, are very expensive still has to be emphasis on it being simple ing point. DS lag will always be there. to maintain, and the solutions are already and reliable, and maintaining the very there for satellite technology. I think there basics. What we had in the original stan- Q – GMDSS is soon to be subject to a is definitely a place for handheld or fixed dard was user interface requirements, but Part 2 of the Digital Ship round table ‘scoping study’ by IMO, over at least the installations on ships to contribute to that was probably as much as we could discussion on the role of technology in next two sessions of COMSAR - what are GMDSS. agree that could be implemented as con- seafarer safety, covering Integration your views on the successes and limita- DM – At the end of the day, the sistently as it could be. of avigation and Communications; tions of the system? providers of those [satellite] networks, like DP – There’s huge value in the concept Training and Technology; and Future BR – There is quite a long lead time into ourselves who are not officially included and infrastructure of GMDSS, but the Developments, will appear in the this, because of the political connections [in GMDSS] yet, are led by market onboard usability of it can be atrocious. September 2010 issue

CHART AGENCY LTD. NAUTICAL INFORMATION SPECIALISTS

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Digital Ship ECDIS and Positioning book launched

www.nautinst.org approach will make you think a little At a seminar to launch the harder as to how ECDIS can improve stan- book, Capt Nick Nash, a serving The latest book by Digital Ship consulting dards of navigation.” master from Princess Cruises, writer on navigation, Dr Andy Norris, has Dr Norris believes that users need to added: “Mariners need to have been launched by the Nautical Institute develop an ECDIS ‘mindset’, with the in-depth training on this new ‘ECDIS and Positioning’ aims to pro- significant differences in the skills need- equipment and fully under- vide mariners with a thorough ground- ed to use ECDIS compared with using stand its limitations. Dr ing in all aspects of ECDIS and the use of paper charts requiring a major adjust- Norris's book goes along way electronic charts, an issue of vital impor- ment in a seafarer’s approach, to ensure to help achieve this.” tance to the industry ahead of the 2012 safe navigation. “It is a well timed, needed deadline for the first vessels to require Once mastered, ECDIS provides the and useful book which fully mandatory ECDIS. means to improve navigational safety but supports the Institute's view The book argues that excessive confi- this is not achieved just by the completion that the IMO model course dence is being placed in the sole use of of a short course, he said. 1.27 is too shallow – particu- GPS for positioning information, mainly “The skills have to be developed and larly as some training estab- due to the inadequacy of training. honed in the context of the knowledge lishments have squeezed The use of ECDIS is fundamental dif- gained at the course and other sources of the 40 hour course into ferent to using paper charts, and the tran- guidance. The use of ECDIS, in general, is three days!” sition from paper charts to electronic not paper chart techniques transferred to a The Nautical Institute poses a challenge for the industry, particu- screen,” Dr Norris said. notes that ECDIS technol- larly for those who have no current expe- Nautical Institute president Captain ogy will be of very little rience of electronic charts. Richard Coates used the launch to air his benefit in enhancing Important bridge procedures are signif- concern about the ‘inadequacy’ of ECDIS navigational safety if the icantly affected, and these require careful training with the deadline looming. watchkeeping officer is analysis and consideration if ECDIS assist- “Despite the long use of satellite sys- not fully trained and ed groundings are to be avoided. tems for positioning and the imminent properly qualified in “If you have little or no knowledge of mandating of electronic charts in 2012, its use. electronic charts, ECDIS and Positioning is there is little information written for the The Institute says that its own a must-read,” said Dr Norris. mariner concerning the practical use of research shows that most mariners feel “If you have some knowledge, the book these technologies,” he said. that more effective training is needed, and ECDIS and Positioning, the second vol- will improve your understanding and “Many are grappling with the prob- that publishing these best practice guides ume of Dr Norris’ Integrated Bridge Systems approach to the use of electronic charts. If lems of using electronic charts and ECDIS is a step in the right direction in raising series, is available from The Nautical you have good knowledge, the book’s after being trained on paper charts.” awareness. Institute at www.nautinst.org. DS

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION MOL completes design of latest concept vessels

The latest concept ship design from MOL promises to employ new technologies to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 per cent

itsui O.S.K. Lines has turbocharger that can operate at high announced the completion of efficiency even at low rpm and an elec- MMthe concept for its third in a tronically-controlled main engine has series of next-generation vessels, which it been employed. says will be technically practical in the MOL says that by adopting a combina- near future. tion of these new technologies CO2 emis- The latest concept is for an environ- sions will be reduced by 30 per cent. ment-friendly, large-scale iron ore carrier MOL is also involved in the 'Wind called the ISHIN-III, that the company Challenger Project', which aims to reduce hopes will play a key role in future overall CO2 emissions by over 50 per cent resource transport. through the development of wind-driven MOL has arrived at this design by vessels. building on the the work done in creating This project is led by Tokyo University, its very large iron ore carrier Brasil Maru, MOL, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, and a number already in operation, that uses a number of other ocean shipping and shipbuilding of new technologies for energy-saving and companies. environmental protection. MOL named its first concept vessel Delivered in December 2007, the "ISHIN-I (ishin one)," which stands for 320,000-DWT Brasil Maru (Length: 340m; "Innovations in Sustainability backed by width: 60m; main engine output: Historically proven, INtegrated technolo- 23,000kW) is one of the worlds largest iron gies." Ishin is also the Japanese word for a ore carriers, and was named the Ship of complete revitalisation or reform. the Year 2007 by The Japan Society of The new concept ship is the third in this Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers. series. MOL’s new ship design aims to reduce emissions by combining advances in energy The ISHIN-III makes full use of the Other features of ISHIN-III include fea- conservation in a number of different areas characteristics of that vessel class, aiming tures to reduce friction, optimise propul- to further reduce MOL's environmental sion and hull efficiency, and increasing ditions, and will search for the shortest nologies, using solar power energy, and burden by maximising the use of tech- shore based support. and most fuel-efficient route, in considera- has a natural lighting system, ice storage nologies the company has developed and The ship will adopt the latest in ultra- tion of the vessel’s unique characteristics. variant refrigerant volume (VRV) system, adopted. low friction ship bottom coatings, in which Solar battery panels will be installed on and high-speed Variable Air Volume ISHIN-III's two main features are to smooth micro patterned indentations form the aft decks of the concept ship. The elec- (VAV) system. employ waste heat energy recovery to on the painted surface, trapping water and tricity generated while under way will be The VRV technology uses ice made assist propulsion, and to reduce CO2 reducing friction drag, while a drastically used for part of the propulsion force during the night to cool the air in the emissions, even at low speeds. improved hull form below the surface and/or stored in the high-capacity building during the day, reducing peak- MOL says that a large amount of heat should enhance fuel efficiency. rechargeable lithium ion batteries. time use of electricity. energy can be recovered from the large Propeller Boss Cap Fins (PBCF), an This stored electricity can be used while The facility also has a laboratory that main engine's exhaust gas, converted to MOL-developed energy-saving device the vessel is in port or berthed. can accommodate two 40-foot reefer con- electricity, and utilised to provide addi- adopted on more than 1,700 vessels all over In other news, MOL has also completed tainers and a test engine room with sound tional propulsion, significantly reducing the world, are featured, but as an upgraded construction of its new, environmentally- insulation and vibration-proof devices. the vessel's environmental burden. model with high-efficiency propellers. friendly maritime technology research The new centre will act as a hub for This technology could also be applied ISHIN-III will additionally have what centre in the Kurigi District of Kawasaki MOL research and development efforts to large main engines installed on tankers MOL calls an 'optimum voyage support Micom City, Japan. into ways to improve safety, reduce costs, and containerships. system' which will receive marine weather The centre has a range of environment- and introduce environment-friendly tech- To reduce CO2 the combination of a information while monitoring voyage con- friendly, energy-saving features and technologies into the maritime industry. DS

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 46 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:34 Page 16

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BOOK REVIEW Airline crash carries lessons for maritime automation

A new book exploring the case of the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ exposes some widely unknown facts about aircraft automation systems - information which could have some potentially interesting parallels with shipboard control systems, writes Karl Jeffery

nybody interested in the naviga- the Airbus plane took in ensuring every- Bernard Ziegler, the Airbus engineer tion of large machines - and peo- body's survival. (and also ex-test and fighter pilot) who AAple's interaction with them - A little known fact revealed in the story first pushed Airbus to install sophisticat- would probably enjoy reading ‘Fly by is that Airbus made a controversial deci- ed 'fly by wire' systems in the early 1980s, Wire’, a new book by William Langewi- sion in the early 1980s to include automa- presents simple logic for why pilots esche about the US Airways Flight 1549 tion systems on their planes which the should not be able to switch off the 'go to which lost two engines after hitting geese pilot could not switch off - unlike on the edge' automation system – the same in New York on January 15, 2009. Boeing planes. type of pilots who are likely to end up You probably already know the main The logic goes something like this: taking the aircraft beyond its physical facts of the story - how the aeroplane (an when you need to do something difficult limits are also the same type of pilots who Airbus) hit a flock of Canada geese less with an aeroplane - such as reduce speed would want to switch these automation than two minutes after take-off, which as low as you can without the plane systems off. resulted in both engines being put out of falling out of the sky, to ensure a safe If the automation system can be over- action, and the aeroplane making an emer- landing on water, or accelerate up as fast ridden, there is barely any point in having gency landing in the freezing Hudson as possible without the acceleration it at all. River a few minutes later. Everybody sur- breaking the plane apart - maybe 10 per Technology like this helped Airbus vived and the pilot was a hero. cent of pilots could accurately push the grow to the point where it could compete In this book, William Langewiesche, an plane close to its limits under severe psy- with Boeing - its planes were designed to international correspondent with Vanity chological stress, ensuring highest chance be easier to fly. Fair and having 15 years experience as a of survival. For the other 90 per cent, Mr Ziegler also designed a sophisticat- professional pilot himself, looks deeper there are automation systems which can ed system of control loops run by different into the story - and in particular, the role do it for them. computers, so that if one system failed another would take its place with a less sophisticated level of control - something anyone who has been interested in ship TM Master V2 control systems, and how to make them even to themselves, that they had made Fleet Management Suite infallible, will probably be interested in. a mistake. Mr Ziegler fully understands that there Many pilots are never involved in any-

)NVENTORY is no such thing as making something thing particularly dangerous over the 0URCHASING AND¬SPARE 0LANNED completely safe, there are only differing course of their whole careers, spending PARTS MAINTENANCE probabilities of accidents - but when you their time flying planes within the narrow 6OYAGE 4REND ANALYSIS reach the point where the probability of parameters, and very few leave the profes- TM Master V2 human error is higher than the probabili- sion once they have entered it. Fleet Manager ty of electronic error then maybe it is time There are plenty of other facts within $OCKING #REW AND to give the electronics more control. He this book which maritime readers might PROJECTS #LAIM¬AND notes that more people are killed by pilots find interesting - including the point that .#2 "UDGET¬AND #ERTIlCATES ACCOUNTING than aeroplanes. aviation voyage data recorder data is auto- Mr Ziegler also argues that many pilots matically erased every few hours (some- have a flawed idea of what their role is, thing the pilot unions pushed for); birds s¬ !N¬EXTENSIVE¬AND¬POWERFUL¬&LEET¬-ANAGEMENT¬3UITE which is to be managers of systems, not entering an aircraft engine are turned to s¬ !DVANCED¬MODULES¬WITH¬A¬RANGE¬OF¬FUNCTIONALITIES¬ masters of the skies. In any case, very few liquid; and aviation engines aren't actually s¬ $ESIGNED¬TO¬FACILITATE¬COMPLEX¬SHIP¬OPERATIONS¬ pilots of passenger planes really are mas- designed to survive large geese strikes s¬ #ENTRALISED¬OVERVIEWS¬ENSURE¬CONTROL¬AT¬A¬GLANCE¬ ters of the skies - they spend their careers (materials are not available to make s¬ 3IGNIlCANTLY¬REDUCES¬OPERATIONAL¬COMPLEXITY¬ flying aircraft within very narrow param- engines that strong), although they are s¬ "ASED¬ON¬THE¬.ET¬PLATFORM¬ eters and do not necessarily remember tested for their survivability from attacks everything they learned in their training from smaller birds by firing dead birds or previous careers. into the engines in a testing centre and Tero Marine¬IS¬ONE¬OF¬THE¬WORLDS¬LEADING¬DEVELOPERS¬OF¬HIGH¬QUALITY¬ As you might expect, Mr Ziegler is a recording what happens with a many- MARINE¬INFORMATION¬SYSTEMS¬3INCE¬ ¬WE¬HAVE¬HELPED¬OUR¬CUSTOMERS¬ veteran of many fights with pilot unions, frame-per-second camera. TO¬SUCCEED¬BY¬PROVIDING¬THEM¬WITH¬SOFTWARE¬AND¬SERVICES¬THAT¬INCREASE¬ but he also appears to be one of the few In the book Mr Langewiesche does not MANAGEMENT¬CONTROL¬AND¬ENHANCE¬THE¬QUALITY¬OF¬THEIR¬OPERATIONS¬/UR¬ people in the world who feel able to criti- in any way criticise Captain Chelsey ADVANCED¬SOFTWARE¬SOLUTIONS¬ENABLES¬SHIPOWNERS¬TO¬REDUCE¬THE¬COST¬OF¬ cise pilots. Many people believe that pilots Sullenberger of Flight 1749, or say that OPERATIONS¬WHILST¬RETAINING¬THE¬VALUE¬OF¬THEIR¬ASSETS¬¬ can never be wrong - including, it seems Airbus planes are safer than Boeings from the book, many pilots themselves. (their safety records are actually very However, just like with seafarers, one similar), nor does he say that the passen- of the most important psychological gers would not have survived if it was characteristics of a pilot is the ability to a Boeing. admit to mistakes and then rectify them - However, he does suggest that maybe several accidents, such as the American Toulouse's Airbus engineers, and in par- TeroMarine Airlines crash of December 20, 1995, in ticular the now retired Bernard Ziegler, Marine Information Systems Colombia can partially be attributed to deserve more credit for the safe landing of pilots making mistakes which they had the aeroplane which kept it very stable as

+ANALVEIEN¬!¬ 4EL¬¬¬¬¬ ADMIN TEROMARINENO¬ time to rectify, but did not immediately it approached the water - and perhaps sav- . ¬"ERGEN¬ &AX¬¬¬¬¬ WWWTEROMARINENO do so as they seemed unable to admit, ing many more lives. DS

Digital Ship June/July 2010 page 48 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:34 Page 18 p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:34 Page 19

POSIDONIA PREVIEW Maritime IT at Posidonia The Posidonia exhibition, held every two years in Athens, Greece, is one of the biggest events in the maritime calendar, with almost 1,800 exhibitors showcasing every conceivable type of maritime service. A wide range of IT companies will be among them – Digital Ship asks some of them what they have to offer to visitors

BASS monthly rental model and also additional gy has now been extended to applications with speeds up to 128 kbps. The terminal’s Founded in 1997 with Norwegian roots, hosting, disaster recovery and related for commercial shipping. antenna unit has no moving parts. BASS is a provider of fleet management online services. Fugro Seastar can be found at stand 726. The Iridium 9555 handset is a global software for the maritime industry, count- Danaos can be found at stand number 243. mobile satellite phone, providing users with ing CMA CGM, Stolt Tankers, K Line, Globe Wireless voice connectivity anywhere on the planet. NYK, Pacific International Lines and DREAMTECH Software Globe Wireless, the newest Inmarsat Iridium also provides LRIT connections Wilh.Wilhelmsen among its more than Greek-based DREAMTECH is a software Distribution Partner, is a provider of total over all the world’s oceans, and is the only 100 customers vendor providing maritime messaging solutions in the field of communications, LRIT communication service provider that BASSnet is a modular software devel- and shipbroking solutions. operational and IT solutions to the mar- covers Sea Area 4. oped on Microsoft .NET that enables users The flagship product of the company, itime industry. Visit Iridium at stand number 266. to build integrated solutions covering all to be demonstrated at Posidonia 2010, is The company serves over 550 ship the main areas of maritime operations. COMPASSng, a messaging software tool operators with over 9,600 ships using its Jeppesen Marine Modules of the BASSnet Fleet for shipping and shipbroking companies. products and services, which include Jeppesen is a provider of navigational and Management Systems include The core functionality of COMPASSng Inmarsat FleetBroadband, Iridium operational solutions to support decision- Maintenance; Dry-docking; Procurement; is a messaging service which allows users OpenPort, Ku-band and C-band VSAT. making in commercial maritime opera- KPI Dashboard; Document management; to search efficiently through massive Globe Wireless designs, builds, sells, tions, providing services to thousands of Self assessment (TMSA); Crew/HR man- quantities of messages. installs, supports, and services all of the commercial ships and shipping companies agement; and Accounting, among others. The system contains a fully integrated products and services that are offered to around the world. BASS will be exhibiting at Posidonia address book, activity planner, advanced customers. Applications include vessel Jeppesen says that it was one of the first 2010 at stand 719, where visitors can view HTML editors and spam handling, and tracking, shipboard antivirus, crew GSM companies in the world to offer digital a BASSnet Fleet Management Systems can handle connection to a PABX and and SMS solutions, forms, eNOAD, crew chart data to commercial shipping, and demo. other instant messengers. news and weather solutions. now supplies electronic charts, including Specialised integrated modules for Globe Wireless can be found at booth official electronic chart data (ENCs), Benefit Software shipbrokers include a sale and purchase number 450/5, in the USA Pavilion. weather and met-ocean data, weather Since its formation 20 years ago, Benefit module, and a dry and tanker chartering routing and voyage optimisation services. Software has dedicated itself to the devel- module. Data can be accessed from mobile IBS Marine Consulting Visitors to Posidonia can get more infor- opment of applications for the shipping phones, with auto-update of positions and Group mation about Jeppesen's range of com- industry with particular emphasis on the orders available from the database. mercial maritime products at the compa- owner / manager segment. DREAMTECH can be found at stand IBS Marine Consulting Group will be pre- ny's stand, number 276. At Posidonia Benefit will demonstrate number 562. senting its software-based systems for its new integrated ERP system, and will be training documentation and QHSE man- JRC on hand to discuss visitors’ software needs Fugro Seastar agement at Posidonia 2010. Set sail to the JRC stand at Posidonia this in detail. Fugro Seastar will be showing its new The company will particularly be year to discover its newest-generation of The ERP system aims to help compa- MarineSTAR manoeuvring system at focusing on risk and vetting services at the products. nies in the management of security and Posidonia. event, including its services and products Products exhibited will include, among transparency within their organisations. for SMS reviews, its Risk Manager soft- others, the JRC ECDIS solution, a 23-inch The applications comply with SOX specifi- ware and other incident investigation and multi-functional ECDIS system fully com- cations and fully satisfy TMSA standards. vetting systems. patible with IMO requirements. Benefit uses an open platform for the sys- Computer based training (CBT) tools JRC will also display its new (D)GPS tem, which is compatible with other third and a job hazard / risk assessment library navigator, which includes a 3D highway party applications such as communications are also available as part of the portfolio. display mode which can be used to show and messaging systems, and document IBS will additionally hold a dedicated the Great Circle and Rhumb line for the management/document flow systems. risk and vetting solutions presentation dur- same route. It also integrates four config- Benefit Software can be found at stand ing the exhibition, in the Posidonia seminar urable NMEA ports, with an advanced 601. room on Wednesday evening, at 17.15. LAN connection that facilitates inter- Visitors can find the IBS stand in hall 2, switching. Danaos Management number 259. JRCs FleetBroadband 250 and Consultants FleetBroadband 500 systems will addition- Danaos Management Consultants has Iridium Communications ally be on show at Posidonia. served over 500 shipping companies Iridium will showcase its range of marine Visit JRC at stand 344. world-wide during the past 24 years. satellite communication products and Danaos offers a suite of software utili- services at Posidonia, including Iridium Kongsberg Maritime ties covering all areas of the daily opera- OpenPort, Iridium 9555 handset and LRIT With a focus on automation solutions and tion of a shipping company (such as finan- solutions. ‘green ship’ systems, vessel performance cials, commercial, operations, technical, Positioning systems from Fugro Seastar – The Iridium OpenPort broadband is high on the agenda for Kongsberg manning, QA, and communications) both stand 726 marine satellite system offers global IP- Maritime during Posidonia 2010. ashore and onboard. based voice and data connectivity for The company will exhibit its K-Chief These applications work within a fully The MarineSTAR system has been ships at sea, with three independent marine automation system, a distributed integrated alert-driven and goal-based designed to assist large ships in berthing phone circuits plus a separate data port monitoring and control system that pro- environment, that has embedded KPI meas- and when manoeuvring in confined vides functionality for power manage- urements and is fully TMSA-compliant. waters, as well as providing dynamic fore ment, auxiliary machinery control, bal- The software is also complemented by and aft trim measurement to aid bunker last/bunker monitoring and control, and outsourcing services via Danaos India. fuel optimisation. cargo monitoring and control. Danaos offers solutions for efficient The company has already been active K-Chief can be expanded on three lev- fuel procurement and optimal fuel con- for a number of years in the delivery of els with several new monitoring and effi- sumption en route through the Danaos satellite based, high performance position ciency applications. The first application is Optimal Routing service, and is involved reference services for offshore Dynamic ‘fuel saver monitoring’ for improved with 'Virtual Maritime Services', a new Positioning applications. With the intro- Satcoms on Iridium OpenPort – stand 266 understanding of total fuel consumption, venture that offers a software-as-a-service duction of the MarineSTAR this technolo- which monitors functions such as torque,

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fuel index, ship speed and hull efficacy and the Safelink Pro PLB. about MTN’s fixed-price always-on, and provides information in a format that Also on display are the McMurdo VSAT service plans at stand number 725. can be used for corrective action. range of emergency radios and NAVTEX. The second application is ‘fuel saver Visit McMurdo at stand number 438B. Navarino advisory’, which, in addition to the fuel Navarino is a satellite communication com- saver monitoring, provides trim and draft MTN Satellite pany, specialising in the maritime industry, optimisation. The third application is the Communications and is a ‘Gold’ Inmarsat service provider. ‘fuel saver optimal advisory’, providing MTN offers broadband VSAT communica- Partially owned by Stratos, Navarino optimal speed, optimal heading and opti- tion products and services for cruise ships, says it is the largest distributor of Stratos mal RPM in addition to hull fouling, pro- commercial ships and large private yachts. globally, with a client base of over 500 peller fouling, voyage planning, bunker The company’s C-band and Ku-band shipping companies in 20 countries. cost calculation and reports. networks are supported by what it calls The company maintains a local pres- Kongsberg is at stands 306 and 357. "the industry’s most extensive ground Fixed price VSAT from MTN – stand 725 ence in Piraeus, Oslo and Singapore, and a infrastructure" of teleports, network oper- growing reseller’s network. Marlink ation centres, fibre-optic lines and world- Visitors to Posidonia can learn more Visitors to the Marlink stand can find out wide shipboard service. browsing, entertainment and ship’s busi- about Navarino's satellite communica- more about its recent introduction of the This network helps to provide solu- ness while at sea. tion solutions at stand number 201, in Comtech Vipersat bandwidth and capaci- tions for crew calling, e-mail, internet Visitors to Posidonia can learn more hall 2. ty management platform to its Sealink VSAT solution. Meet us in Hall 3, stand no. 311 at:

Sealink – now with Vipersat – stand 701

The integration of the Vipersat technology will provide customers of the Sealink service with a range of enhanced features, including efficient management of bandwidth allocation between vessels, global automatic roaming between C-band coverage spots and improved quality of service for both voice and data services. The Marlink stand will also feature live demonstrations of how the company’s new Access Controller system can help in the management of a ship’s onboard satellite communications network. The compact and lightweight system can be installed on any vessel to manage switching between VSAT, Iridium OpenPort or Inmarsat FleetBroadband, helping users to efficiently manage the costs of satellite communications at sea. Visit Marlink at stand 701. McMurdo McMurdo Ltd will be exhibiting its very latest emergency beacons from the McMurdo and Kannad Marine ranges at Posidonia, including the new McMurdo S5 AIS SART and Kannad Marine Safelink AIS SART. Both models are alternatives to the traditional 9GHz SART, offering a range of new features and meeting all the latest regulations. McMurdo Ltd will also be showing its range of Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and EPIRBs. In the McMurdo range these include the Fast Find 210 compact PLB and the Smartfind EPIRB, and in the Kannad Marine Range, the Safelink EPIRB

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NewsLink accounting authority services (GR01 and modules for 2010 is a completely new CBT enhances FleetBroadband for vessels at sea. NewsLink provides daily news to seafarers GR12) and 24/7 customer care support. package to assist seafarers in their contin- Users now can control their FleetBroadband by e-mail. The news is country specific, Otesat-Maritel is inviting Posidonia visi- uing battle against piracy. sessions and ensure optimal airtime use catering to all major seagoing nationalities. tors to stand number 247 in Hall 2 to The company notes that more and more directly from AmosConnect. At present there are 38 different experience ‘live’ the broadband satellite agencies have added circulars and instruc- The new software features a flexible newsletters available through the systems Inmarsat FleetBroadband and tions advising or directing the seafarer. design to improve business efficiency, meet- NewsLink service. These allow seafarers to Iridium OpenPort, as well as value- Seagull has monitored these and the new ing all maritime application requirements. keep abreast of economic developments, added-services. module consolidates the latest measures, The AmosConnect 8 portal brings all marine news and all the latest events in the delivering applicable training in a consis- ship-relevant data to one central informa- sports arena in their home region. Raytheon Anschütz tent form. tion page, with sending of reports and Raytheon Anschütz is to display its inte- Seagull can be found at the AMMITEC receipt of weather updates and company grated navigation systems at Posidonia booth, number 342. news achievable within the same inter- Having recently release new features for face. All service settings are remotely con- its Standard 22 gyro compass, Raytheon Ship Equip figurable from a central office, thus reduc- Anschütz brings the system to Posidonia Ship Equip will present its SEVSAT and ing implementation and support time. 2010. With increased operational safety and Ship Equip TV for ships systems at AmosConnect integrates vessel and flexibility, the company says that the new Posidonia 2010. shore-based office applications, combin- features add further value to the world’s SEVSAT is a broadband IP VSAT solu- ing all message types into a single system. most popular gyro compass. tion installed on 770 vessels, offering e- The company says that upgrading to the Among the new features is an inde- mail, internet and telephony connectivity. new version is an easy process for the pendent transmitting magnetic compass The company's SEVSAT Ku-band serv- thousands of vessels that are using the path. With this function, various flag state ice offers what it calls a patchwork of cov- software for their daily communications. News for crews in their native tongue – authorities do not require an optical erage reaching around the world through Stratos is at stand number 201. stand 342 bypass for the magnetic compass on board more than 20 integrated satellite spots, of the vessel. while its SEVSAT C-band delivers full Thomas Gunn Navigation Special editions are also produced to Raytheon says that this not only increas- global coverage on the world’s oceans. Services cover major sporting events, such as the es safety, but also offers economical benefits. The company also runs a 24/7 network Thomas Gunn Navigation Services, togeth- World Cup. Raytheon Anschütz will also display operations centre (NOC) that monitors er with Poly Thomas Gunn, will concen- The NewsLink Infotainment DVD is BridgeControl, its latest generation of inte- and distributes network traffic. trate its Posidonia presentations on the published every quarter, containing inter- grated bridge systems, multifunction sys- transition from paper to digital navigation. views with maritime personalities and tems which integrate radar, ECDIS and On display will be the type approved TG other useful information about marine conning, making all navigational informa- Navecdis, with experts from the manufactur- safety and training. Some interactive tion accessible from any display on the er on hand to give in depth demonstrations. games are also contained in the integrated bridge. Thomas Gunn representatives will also Infotainment DVD. All navigation solutions are backed up be able to offer advice on rules and regu- NewsLink has offices in Cyprus, by a world-wide service network of more lations, and advise on the plans required Greece, India and the Philippines. than 200 stations alongside important by shipping companies to be fully pre- The company can be found at Posidonia shipping routes. pared for ECDIS implementation. Chart at the AMMITEC stand, number 342. The Raytheon Anschütz stand is located coverage, specific chart carriage as per at booth number 585, in Hall 5. vessel trading pattern, and management On-Waves of the electronic charts are among the On-Waves is a telecommunications service SatPoint major issues the company has highlighted provider in wireless mobile network com- SatPoint is a provider of maritime broad- in this regard. Ku- and C-band from Ship Equip munications offering GSM and CDMA cov- band satellite communications solutions Thomas Gunn Navigation Services has – stand 728 erage, with enhanced services for cruise via VSAT, offering turnkey-solutions for e- also formed a partnership with John Lilley ships and ferries, cargo ships, and other mail, VOIP and GSM service to customers and Gillie to provide the Total ECDIS customers using satellite communications. from all segments of the maritime sector. Ship Equip's head office is situated in Solution, and will launch version 3 of its On-Waves provides an on-board wire- The company offers regional and glob- Aalesund, Norway, with operational offices Voyager service, which delivers weekly less experience, similar to that which users al VSAT solutions with 24/7 support, in Houston and Singapore, and sales offices correction data by web or e-mail, at experience on land, to 120,000 travellers actively monitoring, maintaining and in Oslo, London, Seattle and Reykjavik. The Posidonia. per day, both passengers and crew mem- optimising the service to catch problems company is owned by the management, Experts from Meteo consult will addi- bers alike. before they occur. local investors and Ferd Venture. tionally be on hand at the stand to demon- The company is a subsidiary of Siminn Visitors to Posidonia interested in dis- Visit Ship Equip at stand number 728. strate the SPOS weather service. (Iceland Telecom), an international mobile cussing their VSAT requirements with Thomas Gunn can be found at stand 225. phone carrier with more than 500 GSM SatPoint can find the company at stand Sperry Marine roaming agreements. 534-2, in the Swedish Pavilion in hall 5. Exhibiting on the stand of its Greek repre- Transas On-Waves will present its latest tech- sentatives, SRH Marine, Sperry Marine will Transas will showcase its ECDIS equip- nologies and services to Posidonia visi- Seagull present its VisionMaster FT family of ment ahead of IMO's 2012 mandatory tors, whom it invites to visit its booth, Seagull AS will come to this year’s marine navigation technology at Posidonia. requirement for a number of vessel types. number 583. Posidonia to highlight new functionality Sperry Marine, headquartered in The company notes that a lot of vital issues to its computer-based training offering Virginia, USA, and with engineering and accompany this fact, and will offer a range of Otesat-Maritel and the roll out of a series of new product support offices in New Malden, UK, and services to aid in the ECDIS transition. Otesat-Maritel, a member of the OTE launches through 2010. Hamburg, Germany, provides navigation Besides type-approved ECDIS, a vessel Group, is a provider of satellite telecom- Seagull Training Administrator (STA), and ship control solutions for the interna- should have official Electronic Navigation munications services in the Greek mar- the crew training software, is used by tional marine industry. Charts (ENCs) with regular updates and itime industry, and to the global marine some 400 clients across the shipping The company offers customer service crews that are trained accordingly. The satellite market. industry, and on over 7,000 ships. Now, and support through offices in 16 coun- crew onboard also has to be certified on The company provides Inmarsat and Seagull has launched STA Online, an tries, sales representatives in 47 countries the system and be well prepared for future Iridium services and solutions, including online solution to deliver on-demand and authorized service depots in more vetting inspections. broadband systems FleetBroadband (as an training administration and reporting, than 250 locations worldwide. Sperry To assist in this Transas has developed a Inmarsat Distribution Partner) and drawing on Seagull’s full computer-based Marine is a business unit of Northrop new product, the Navi-Planner 4000, which Iridium OpenPort. Onboard Training Library. Grumman Corporation. consists of a set of databases, applications Otesat-Maritel also develops and pro- STA Online gives shore staff unlimited Visit Sperry at the SRH stand, number 598. and services intended for voyage planning vides value added services such as crew access to all STA training records and statis- that can be used both onboard at back of communications, data exchange solutions tical reports. The majority of STA function- Stratos bridge and ashore as a management tool, and web-admin services, and offers satel- ality can be accessed within STA Online, At its Posidonia stand, Stratos will high- accessible via an internet browser. lite equipment (as a Thrane & Thrane certi- including personnel administration, indi- light AmosConnect 8, the next generation Transas claims to be the only company fied partner), LRIT services, and terminal vidual training records, competence train- of its popular AmosConnect solution. in the market providing the full scope of activations for Inmarsat (PSA) and Iridium. ing requirements and status reports. In May, Stratos announced the commer- solutions for companies who want to be The company additionally offers Among Seagull’s planned product cial availability of this new version, which ECDIS mandatory compliant, including

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type-approved ECDIS, official charts sup- demonstrations and design examples of service at Posidonia, an at-sea communi- includes a Trac Phone V7 mini-VSAT, an ply, digital services, simulation systems how the CommBox can be implemented cations system for ships that wants to take FB 150, a ShipSat Gateway, and ShipMail, and hands-on training. within a network at stand number 667. advantage of what the company calls “Ku- ShipAV and FastLink applications. Visit Transas at Posidonia at stand 132. band global coverage.” The service is provided at a fixed rate World-Link ShipSat is designed to be meet maritime per month, starting at $1,850. Split Billing Veson Nautical Communications broadband requirements in areas such as and Airtime services are also included. Veson Nautical is a US-based software World-Link Communications, a provider internet usage and VPN access to enter- To learn more about ShipSat, visit developer for the commercial maritime of customisable maritime satellite commu- prise networks, as well as real-time VOIP World-Link at booth 450/10 at Posidonia, community. nications solutions, will present its ShipSat and video conferencing. The solution in the USA pavilion in hall 4. DS Veson’s solutions are developed to be used by a range of clients — from owners to charterers and from tankers to dry bulk operators. IMOS (Integrated Maritime Operations System) and Veslink com- prise Veson Nautical’s Enterprise Resource Planning offerings. IMOS provides an efficient approach to organising and managing a shipping company, consisting of ten modules covering various aspects of shipping operation. These can be integrated to build complete solutions for owners or charterers of dry bulk, tanker, LNG, and barge companies. The system also helps to streamline work- flow and consolidate information across all depart- ments. Veson Nautical also offers Veslink, its configurable Web-based service that creates a network of contacts for exchanging data vital to shipping operations. Veslink is used to manage, integrate, and automate ship to shore communication, allowing information to be exchanged between partners and customers. Veson Nautical can be found at stand 450/3. Virtek Communication Virtek will present its CommBox technology, with the system's latest generation of software, at Posidonia 2010. CommBox is a data communication solution used to manage optimisation, crew welfare, remote control and security for shipboard connectivity. The main features of the system include least cost routing and carrier switching, IP routing, firewalls and VPN, automated file trans- fers and differential synchronisation, and e-mail servers, relay servers and clients for POP3/SMTP/IMAP. The CommBox can also be used to manage web optimisation, caching, and content and URL filtering, as well as providing pre-paid roaming crew accounts for e-mail and web access. Virtek will offer live

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION Broadband in navigation

As the installation of broadband satellite communications technologies continues to grow in the maritime industry, the potential impact of these systems on the future of navigation could be enormous. Dr Andy Norris looks at some of the ways shipboard connectivity will affect the next generation of vessel navigation

ecent articles in Digital Ship con- ENCs that the route passes through, by its present AIS transmissions but, apart data for the actual satellites being used by cerning growing orders for ship- resulting in the most up-to-date data being from basic real-time navigational data, all a web-connected positioning receiver. RRborne broadband systems remind used for the detailed planning. detailed information would be polled via Of particular importance is the future us that this technology is poised to have a The system could keep a continual the internet. proofing that it gives – new or modified significant impact on the industry. check on the update status of all charts This would immediately resolve the services and applications can be simply It can be expected that the ever improv- being used in the planning process to onerous bandwidth restrictions that limit implemented. ing cost/benefit ratio of internet connection ensure that any additional charts accessed the usefulness of present-day AIS. will lead to its near universal adoption, at were fully up-to-date. For instance it would allow the automat- Can this become real? least by those ships currently using stan- The need for CD-based updates, with ic or semi-automatic exchange of detailed For voyage planning purposes, both satel- dard satellite communications systems. their significant delivery logistic issues, information concerning a vessel’s inten- lite based and local wireless internet serv- Smaller vessels, not able to carry a could be entirely eliminated for users of tions, such as planned route, and, in the ices are already suitable for providing broadband satellite system, will increas- such a system, although backup issues in opposite direction, port or coastal authority very effective services, once the applica- ingly be able to benefit from wireless inter- case of web unavailability would need to instructions or recommendations. tions become available. net facilities in and close to port through be carefully considered. For ‘statutory’ coastal navigation serv- WiMAX stations. Relevant Temporary and Preliminary ices, reliance on commercial internet WiMAX is most simply considered as a Notices to Mariners, if not part of the ENC access would probably not be practical or high power Wi-Fi connection, giving low update, could also be made similarly avail- desirable, for safety and security reasons. cost, long range and high speed wireless able, as would Maritime Safety Information Perhaps the answer is for coastal author- internet coverage. Its range is potentially – and not in clumsy NAVTEX format. ities to provide dedicated WiMAX facilities. measured in terms of tens of kilometres A comprehensive system would include Across open sea, WiMAX has a usable from the access point, rather than just the all other sources of voyage related informa- range out to about 50 km, not too different tens of metres given by Wi-Fi. tion, such as recommended routes, climate to marine VHF and AIS base stations. Although WiMAX facilities are not guides, sailing directions, tidal heights, cur- WiMAX stations could therefore be locat- particularly common at present, many rent streams, and detailed port informa- ed at existing coastal authority sites. believe that this will change in the rela- tion, entirely replacing conventional book- Safeguards would need to be provided tively near future. based information sources. that will prevent illicit use by others and Of course, web access is available today Of course, access to meteorological and to prevent non-navigation related internet in many ports by mobile phone connection ice reports, tailored for the specific pur- activity on ships. Schemes for controlling but extensive use can be expensive, even if poses of the voyage, could also form part this appear to be quite feasible. careful use is made of local SIM cards. of a comprehensive package. Ship systems connected to the service The internet, whether wired or wireless, The ideal system would allow the easy would need high levels of security and is rapidly becoming the mainstream com- transfer of relevant information into the virus protection. Safeguards would need munications facility covering all activities. ECDIS, such as via geographically posi- to be built-in to ensure that spoofing of Eventually, web-based services are tioned Mariners’ Notes. Increasing integra- shore or ship data was not possible. likely to replace many existing ‘single tion of ECDIS with web-based planning Clearly, the capacity of each WiMAX sta- function’ operations, such as TV and radio services can be expected into the future. tion would have to match the expected traf- broadcasts, and possibly even two-way Computer-based but relatively basic Broadband should allow vessels to fic. Overload would cause significant prob- automatically download ENC updates radio systems. In fact, for mobile phones, voyage planning services, such as e- lems. It would perhaps be prudent to main- for their planned routes the transition is effectively well underway. Navigator from the UKHO, are starting to tain manual VHF voice links and other It can be expected that the maritime offer a digital approach to planning. ‘legacy’ systems for emergency backup use. world will naturally follow this path However, as internet capability All presently envisaged binary mes- Importantly, the basic functionality of because it is mainstream and relatively becomes common on ships, such services sages of AIS could be readily transferred ship and shore radar and AIS would remain future proof – and therefore affordable. are bound to become more sophisticated to such a system and be considerably independent of internet connectivity. In particular, the use of the internet on and comprehensive and we will soon enhanced. This includes route informa- By maintaining legacy systems into the ships provides the means to radicalise wonder how safe voyage planning was tion, berthing data and real time hydro- foreseeable future it would allow a phased marine navigation. In fact, it has the very achieved without web access. logical and meteorological related data. introduction of e-Navigation over an real potential of becoming the backbone to In particular, all formal ship-to-shore extended period, eventually covering all e-Navigation. Voyage monitoring and reporting activities, to any desired com- vessels, including fishing and leisure craft. reporting plexity and to any degree of manual or Once universal adoption is achieved Voyage planning If internet connectivity remains available automatic intervention, could be included. the legacy system could be modified to In principle, ships with broadband internet during the voyage, any updated or new It would also allow futuristic concepts provide a tailored backup service that may facilities can readily benefit from their information relevant to the ship’s passage to be introduced, such as allowing port not be a replica of the existing services. application in voyage planning based could create an automatic alert for the authorities to command the automatic Certain restrictions on ship movements around ECDIS use, even if only available in bridge team as it was received. download of a vessel’s radar image in would perhaps come into force in the case port. The beauty of web-based services is In fact, reliable internet connectivity, order to enhance the port’s display or to of reversion to the restricted capability of the intelligence that can be built into them, even if only available in coastal waters, upload relevant aspects of the port’s situa- the backup service. considerably aiding the planning process. would provide the architecture for a total tional display to vessels. An important issue would be the need Ideally, the data downloaded would be rethink of navigational services and so the All data presently transmitted by to ensure that time critical data is auto- entirely specific to the voyage and the internet could become the essential com- coastal authorities could potentially be matically given priority to other data ship’s characteristics and therefore would ponent of e-Navigation. supplied through the internet. Into the being sent across the network, making it a not be equivalent to downloading pages of For instance, it could provide the princi- future, this could possibly even include special type of network operation rather information in book-like form, from which pal route for all digital data and voice com- esoteric items, such as differential GNSS than just a standard application. DS the navigator has to select the relevant data. munications to the shore and other vessels. Also, since only the data needed for the As previously mentioned it could pro- voyage is downloaded, download costs vide a considerably enhanced service for Dr Andy orris has been well-known in the maritime navigation industry for a and time are minimised. Maritime Safety Information, far superior number of years. He has spent much of his time managing high-tech navigation For instance, the waypoints from the to NAVTEX. companies but now he is working on broader issues within the navigational ‘first-cut’ planned route could be used to It could also significantly enhance AIS. world, providing both technical and business consultancy to the industry, gov- automatically download updates to those The ship would continue to be identified ernmental bodies and maritime organizations. Email: [email protected]

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A NEW PHASE OF MARITIME CONNECTIVITY.

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Coming soon. p32-56:p26-32.qxd 21/05/2010 11:35 Page 25

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