December 2008

Torm Shipping chooses IN THIS ISSUE VSAT for entire fleet satcoms Following an approximately six-month long trial aboard the Torm Vita, GlobeRydex, Rydex version 8, released - 5 Torm Shipping is to install SingTel’s newly launched VSAT system across its Why we moved from VSAT to FleetBroadband - 100-strong fleet, as Singtel looks to expand its market base Varun Shipping - 8 High-speed, small antenna - orm Shipping has installed on each vessel as SingTel's GMVSAT business productivity by agreed a contract to part of the service, for ship- core infrastructure is man- enabling its ships to mini-VSAT at Vadero Ship TTimplement to-ship and ship-to-shore aged over its ConnectPlus become seamless exten- Management - 10 SingTel's Global Maritime voice communications. Internet Protocol Virtual sions of the shore-based Satellite repositioning for global Fleet- Very Small Aperture Ter- Claus Usen Jensen, Private Network (IP VPN), office." minal (GMVSAT) service Torm Shipping's executive which will provide Torm "It will also improve Broadband to cause service outages - 10 aboard its fleet of 100 vice president, technical with an additional level of crew welfare by allowing ships, which will provide seafarers to undertake always-on broadband con- online distance training software nectivity for the Danish and stay in touch with shipping group on a loved ones while at sea." Canada’s largest dry-bulk worldwide basis. "This multi-million dol- company to implement IMOS The deal follows a trial lar contract demonstrates software system - 16 period that began in the Torm Shipping's confi- summer of 2008, which dence in SingTel to deliver Shipdex - predicting the costs of also marked the first cus- world-class ICT solutions. electronic documentation - 18 tomer deployment of this We are excited to be a part- Special report from Digital Ship’s new SingTel service. ner in helping them second Shipdex conference: The trial featured the achieve their goals." including Grimaldi Group, installation of a 2.4m Intership Navigation, Finnlines, SeaTel stabilised C-band Expansion and Höegh Autoliners antenna on the deck of the SingTel has further sig- Torm Vita, one of the latest Torm vessels will now enjoy 256 kbps connectivity nalled its intention to pur- electronics and additions to Torm anywhere in the world sue expansion plans Shipping's fleet. beyond its Asia-Pacific navigation The system allows for base by supplementing broadband connectivity division, commented: security for the network this Torm deal with a OSG installs data management with speeds of up to "VSAT opens the doors for monitoring and perform- teaming agreement with technology from Datatrac - 26 256kbps, on a global basis, the future. We can now ance management of its Becker Marine Systems with automatic beam ensure better communica- GMVSAT systems. Communication, to jointly Danish shipowners sign up for switching built in and tion between vessel and Bill Chang, SingTel's offer services to the global ECDIS - 27 unlimited data usage office, but not least executive vice president of maritime industry. included in the deal. between vessel and home." business, noted: "SingTel's Under the agreement, Korea to launch maritime satellite - 28 Torm will also have "We now have to think GMVSAT solution will Becker Marine Systems SingTel's Session Initiation in new work routines both enable Torm Shipping to Communication (BMSC) Balancing technology and integrity - Protocol (SIP) telephones in the office and onboard." reduce costs and boost continued on page 2 Dr Andy Norris - 30

The Maritime Communications Experts™

Dualog® Connection Suite™ features RemoteConfig: Directly manage onboard system configuration. A powerful tool that dramatically increases your fleet IT management capability From anywhere. Access and manage any ship's onboard configuration from anywhere via the Internet - independent of bandwidth available. Respond quickly to problems and configuration requirements - thus effectively reducing the need for IT competence and technician attendence onboard. You can even implement fleet-wide policies and optimisations in just a few clicks. Visit us at SMM, stand 115, Hall B7, Norwegian Joint Pavilion to learn more.

www.dualog.com (+47) 77 62 19 00 or [email protected] BridgING the gap SATCOMS NEWS

continued from page 1 aims to incorporate SingTel's maritime and 3.5G roaming coverage via SingTel and Becker Marine Systems Communication to satellite solutions into its umc.global net- Bridge Alliance networks in 11 countries: give maritime customers a vital competi- work managed services platform, while Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, tive edge." SingTel will look to offer BMSC's Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thomas Mueller, BMSC managing Vol 9 No 4 umc.connect portnet ship to shore service Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. director, added: "SingTel, with its cutting- in more than 80 seaports worldwide. "This teaming agreement seeks to bring edge integrated solutions and superior Digital Ship Limited With umc.connect portnet, vessels satellite, GSM and terrestrial wireless satellite and terrestrial coverage in Asia, is 213 Marsh Wall close to the shore can reduce costs by solutions together to provide maritime an ideal partner to chart new oceans of London E14 9FJ, U.K. switching their satellite broadband con- companies with an innovative one-stop opportunity." www.thedigitalship.com nections to SingTel's land-based WiFi or ICT experience that will transform the "We look forward to working together to mobile networks. way they do business," said Titus Yong, develop flexible and cost effective managed PUBLISHER The agreement also looks at providing SingTel vice president of satellite. communications services that will empow- Stuart Fryer umc.global network customers with 2G, 3G "SingTel is excited to work closely with er our customers to achieve their goals." DS

EDITOR Vizada reports that it is now offering the Paul Jolley and Roger Adamson have Rob O'Dwyer: Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4940 Iridium 9555 voice handset as part of its founded a new maritime business devel- On Waves GSM contract email: [email protected] portfolio of satellite communications services. opment agency, under the name Jolley Applied Satellite Technology Roger. Mr Jolley and Mr Adamson have for Brittany Ferries CONFERENCE PRODUCER / Ltd (AST) has announced the acquisi- a long background in maritime informa- CONSULTING WRITER tion of Capricorn Satellite tion technology communications compa- www.on-waves.com Karl Jeffery: Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4935 of South Africa, nies such as and email: [email protected] Communications Infonic, Rydex which will be renamed AST South Inmarsat, and hope to apply this experi- On Waves has been awarded a fleetwide ADVERTISING Africa following completion of the deal. ence for clients of the new venture. contract to provide mobile phone services Ria Kontogeorgou: Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4931 Otesat-Maritel has launched a new to Brittany Ferries' passenger ships. email: [email protected] website, with updated information about www.vizada.com The agreement covers 8 vessels and is www.satcomms.com special offers and products and other fea- expected to be extended to include addi- www.otesat-maritel.com PRODUCTION tures, such as a download function for www.jolleyroger.org tional vessels in the future as they are Vivian Chee: Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 5540 terminal equipment activation forms. introduced. The On Waves services will email: [email protected] include voice, SMS and data connectivity. Brittany Ferries operates vessels from EVENTS nine ports, linking four countries: France, Diana Leahy Engelbrecht the UK, Ireland and Spain. Last year, the Tel: +44 (0)118 931 3109 email: [email protected] company carried 2.66 million passengers, 773,000 cars and 235,000 freight vehicles. CONSULTANT WRITER François Seminel, Brittany Ferries IT Dr Andy Norris (navigation) director, commented : "The reliability of On- [email protected] Waves' maritime GSM services have already been proven successful, and we are DIGITAL SHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS willing to offer a consistent level of high GBP £150 per year for 10 issues standard customer service on all our vessels, Subscribe online at to demonstrate our commitment to quality." www.thedigitalship.com "We are very proud to participate by or contact Stephan Venter on offering our maritime GSM services to the [email protected], passengers of Brittany Ferries," added tel +44 (0)20 7510 4937 Constantin Simeonidis, CEO of On Waves. Paul Jolley and Roger Adamson, founders of maritime consultancy JolleyRoger UPCOMING CONFERENCES "To have the trust of a well know com- CYPRUS pany like (Brittany Ferries) which operates Grand Resort, Limassol Furuno and JRC join JSAT Mobile between UK, France, Ireland and Spain is a February 3-4, 2009 great endorsement of the reliability of our SHIPDEX www.stratosglobal.com offering Inmarsat broadband mobile maritime GSM service and we are highly Maritim Hotel, Reichshof, Hamburg satellite services, including honoured to participate into Brittany February 10, 2009 Stratos has announced that Furuno and FleetBroadband, later this year. Ferries commitment to bring the best of Japan Radio Co. (JRC) have become share- "The addition of Furuno and JRC as the mobile technology to their recurrent holders in its new Japanese communica- shareholders is further proof that JSAT travellers." Printed by tions joint venture, JSAT MOBILE MOBILE is dedicated to providing the On-Waves has also recently agreed a The Manson Group Ltd Reynolds House Communications Inc. Japanese market with the latest mobile deal with Windstar Cruises to provide 8 Porters' Wood Furuno and JRC will each assume a 10 satellite services and strong local sup- mobile phone services aboard the vessels Valley Road Industrial Estate percent share in JSAT MOBILE. port," said Stratos president and CEO Jim Wind Star and Wind Spirit, having previ- St Albans Stratos formed the joint venture com- Parm. ously installed the system on the Wind Surf. Hertz AL3 6PZ pany JSAT MOBILE in August, with part- JSAT MOBILE president and CEO Kei The service is to be available on the Wind U.K. ners Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation, to Shibuya added: "Both Furuno and JRC are Star from the end of November, for its 14- serve the mobile satellite communications intimately familiar with the Japanese mar- day Panama Canal cruise from Barbados to needs of Japanese businesses and govern- ket. Their participation in JSAT MOBILE Puerto Caldera, and will be installed on the ment agencies. will help ensure an unwavering commit- Wind Spirit during an upcoming dry dock in The new company intends to begin ment to customer satisfaction." preparation for a 7-day cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona in April 2009. The contract includes the installation of Frequentis to supply Spanish GMDSS a roaming network which supports GSM and CDMA technology on the vessels, No part of this publication may be repro- www.frequentis.com coastal waters, based on GMDSS. including SMS, GPRS and EDGE data duced or stored in any form by any mechanical, electronic, photocopying, Frequentis, in conjunction with prime functionalities. recording or other means without the pri- Frequentis is to supply a GMDSS (Global contractor Abertis Telecom, will also pro- Charges will be determined by the user's or written consent of the publisher. Whilst Maritime Distress Safety System) for the vide the Office of the Merchant Navy with own mobile phone service carrier and will the information and articles in Digital Ship are published in good faith and every monitoring of the Spanish coastal waters, communication services on the VHF, MF, appear on their regular monthly phone bill. effort is made to check accuracy, readers following the provision of a contract by and HF wavebands for the different mar- "We are pleased to provide this service should verify facts and statements direct the Spanish Ministry of Development. itime navigation zones, and establish and to our guests," said Diane Moore, presi- with official sources before acting on them The contract will cover a period of maintain a network of coastal stations and dent of Windstar Cruises. "It allows them as the publisher can accept no responsibil- ity in this respect. Any opinions 4 years, with an option of another 4 radio-maritime communication centres. the convenience of staying in touch with expressed in this magazine should not years, and comprises the service com- The system is scheduled to go live at family, friends and business associates be construed as those of the publisher. mission for monitoring of Spanish the end of April 2009. while enjoying their cruise."

Digital Ship December 2008 page 2 Digital Ship Globe Wireless and Intelsat launch VSAT service

www.globewireless.com Mini-Ku VSAT service. Combine this with Intelsat and Globe Wireless say they Mini-Ku service," said Mr Coles. www.intelsat.com the Globe i4, which uses traditional have plans to expand the service into other "However, unlike our competitors, we Inmarsat or Iridium as a backup for VSAT, areas of the world in the future, targeting prefer to make sure that the service is Globe Wireless and Intelsat have jointly and we now have the best and most com- the Mediterranean, Europe and Asia. ready and available before making announced the launch of a new regional plete maritime VSAT solution in the "Our customers can look forward to announcements and publishing mislead- Ku-band VSAT service over a reduced-NAVARImarketNO heart 2today."9.7x21. a i 133.00 lpi 1496505..000°° 55//1166//0088 expanded 111::4411::0066 AAMcoverageM for the GlobeSwift ing coverage maps." Process Cyan Process Magenta Process Yellow Process Black sized antenna, to be called GlobeSwift Mini-Ku. The GlobeSwift Mini-Ku service utilises a 60cm Ku- band antenna, and is intended to provide 'always on' internet service to yachts and commer- cial ships sailing in coastal US and Caribbean waters. The Mini-Ku service uses Intelsat satellites and earth stations, while Globe Wireless will be the main dis- tribution partner. The service has recently completed beta testing aboard two Nekton dive charter ves- sels, the Nekton Rorqual and Nekton Pilot, which take up to 30 passengers for dive vaca- tions. Passengers during the trials had access to the inter- net, e-mail, and voice calling services. Globe Wireless says that the system will be aimed at commercial ships in coastal US trade, the oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the leisure market. Frank Coles, president and CEO of Globe Wireless, com- mented: "We can now offer customers a 2.4m C-Band, 1m Ku-band, and now a 60cm Sea Tel name change

www.cobham.com/seatel

Sea Tel has changed its name and branding, with the addi- tion of parent company Cobham's name to its brand and new logo. Cobham, a global compa- ny engaged in the develop- ment, delivery and support of maritime, aerospace and defence systems, acquired Sea Tel for $26 million in September 2003. Existing Sea Tel products and services will remain the same, with the only differ- ence being the display of the new logo on Sea Tel domes and wherever the Sea Tel name is displayed. Sea Tel's headquarters will continue in their present location, in Concord, California, and all contact information will remain the same, except that Sea Tel, Inc. will now be doing busi- ness as Cobham Satcom Marine Systems.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 3 SATCOMS NEWS

Aug. Bolten goes for Telaurus after trials Seanet to purchase C2SAT VSAT antennas

www.telaurus.com e-mails is outstanding. It feels as if the ves- www.seanet.se sive, and with our reliable antennas, their sel is always online and it has brought www.c2sat.com revenue per vessel will increase. The Aug. Bolten Wm. Miller's Nachfolger, down the waiting time for answers for our agreement also allows us to act jointly in Germany's second oldest shipping compa- staff on shore as well on the ship." C2SAT has signed a framework agree- sales efforts towards ships with a strong ny, is to begin using the se@COMM sys- The new system will also provide crew ment with Seanet Maritime proposal," added Fredrik Hånell, CEO tem from Telaurus Communications, after members with the ability to have private Communications AB for the delivery of 60 C2SAT Group. six month trials on three vessels. e-mail addresses which are not locked to a stabilised VSAT antenna systems. Two ini- To date, Seanet has a total of 23 con- The system will be used to manage ship- single vessel, and can be accessed from tial antennas will be delivered to Seanet tracts for communications solutions for shore communications for the vessels, such different locations. for immediate test installation on ships. ships, of which 12 are now deployed. as the routing of e-mail, and cost control. "Crew members now keep a life time Seanet says the company plans to focus "Maintaining communications on all private '@telaurus.net' e-mail address," on the provision of maritime GSM services, levels is vital to our business," said said Mr Gober. and that it has received several new orders Andreas Gober, ships' IT manager at "This also allows them to have e-mail for this product already this autumn. Aug. Bolten. delivered to their home address free of As a result the company has decided to "Fast and reliable information flow is charge when not at sea. Via our network cancel the C-Max antenna project it had the key for our own success. Information structure on board the vessels everyone previously been engaged in, leading to when needed is important to all depart- can enjoy sending and receiving emails this new deal. The decommissioning of ments in our organisation, whether it is and SMS in a private environment from that project involves cost savings of the technical, crewing, agency or charter- any PC in the network." around 300,000 SEK per month. ing division." Satellite airtime for the system will be In connection with the now signed "The Telaurus se@COMM with its provided via partner Land Earth Station framework agreement, C2SAT will take 'BlackBerry' style automated delivery of Operator Otesat-Maritel. on some of the equipment from Seanet's discontinued project. "There are great synergies between our companies that address the same markets. The agreement provides us with the reli- able antennas which significantly increase the level of service to our customers around our communications solutions to ships," said Klas Lundgren, CEO Seanet. "The agreement with Seanet gives us greater predictability in our antenna deliv- C2SAT will deliver 60 antennas to Seanet eries. Seanet's client portfolio is impres-

The new communications set-up will allow crews aboard Aug. Bolten vessels to have private e-mail EMS to acquire Marlink takes on Wavecall brand Satamatics from Sea Tel

www.ems-t.com www.marlink.com

EMS Technologies has announced that it Marlink has agreed to purchase the has signed a definitive agreement to WaveCall brand from Sea Tel, and will now acquire Satamatics Global, a provider of package its maritime VSAT solution with Inmarsat IsatM2M (machine-to-machine) the Sea Tel 4006 Ku-band antenna system. services headquartered in Tewkesbury, The new WaveCall by Marlink product UK. will be marketed as a cost-efficient VSAT The deal is intended to complement solution providing e-mail, internet, voice EMS' existing Iridium and Inmarsat-based and IP packages for the leisure yachting tracking solutions, and EMS says it sector, with value-added services to expects the acquisition to add EBITDA of include simultaneous voice and data, pre- $3 million to $5 million in the first year paid calling cards, and flexible billing. post-acquisition. The new product launch also translates Operating with Inmarsat's IsatM2M into increased satellite capacity for satellite service, Satamatics enables organ- Marlink in current coverage areas, such as isations to locate, track and communicate the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe. with mobile assets, to safeguard fleets, "Marlink and Sea Tel's long-standing cargo and personnel. Founded in 2001, the relationship provides a strong foundation company has had a consistent growth rate for this new agreement, which will max- of 29 per cent since 2005. imise the potential of WaveCall as further Dino Koutrouki, CEO of Satamatics, strength to our VSAT portfolio," said Tore will continue to lead Satamatics post- Morten Olsen, CEO of Marlink. closing. EMS also plans to retain "This next generation of WaveCall com- Satamatics' staff and current operations bines state-of-the-art equipment with fast in Tewkesbury. and cost-efficient service and support The parties anticipate the transaction to based on customers' true needs." close in the first half of 2009, subject to cus- This product will be added to Marlink's tomary closing conditions, including the portfolio of Inmarsat, Iridium, VSAT and receipt of necessary regulatory approval. Thuraya satellite communications systems.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 4 Digital Ship Globe Wireless releases new Rydex version

www.globewireless.com compression using 7ZIP; extended support service and the various service speeds are for Fleet, FleetBroadband, and Iridium being rated under load, using the Globe Globe Wireless has launched a new ver- OpenPort; message-level split billing for Wireless range of e-mail services and sion of its Rydex ship/shore satellite com- satellite airtime; interactive vector weather applications. munications software, which is to be charts in 3, 5 and 10-day forecasts; ship- "We are prepared for a large release of branded as GlobeRydex. board virus protection; and forms support, the OpenPort, but before we do so we The new software, the eighth version of including US Coast Guard eNOAD, Ballast want to make sure the product meets our Rydex, can be operated either through a Water and ISM templates. satisfaction so that our customers are not Public Hub environment (a service where Frank J Coles, president and CEO of disappointed," said Mr Coles. "With a ships connect to a Globe Wireless shore- Globe Wireless, added: "Globe Wireless large expectation it is important that the side hub) or a Private Hub configuration fully intends to support the Rydex prod- service is tested to the fullest." (where the shoreside server is kept and uct, continuing to improve and enhance it Preparations are also underway to maintained at the user's premises). into the future." ensure that the Iridium billing system is set 'This release is a culmination of a "In past years Rydex has seen only min- "This release is a culmination of a signif- up for the new pricing plans, and the sys- significant amount of research and imal software updates. It was in need of icant amount of research and development tems can effectively bill the new service. development of the product from that enhancements and maintenance," said of the product from that which we inherit- Globe Wireless says it is "well which we inherited from SeaWave and Shane Rossbacher, vice president of prod- ed from SeaWave and Inmarsat. We are advanced" in its preparations of a secure Inmarsat' - Frank Coles, Globe Wireless uct management with Globe Wireless. committed to servicing our loyal Rydex pipe for customers who want to be able to "Since Globe Wireless acquired SeaWave Public and Private Hub users, and we also control the amount of traffic and browsing & Rydex, we have undertaken significant plan to offer Rydex to new customers. allowed over the connection. ensure we can deliver a rapid, high quali- effort to improve the Rydex system." Customers can look forward to future soft- Dino Martins, vice president operations ty install of the new hardware." "The first phase of improvements ware releases with additional advanced at Globe Wireless, added: "We are pre- "Globe has a large back log of orders, addressed the Public Hub infrastructure. enhancements." pared for an extensive roll out of this new and we will be ensuring the rapid deploy- The hardware, network connections, inter- In other news, Globe Wireless says that service. With over 300 ship visits a month ment of the service to ensure no customer net gateway have all been upgraded, it is currently in final testing with Iridium with our own employees, we will want to goes too long without their OpenPort." replaced, or improved to increase perform- on the satellite company's OpenPort plat- ance and stability. We have also implement- form, in advance of making the product ed automated network monitoring through commercially available to customers. Cooperation for Sperry and Virtek our 24x7 Network Operations department." The testing programme includes all The new version of Rydex includes a aspects of the service and associated hard- www.sperrymarine.northropgrumman.com ators leverage the increased availability of number of software fixes, as well as a ware and software, with the hardware www.virtek.no economic higher-bandwidth satellite con- range of new features such as improved undergoing extensive field testing. The nectivity to integrate shipboard systems Virtek Communication and Sperry Marine into their enterprise data networks have signed a cooperative agreement to ashore," said Michael Woodman, business develop a range of new solutions for ship- planning manager for Sperry Marine. to-shore data transfer. "We chose the CommBox from Virtek Under the agreement, Sperry Marine because it provides the most complete will integrate Virtek's CommBox data end-to-end system for secure and opti- communication technology into its next- mised ship-to-shore data communication." generation ship telematic systems, con- Roger Negård, key account manager necting shipboard and shoreside networks of Virtek Communication, added: "We by satellite link. welcome the opportunity to work closely Virtek's CommBox is used for the man- with Sperry Marine in this exciting pro- agement of security, e-mail, automatic file gramme. We are continuing to add new transfers, compression, full IP routing and functions and features to our CommBox web acceleration. product to meet the emerging require- "We foresee an important transforma- ments for greater integration of ship and tion in the shipping industry as ship oper- shore infrastructure." New satellite phone from Iridium

www.iridium.com

Iridium has introduced the new Iridium 9555, its smallest and most powerful satel- lite phone, featuring a brighter screen, a speaker phone, improved Short Messaging Service (SMS) and e-mail capabilities, and an upgraded mini-USB data port. The 9555 design includes a menu-driv- en interface, and uses Soft keys to allow for flexible menu choices and ease of nav- igation, along with an illuminated, weath- er-resistant keypad. The handset is 27 per cent lighter than the 9505A handset, and has an internally retractable antenna. Menus are config- urable in 21 different languages, and addi- tional address book fields are available for more phone numbers, e-mail addresses and notes. The battery for the handset will keep it operational for standby time of up to 30 hours and talk time of up to 4 hours. The The 9555 is Iridium's smallest satellite 9555 handset is now available from phone, 27 per cent lighter than the previous generation Iridium service partners.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 5 SATCOMS NEWS Iridium-based tracking from Global Satellite DFDS and MCP extend GSM deal www.globalsatellite.us device leave a pre-defined region. The device works on battery power or www.mcp.com who expect reliable telephony and inter- Global Satellite USA has launched its new external power, and is capable of sending net access to remain in touch with clients POLARIS system, a position-reporting approximately 4,000 position reports on DFDS, a European-based transport net- and loved ones," said Mr Møller. device for monitoring and surveillance one battery charge - the equivalent of work operating over 60 ships, has According to Mr Møller, most passen- over the Iridium satellite network. every half-hour for 80 days at sea or renewed its contract with Maritime gers don't really realise that they are con- The POLARIS device can be used for almost 14 days at 5-minute intervals. Communications Partner (MCP) for the necting to a complex system that uses a tracking moving assets, such as maritime ves- Global Satellite CEO, Martin Fierstone, provisioning of GSM services onboard satellite-link. sels, through the transmission of GPS coordi- commented: "The low transmission cost, five passenger vessels and five Ro-Ro "Younger people are constantly nates via satellite to a PC on a timed basis, rapid deployment and economic price ships. The new agreement lasts until in touch via their mobiles, and would from every 20 seconds to every 24 hours. means that even for small equipment that December 2014. greatly resent being disconnected," The interval between transmissions can wouldn't normally consider this high level Gert Møller, IT director, DFDS, notes he said. "We have been trying to keep be changed remotely. Geo-fencing can also type of tracking, POLARIS provides a that the contract could be extended further prices at an acceptable level, but at be enabled to raise an alert should the very attractive solution." as the company develops. the same time, prices must reflect the "We want to expand the breadth of rather high costs involved in this com- MCP services to all our passenger ships," plex setup." he said. "We are developing the Ro/Pax "MSN and similar services will contin- segment, and expect to see an increase in ue to develop, resulting in a more realistic this segment over the years to come." virtual presence, but require new solu- DFDS has seem GSM services form an tions to make this work over the relatively important part of its passenger business limited bandwidth that is available over since the technology was installed. the satellite-link." "Connectivity is important to all our DFDS has also confirmed the start of guests. Each year we cater to approxi- MCP HotSpot/WLAN trials on its ships mately 115,000 conference participants sailing in Scandinavia.

Inmarsat dialling codes to change from 2009

www.inmarsat.com aging the switchover project for Inmarsat. "If you call an Inmarsat terminal Users of Inmarsat satellite systems should onboard a vessel, for instance, you no take note that changes to the telephone longer need to know in which ocean dialling codes for the company's satellite region it is sailing. Across all our services, The POLARIS system sends GPS position data over the Iridium link to the shore office services are set to come on line at the end 870 will become the standard Inmarsat of 2008, with all Inmarsat-based numbers dialling code". to change to a +870 prefix. Inmarsat has been working with LESOs The move follows an agreement with (Land Earth Station Operators) and distri- Zynetix MBO nears completion the governing body of country codes, the bution partners to ensure a smooth transi- International Telecommunications Union tion, and the company notes that details of www.zynetix.com the beginning of another phase for (ITU), that Inmarsat will hand back the the change have been posted in IMSO Zynetix," explained Ian Taylor, managing four ocean region codes used for its serv- briefings and ITU operational bulletins, as The management of maritime GSM tech- director, Zynetix. ices since operations began in 1982. well as on Inmarsat's website, newsletters nology provider Zynetix are in 'final detail "There will be no changes day to day, These four codes (+871, +872, +873 and and magazine. negotiations' for a Management Buy-Out and everything continues as 'business as +874) should not be used after 31st "Some service providers have seen a (MBO) of the entire Zynetix division from usual'. Improvements in terms of innova- December 2008, with users now able to significant increase in the use of the +870 parent company, Sonus Networks. tion, agility and focus should rapidly fol- use the +870 prefix no matter which ocean code," said Mr Wortham. "Anyone who The deal will also include all necessary low, building on the solid foundations of region the vessel is located in. makes calls to an Inmarsat terminal intellectual property and other rights, engineering and commercial quality The change affects all Inmarsat tele- should ensure that they and their contacts along with 100 per cent of the staff cur- processes introduced over the last 18 phone services - including Inmarsat B, use the +870 code from now on". rently working for Zynetix or substantial- months." mini-M and Fleet - with the exception Callers who experience problems ly engaged elsewhere in Sonus on Zynetix Zynetix will continue to be led by the of new broadband services like using the +870 dialling code can contact projects. existing management team of Ian Taylor, FleetBroadband and its new satellite Inmarsat's customer care helpline Those involved say that 'significant' pri- Andy Odgers, Darryn Trowell, Martin phone services, which already use the on +44 (0)20 7728 1030, or visit vate backing has been secured to fully Reason and Iain Ayres in their current +870 code. www.inmarsat.com/870. finance the newly-independent company, roles, while Martin Wren-Hilton, lately "This change is at the request of the In other news, Inmarsat also recently which will continue to trade as Zynetix Ltd. head of mobile strategy at the UK's ITU, but we think it makes life easier for released its Q3 2008 financial results, "Please be assured this should be seen Carphone Warehouse, has agreed to anyone wishing to contact an Inmarsat ter- showing maritime sector revenue growth as a very positive statement and heralds become chairman and strategy director. minal," said Chris Wortham, who is man- of 6.7 per cent across voice and data serv- ices compared with the same period last year, and an over- all rise in profits of almost 60 JRC plays an integral role in the lives of seafarers... per cent. Today, not only do thousands of vessels in the Profit after tax for the quar- ter rose from $23.7 million to merchant, fishing and leisure sectors rely on our $37.6 million, year on year, products for safe navigation, but also benefit despite a global economic from our advancements in technology slowdown. Total active maritime www.jrceurope.com visit to find out more terminals grew by 4.1 per cent, while Inmarsat noted VHF radiotelephone that demand for its Fleet JHS-770S/JHS-780D and FleetBroadband services FleetBroadband remained strong with 35.9 JUE-250 Black box radar JMA-5300Mk2 series per cent growth in active since 1915 terminals.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 6 Welcome to our worldwide Partnership www.ezz-thetic.net All you need is All

Network solutions Connectivity Going global with Eutelsat@sea For further information please contact us at: [email protected] SATCOMS FleetBroadband or VSAT - the high-speed choice

LPG carrier Varun Shipping recently embarked on a project to implement a FleetBroadband system to replace an existing VSAT installation. Varun’s S A Amudan told Digital Ship about his experiences with the two technologies

arun Shipping, India's largest at FleetBroadband. However, we wanted Varun has so far been using the system LPG operator with a fleet of 20 an on demand system, instead of a high almost exclusively for business data trans- VVvessels, has been working with fixed monthly subscription as the vessel is fers, and has been pleased to see that the broadband communications on its ships on Spot business." technology is operating well and provid- for some time, having used high-speed Varun contacted Inmarsat distribution ing the high level of bandwidth advertised. regional Ku-band VSAT systems for some partner Stratos and progressed with the "We have found that the bandwidth of its business communications. installation of the system, with high-speed speeds we have experienced with the sys- However, with the launch of Inmarsat's connectivity of 432 kbps available via the tem have lived up to Inmarsat's specifica- FleetBroadband at the end of 2007, the 50 cm antenna. tions," said Mr Amudan. company was curious as to how the new "We needed a solution which could be "The FleetBroadband is used for e-mail, technology would compare with its exist- controlled/managed from the office, and chat, ftp, restricted internet surfing, and all ing systems, and decided to install the felt that FleetBroadband is the technology of these things, but it also allows for the FB500 aboard one of its vessels to find out. of the future, which was able to provide concurrent use of phone, fax, streaming, "Varun was looking for a solution that these features," said Mr Amudan. data. The vessel is now also using would provide a high speed internet con- "It has been implemented onboard FleetBroadband for online chart correc- nection on a vessel in high sea along with AHTS 'Suvarna' operating in the North tions effectively." voice, fax, streaming, etc. in a single Sea, and allowed us to remove the huge Varun has worked with Stratos to intro- device," explains S A Amudan, senior gen- VSAT antenna and put in a smaller anten- duce new crew calling options, though the eral manager, systems, personnel and na instead." company has been careful to limit the administration, Varun Shipping. "Installation of FleetBroadband, chang- crews' access to the system. "We were looking for a solution, but ing it in for a Fleet 77, for us was done in a "At Varun, we have provided the crew actually had already had experience with day. The antenna is smaller and hence with chat cards from Stratos to be able to VSAT on one of the vessels before looking easier to install." speak to their family whenever they wish 'FleetBroadband allowed us to remove to," said Mr Amudan. "The same cost is the huge VSAT antenna and put then recovered from their salary." in a smaller antenna instead' Mr Amudan notes that the company has - S A Amudan, Varun Shipping also looked at other communications options that might come online in the future. "Skype and web e-mail access for crews experienced are mainly based around the is not provided as of today, but we do 'pay per usage' model that Inmarsat believe that they will be a morale booster employs, as opposed to the fixed rate, 'all and a good HR initiative provided the you can eat' available with VSAT costs are within acceptable limits." "This is still a new technology, and "However, since the cost of data transfer though the cost on the voice calls is much is very high, access to internet has not been lower than the Fleet 77, the costs on the provided right now. We are still looking data transfer are higher," he said. for a cost-effective solution for (crew inter- "Uncontrolled internet is not recom- net access)." mended as costs are prohibitive. The VSAT has the option of a fixed monthly Benefits and challenges cost for unlimited usage, and since this Having installed the FleetBroadband sys- option is not available with the tem as a replacement for an existing VSAT FleetBroadband you could run up huge installation, Mr Amudan has seen a number bills if not controlled." of benefits in employing the technology, but "Restricting access to voice services like notes that there are also still a number of Skype is not possible, as the restriction is issues to deal with, as with any technology. based on IP, so a Firewall or Proxy server "FleetBroadband is a very good tool is required on the vessel to control inter- provided additional hardware/software is net surfing." also installed to monitor and control its Despite having to deal with these usage," he told us. "However these addi- issues, Mr Amudan is convinced that high- tional tools are also very expensive and its speed maritime connectivity is likely to difficult to arrange for technicians every become the industry standard. time a problem is faced on board vessel." "Broadband communications is defi- "FleetBroadband's ability to scale up nitely the thing of the future, and will open when the business requires attracted us, for the ships to a lot of facilities, information, things like the PMS, remote IT, crew wel- services that can be achieved with access fare, telemedicine, etc. We are very particu- to the internet," he said. lar about the frequency of data transfers." "Bringing vessels into the company net- "There are also no settings change work is something that is on our wish-list required when changing operating region - but at the moment costs are prohibitive." (as there were with the VSAT). Global cov- Mr Amudan, like most in the shipping erage (from March 2009) will be an advan- industry, is hopeful that cheaper megabytes tage, and that is one of the main reasons for will be the next great evolution in the mar- going in for FleetBroadband." itime broadband story, strengthening the The 'downsides' that Mr Amudan has links between the ships and the shore. DS

Digital Ship December 2008 page 8 GLOBAL BROADBAND CONNECTION STILL SCIENCE FICTION? NOT ANYMORE...

CONNECTOR by Radio Holland: The maritime VSAT solution!

• Managing your business remotely • Improved crew welfare • Guaranteed performance • Budget predictability • Hardware and airtime in one package • Guaranteed bandwidth • Global installation, service and maintenance

We offer our customers all the major satcom services available today: VSAT, Inmarsat and Iridium.

Total satcom solutions and value added services all in one hand.

www.radiohollandgroup.com | [email protected] Member of Imtech N.V. SATCOMS Mini-VSAT at Vadero Ship Management

Having examined a range of new options to upgrade its satellite communications, Vadero Ship Management has installed a mini-VSAT system from KVH onboard one of its tankers, with an antenna of less than 70cm. Eddie Kristensson of Vadero told Digital Ship about his experience with mini-VSAT

adero Ship Management, based The broadband service available with with a slave sender in two positions in the in Sweden, recently decided to the system offers data rates up to 256 or vessel's staircase," Mr Kristensson VVupgrade its communications sys- 512 kbps (dependent on location) for ship- explained. tem through the installation of a new to-shore uploads and 2 Mbps for shore-to- "This makes it possible for the Master to broadband connectivity service. ship downloads, on a regional basis. always stay in contact, even if walking The first step in this process involved Vadero has been using the system for around in the superstructure. It does not an initial installation of a new satellite sys- routes in and around Europe, while cover- matter if he is on the bridge, in the mess tem onboard the M/T Primula, a Vadero age is also available around North room, or even in the engine control room." 17-tank vessel carrying a wide range of America, and in the North Atlantic and The company has used this system to petroleum and chemical products. North Pacific. move away from its reliance on GSM The Primula has a diverse communica- roaming when within reach of shore-based tions suite onboard that includes Inmarsat Set-up mobile phone networks, which were not C, mini-M, and GSM systems. However, One of Vadero's criteria in choosing mini- always reliable when called upon. Vadero was looking for a supplementary VSAT was to have a system that could be "Earlier, we had only GSM and it never system that could be configured to pro- installed and operational as quickly as works, for example in the control room. vide telephone service in all areas of the possible, with minimal vessel downtime With a standard cordless phone, we can ship while also capable of providing busi- and disruption, so the 'mini' nature of the now telephone via the VSAT facility ness communications between the ship antenna appealed in this regard. regardless of where we are on board," said and the office on shore. "We chose the TracPhone V7 based on Mr Kristensson. Following discussion with its existing the size of the antenna, simplicity of "This gives us a very flexible system satellite communications provider, installation, and competitive price for that can also be used by the chief engineer Vadero chose to install the TracPhone V7 both equipment and airtime," said to obtain technical assistance via telephone with mini-VSAT broadband service from Mr Kristensson. from the control room, where no GSM KVH to provide this connectivity. "The installation was performed by the phone will ever work." Based on its experiences so far with the vessel's chief engineer and electrician. As well as the IP telephone set-up, all technology the company says that it has Since the antenna is so small, we were able business e-mail and data communications been pleased with what broadband can to install and commission it during the are carried over the new link, and may in The antenna is 69.5 cm in height, 66.5 offer, and is looking into the possibility of vessel's normal operation. We had it deliv- the future also be incorporated into a crew cm in diameter, and weighs 27 kg expanding this capability to further ves- ered and activated onboard in less than calling service. sels in its fleet. 48 hours." "We use it to (transmit) the VPN traffic and 1,024 kbps download speeds, or for "We had thought about VSAT for some Working with its communications sup- and (for all of the needs) we have today," $1,495 for a 500 MB package and $2.99 per time and received a mailing from (satcom plier, Vadero was then able to get the sys- said Mr Kristensson. MB after that. A 12-month contract is provider) Cordland Marine AB on this tem running to an operational level almost "We are also looking into installing a required in all cases. product, performance, size, and so on," immediately. card phone system, so that the crew can The hardware cost is probably the most explains Eddie Kristensson, personnel/ "Cordland Marine was very quick in call home at all times, knowing that they financially prohibitive aspect of installing purchase manager for Vadero. setting up and testing our equipment are charged correctly, and they can easily the system, coming in at between $30,000 "After discussions, we knew that we (and) KVH arranged a speedy activation," follow their own costs." and $40,000 for the antenna, modem and could get delivery quickly and that the said Mr Kristensson. "Less than a week all associated equipment, so a company equipment would be running and clear at after the equipment was ordered, it was Costs would certainly need to do a thorough the time of delivery. The installation was up and running onboard." The KVH mini-VSAT system is available calculation of its own communications so simple to carry out that we could do it "The phone and internet connections with a number of different airtime pack- spending before deciding if this was a cost ourselves in a normal port peak." have been working to our satisfaction, ages, with varying costs based on band- effective system for its needs. The KVH TracPhone V7 mini-VSAT (and) our regular supplier of computers, width speeds and voice and data usage. In Vadero's case, it is currently using a system features a reduced size antenna, software, and so on, has reviewed our The most basic fixed rate package fixed rate package with speeds up to 128 measuring 69.5 cm in height and 66.5 cm virus protection in connection with that." features 128 kbps, for both upload and kbps, but notes that this may be increased in diameter, and weighing 27 kg, which Vadero also worked with Cordland download, for $1,270 per month, where in the future if the system is to support both was useful in reducing the amount of Marine to integrate the TracPhone V7 with the user can have unlimited data usage official use and crew communications. time required for installation of the the ship's other systems in a way that and 2 VoIP lines. These packages increase The company says that it has managed communications. would satisfy the need for a telephone in cost as speeds increase, up to $5,270 for to decrease its monthly communications KVH notes that this makes the antenna service that is available from any place on 512 kbps ship-to-shore and 2,048 kbps costs by implementing the system. With 85 per cent smaller by volume and 75 per the Primula. shore-to-ship. this in mind, Vadero is currently looking cent lighter than most standard Ku-band "The IP phone is a DECT (Digital 'Pay per usage' plans are available for into the possibility of extending the serv- VSAT antennas. Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) $4.99 per megabyte, for 512 kbps upload ice to further vessels. "We have already made our second installation on one of our other ships, Vadero Linnea, and everything has worked in the same simple way," Mr Kristensson told us. "The single biggest advantage was that we could easily install in a normal port and not have to do it at a shipyard. It came completely plug and play, with cables, and then the antenna is so small and light, it was easy to do." "We have our new vessels being built, with expected delivery dates in late 2008 or 2009, and we are also considering equipping each of them with mini-VSAT The mini-VSAT has only limited coverage at present (left), though KVH intends to expand this over the next 18 months (right) broadband." DS

Digital Ship December 2008 page 10 MINIMUM COST, MAXIMUM CONTROL OF YOUR SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

Full Communications Suite Advanced E-mail Connectivity RAPIDOMAIL 5.0 BILLING & REPORTING NEW RAPIDOMAIL 5.0

• See features on the right • Up to the minute access to current vessel costs NEW Advanced features • Per-user billing of service use; splits your terminal bill • Instant automated retrieval of mail received into ships into usage by user account shore-side mailbox INSTANT MESSAGING • Pre-paid and post paid billing • Auto-sync – synchronises dial up connections and starts • Context and presence information • Quota limits for post-paid service usage moving data within 3 seconds Users can see who is online and available for contact • Real-time updates of session cost • Antivirus – with automatic updates, average size 20kb Client software available for PC’s, laptop, mobile • Full visibility of service use for accounting and cost per day phones, Blackberry’s, PDA’s control • Crew pre-paid data cards • Real time communication • Pre-paid account top-ups using Virtual PIN or online • Store and forward function to send messages to users Credit Card authorisation Other Features not currently online • Automated set up procedure, all settings can be maintained and updated shore side • Conference / chatroom facilities REMOTE SUPPORT • Full conversation history and archive • Advanced data compression – compresses data by 90% • Enterprise class antivirus and spam filters • File and document transfer facility • Quickly establish remote control with minimum data cost • Full archiving • Interface with shore based PDA / Blackberry devices • Access for AND Group support personnel and shipping • Point of failure restart company IT administrators • Automated file transfer protocol to interface with • Drag and drop two way file transfer FAX existing applications • Service unattended machines • Split billing capability • Extensive system snapshot with remote diagnostics • Sends and receives faxes as e.mail • Web based reporting including; • Reboot and reconnect • Each vessel is allocated a unique fax number allowing • Up to the minute vessel costs senders to use standard fax services • Connection history – access to Inbox and Outbox BACK OFFICE records SMS • News and weather reporting service • Service access is controlled by shore-side managers, via • Simple to use interface our web-portal For further information e-mail • Send individual and group messages • Detailed service usage billing reports available online [email protected] • Receive SMS replies • Enterprise class fully hosted email servers • Long text function allows you to type long messages - • Email Spam and virus filtering which are split and sent in sequence • Sophisticated email filter rules with whitelist / blacklist • SMS Delivery notification - be alerted when a message and size constraints you send has not been received • Web filter with virus, spy-ware and mal-ware protection • Shore-side IP firewall to block unwanted traffic INTERNET ACCESS • Fine grain control of web site access from the server • Enterprise class private hosted Instant Messenger server • User profiled secure internet access • User authentication defines which websites or web pages can be accessed by the user on the post paid account and Tanners Bank • North Shields • Tyne & Wear • NE30 1JH which on their personal pre paid account SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FREE Tel: +44 (0) 870 444 9679 Sales: +44 (0) 870 444 9681 • Caching and pre-fetching • IPSIGNATURE & RAPIDOMAIL SOFTWARE is FREE OF www.and-group.net • Content filtering CHARGE, there are no monthly fees or licence cost, users • Content security only pay for airtime incurred • Full log reporting

COMPANY INTRANET 24/7 TECHNICAL SUPPORT

• Web based access • AND Group provide full 24/7 support for all of our 73 Grammou St & 123 Kifissias Ave File sharing software products. Our support personnel have a Maroussi • GR-15124 • Greece Web links minimum of 5 years experience in satellite Tel : +30 2108066975 Active directory synchronisation communication systems [email protected] www.and-hellas.gr Data import FTP file transfers • Input information directly to shore side servers Improves operation efficiency No costly daily update files Custom designed form templates • Automatic creation of back up onboard vessel for future reference • Easy to update – information can be added or removed instantly SATCOMS Inmarsat satellite repositioning In preparation for global coverage of FleetBroadband in 2009, Inmarsat is about to embark on a satellite repositioning programme that will involve service outages in different regions during January and February. Digital Ship spoke to Richard Denny and Piers Cunningham, Inmarsat, to find out more

s part of the final push to bring full "To do that, firstly we'd need three service outages, lightly, and is convinced Three I-4 satellites are now circling the global coverage for its high-speed satellites, so we needed two successful that the benefits will be worth the effort. planet, with Flight 1 (F1) launched in AAFleetBroadband service, Inmarsat launches for the first two. After that hap- "When we first mooted the idea of March 2005, Flight 2 (F2) launched in has planned a repositioning schedule for its pened it meant a whole new way of think- repositioning the I-4s the automatic November 2005, and Flight 3 (F3) entering constellation of Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellites ing, developing the FleetBroadband and response was 'why do you want to do orbit in August of 2008. that aims to close the current hole over the SwiftBroadband services, and optimising that?', but there were historical reasons for The I-4 F1 and the I-4 F2 have been car- Pacific Ocean and optimise the network the network on a global basis for these positioning the satellites where they were rying FleetBroadband traffic within their going forward over the next decade. products. The repositioning is one of the in 2005, and in 2008 we have a whole dif- own footprints since the service was The repositioning programme will also elements that came out of the whole ferent way of looking at the global deliv- launched in November 2007, and will, necessitate service outages for users of review of these capabilities." ery of broadband services. It's been very after repositioning, be joined by the I-4 F3 FleetBroadband in certain regions of the With the three-satellite fully-global net- much an evolutionary process," he said. to offer global coverage for the first time. world for up to 25 days, as coverage dis- work a possibility following the successful Piers Cunningham, head of maritime at These satellites have also been utilised, to appears while the spacecraft travel to their launch of the third satellite in August of Inmarsat, notes that the evolving nature of a small extent, by existing legacy services, new homes. this year, Inmarsat then began to look at the industry over the past few years has such as Fleet and mini-M. While this may be inconvenient for how to organise the new constellation to necessitated this acceleration in plans for a The planned repositioning will also mean some broadband users, Inmarsat says achieve maximum performance for all maritime broadband service, which were a re-definition of the traditional Inmarsat that the measure is a necessary result of users, on land and at sea. barely conceived when the development ocean regions covered by the three satellites. the evolution of the broadband family of "(Repositioning) gives us benefits on of these I-4 satellites first began. Currently, the two active I-4 satellites products (including land mobile BGAN the whole portfolio of the I-4 satellites," "At that point we hadn't even launched are the I-4 F1 in the Indian Ocean Region and SwiftBroadband aeronautical servic- explained Mr Denny. "Land is at the heart Fleet into the market, so it shows what (IOR) and the I-4 F2 in the Atlantic Ocean es), and is designed to improve perform- of it, but there are benefits for the other kind of crystal ball you need, in the mar- Region West (AOR-W), with I-4 F3 having ance for all users once complete. services, like FleetBroadband." ket," he told us. recently been launched and completed "The whole I-4 portfolio business case "We can achieve a better global optimi- "The maritime terminals are unaffected testing before being situated above the has changed dramatically from the time we sation of all of our satellites because of the by the relocation of the satellites, they're Americas at 98°W. decided to build the satellites," explains way that the spectrum gets utilised type approved down to the edge of cover- Following repositioning, I-4 F1 will Richard Denny, Inmarsat's vice president, around the world, so we can actually have age so whether the satellite is over land or henceforth offer coverage over the Asia- satellite and network operations. "It's a situ- increasing capacity as a result of this. That the oceanic areas, to a maritime terminal it Pacific region (ASIA-PAC), I-4 F2 will cover ation that's been evolving for eight years will benefit the maritime sector, they will makes no difference at all. But optimising Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), now. We signed the contract to build the have more capacity in the future." the overall architecture is important, the and the I-4 F3 will remain positioned over satellites in 2000 and at that time "One of the problems we have for land at whole idea is that it will benefit everyone." North and South America, covering their FleetBroadband wasn't even intended." the moment is that mountain ranges and so surrounding oceans (AMERICAS). "BGAN was originally designed to be a on can get in the way, as people at the edge Schedule It is in this shift in regions that service land product, and we built three satellites of coverage tend to be at a lower elevation. Getting to grips with the Inmarsat schedule gaps will appear, starting in January 2009, in case one didn't make it up there, as you FleetBroadband already has the advantage for the repositioning takes a little patience, Mr Denny explains. can cover 86 per cent of the world’s land that ships on the oceans don't have anything and a good memory for codes and acronyms. "On the seventh of January we'll be mass and 98 per cent of the population in the way in terms of visibility to the satel- The key elements are the I-4, or transferring all of the E&E (existing and with two satellites in their current loca- lite, so that doesn't really affect maritime, Inmarsat-4, satellites. The I-4s are Inmarsat's evolved) services, things like Fleet 77, 55 tion. But once the programme got under- but this will also allow us to optimise the latest generation of technology, and have and 33, mini-M, these types of services. way we saw that there were all sorts of total broadband portfolio for the end users." joined the Inmarsat-3 (I-3) and Inmarsat 2 (I- They'll all be coming off the I-4 (F2) and opportunities to develop these capabilities Mr Denny is keen to point out that the 2) generations in orbit above the Earth. The going onto I-3 F4 (one of Inmarsat's previ- in the maritime and aeronautical sectors, company has not taken the decision to I-4s are the satellites that are required to ous-generation satellites)," he told us. which weren't in the original plan." move these satellites, and the subsequent operate the FleetBroadband network. "Once we've got all of the traffic off the satellite we start it on its way, and this is when we'll have the first service outage, to take it (I-4 F2) to its new home over EMEA." All FleetBroadband traffic, which cannot be carried by the I-3 generation of satellites, will be moved onto I-4 F3 (AMERICAS) - which is situated to the west of I-4 F2, thus leaving a coverage gap over the western- most part of Africa, and areas of the Atlantic from north to south including Ireland, Iceland and north-western UK (see red shaded area in diagram, left). "At that point of time the I-4 F3 satellite will be providing BGAN and FleetBroadband services, and the IOR (I-4 F1) will be running as it is at the moment," said Mr Denny. "From the current coverage provided by the AOR-West satellite, the only area that will lose coverage is the red shaded area (previ- ous page), while we're moving the satellite to its new home. That area will go without FleetBroadband coverage for about 25 days, starting from the seventh of January." As soon as the first satellite has been suc- cessfully repositioned Inmarsat will then begin its second scheduled relocation, and the final part in the network jigsaw. A FleetBroadband service outage will occur in the red shaded area from January 7 2009, for 25 days "The next outage occurs from the sixth

Digital Ship December 2008 page 12

SATCOMS

of February, as we transfer traffic off I-4 F1, and this gets to its final location just before the 24th of February," said Mr Denny. "So by the last week of February it's all going to be in place." "The EMEA satellite (I-4 F2) will arrive at its new location on about the second of February. On the sixth of February we're going to transfer all of the traffic off the IOR (I-4 F1) satellite onto the EMEA satel- lite, and move the IOR." "As a result of that, the second red shaded area will lose coverage for FleetBroadband (see diagram, right). It is a large geographical area, with a concentra- tion of FleetBroaband users, and it's an area where we'll be working very hard to min- imise the outage." The scheduled outage for this Asian coverage area is 19 days, 6 days less than will be experienced in the Atlantic, as Inmarsat will be trying to keep the down- time to a minimum by moving the space- craft as fast as possible. "Though the ASIA-PAC satellite is moving physically the same distance as The FleetBroadband service outage in the red shaded area will occur for 19 days, from February 6 2009 the other one, because of the concerns of trying to restore services as quickly as pos- distress communications will not suffer ing in the affected areas during the outage sible we're actually burning more fuel to 'what does this really mean for the tradi- any detrimental effects during the reposi- period." do it more quickly, as we have a lot of fuel tional terminals, the Fleet family and tioning schedule. "But once this is done, a 19 to 25 day on the vehicle," said Mr Denny. everything else out there?'," said Mr "Core elements, like safety services pro- period out of the next 20 years, it's incon- "We'll switch the final satellite on about Denny. "Really, it means nothing." vision, are gold plated and completely venient but a small price to pay for the a day before it reaches its final position, to "Having the number of satellites we unaffected, things like Inmarsat-B, Fleet 33, benefits that it will bring long-term to get everything up and running, and then have in place has afforded us the flexibili- 55 and 77, mini-M, Inmarsat-C," he said. those users. The 2020 lifespan is still intact, when it reaches its location there'll be ty to do this without impacting on the "All of those services are unaffected. We we have the technical expertise and fuel some fine tuning. But the object of the other services. For our E&E services this have advised users that do have aboard the spacecraft to have an unaffect- exercise is to minimise the outage, and we will have almost zero impact, and to do all FleetBroadband that this would occur, so if ed lifespan of the satellites." have a high degree of confidence that all this and keep to a small impact on servic- you do have vessels trading in those areas As Mr Denny points out, this move that will be required at that stage is mini- es, while creating a significant enhance- be sure that you have a redundant commu- merely represents a sign of the times in the mal fine tuning." ment of the user experience going for- nications fit to see you through that period." changing market for satellite communica- If all of that seems a little complicated, ward, is great." "It's never good to assume, but particu- tions, and an attempt to evolve to meet the summarised version is that the current One minor change that will occur for larly as safety services like Inmarsat-C are those needs. I-4 satellites at AOR-W and IOR are to be existing services will be a loss of some mandatory, it's highly likely that trading "We had a previous configuration that repositioned and joined by a third I-4, cre- extra spot beam capability in the south of vessels will have another form of Inmarsat met the business needs and technology as ating the new regions AMERICAS, EMEA the Atlantic Ocean that had been tem- communications onboard." it existed at the time," he said. "This is real- and ASIA-PAC. This will cause a 25 day porarily available to older Inmarsat anten- Inmarsat also stresses that news of this ly setting us up now for the future." FleetBroadband service outage from na systems when the services were transi- move is not a surprise being unveiled to "The world has moved on, and we're January 7, and a 19 day outage from tioned to the I-4. FleetBroadband users as the programme positioning ourselves to move with it and February 6. "When we go from the I-4 back to (the pre- draws near. be there for the future with the latest and vious generation satellite) the I-3, we will lose "We've been completely transparent greatest technology in the right locations. Vessel effects some of the spot beam coverage that those since the beginning that this would occur There's a bit of work to do, but it's going It is important to note that the outages services had gained," said Mr Denny. and what the effects would be," said Mr well and we're on schedule." DS described during the satellite repositioning "However, to compensate, we're going Cunningham. apply to FleetBroadband only - all other to illuminate some additional beams on "We have been talking to the users that Inmarsat users wishing to learn more existing Inmarsat services, be they Fleet, the I-3 that we previously didn't have on, have adopted FleetBroadband about this about the effect of the satellite reposition- Inmarsat-C, mini-M or anything else, will and that will significantly minimize the since just after the launch of the service to ing and service outages should contact not lose coverage in the above mentioned loss of coverage." make people fully aware that if this is their their Inmarsat distribution partner, or areas and will continue as normal. Mr Cunningham is keen to point out sole communications device then they will visit the Inmarsat web site at "There has been some confusion as to that Inmarsat's backbone emergency and need to have an alternative if they are sail- www.inmarsat.com/coverage.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 14 SOFTWARE NEWS Digital Ship CORENA and SpecTec in Shipdex development deal

www.shipdex.com In other news, SpecTec has signed an Brodospas Head Office in Split and database for these two vessels and help agreement to supply software systems to onboard the Brodospas Alfa and Brodospas Brodospas to integrate its Quality and Software development company CORE- Brodospas and Viking Line. Beta, two AHTS 6615 vessels on order at Safety manuals into AMOS. NA has signed a strategic partnership The first contract includes the supply of the Damen Shipyard. SpecTec's order from Viking Line is to agreement with SpecTec to jointly provide AMOS Business Suite to Brodospas, a Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel install its latest newbuild, the Viking solutions supporting the Shipdex shipping company based in Split, Croatia. AHTS 6615 is one of the latest designs ADCC, with AMOS M&P and AMOS exchange protocol. The software licence includes the from the Damen offshore series, which Q&S. The vessel, a fast ferry currently SpecTec is one of the founding mem- Maintenance and Purchase (M&P) and will be in service around the middle of being built at Astilleros de Seville in Spain, bers of Shipdex, an exchange protocol for Quality and Safety (Q&S) modules. next year. Before the delivery, SpecTec is planned to be in operation during the digital documentation that is based on the Initially AMOS will be installed at the will develop a Maintenance and Purchase autumn of 2009. S1000D standard used by the airline industry. In addition to making its core product, Life*S1000D, Shipdex compliant, CORE- NA will develop additional Shipdex mod- ules for manufacturers, ship owners and ship operators. The Shipdex modules will be marketed by SpecTec as part of the AMOS Business Suite for the shipping industry. "It is a pleasure to observe that the S1000D standard, which Shipdex is built upon, is being adopted in more and more industries," says Toralf Johannessen, CEO and president of CORENA. Giampiero Soncini, CEO of SpecTec, added: "Our joint Shipdex solutions will complement SpecTec's AMOS Solution Suite and will significantly contribute to reduced costs, increased quality and mak- ing accurate technical data available on board the ships." FuelTrax type approval from ABS

www.fueltrax.com

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has awarded a type approval certificate to Nautical Control Solutions, for its FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system. Introduced in 2006, the FuelTrax sys- tem connects to various flow meters, sen- sors, and operating devices to capture fuel transfers, report tank levels, monitor con- sumption, track engine condition, and show vessel location so fleet owners can optimise performance. Crews can use the data to check throttle settings for more economical operation based on current conditions, using actual engine run times or fuel usage to plan maintenance schedules, with the aim of decreasing costs and increasing vessel availability. Operations can examine fuel trends to compare routes, crews, and technologies, and ultimately connect fuel consumption to the actual work performed by a vessel. "This type approval is recognition that we are capable of consistently producing a product in compliance with applicable marine specifications," said Anthony George, CEO of Nautical Control Solutions. "Each product is extensively tested to verify that it will perform reliably in the marine and offshore environment." "This is a rigorous process and one that we enthusiastically completed. It shows our commitment to this industry and to our customers' success."

Digital Ship December 2008 page 15 SOFTWARE NEWS Q88 updated by Intertanko for 20th birthday

www.q88.com parties' internal systems by publishing an undertaken by our members." "We e-mailed our subscribers to find out XML version of the questionnaire. This work has been carried out with the what additional information would be the Intertanko has revised its industry stan- Intertanko marine director, Capt assistance of Heidenreich Innovations, most beneficial to include in the new ver- dard Questionnaire 88 (Q88), to mark the Howard Snaith, said: "Keeping which operates the web site, sion. We received an overwhelming 20th anniversary of its publication. Questionnaire 88 up to date and relevant www.Q88.com. response and this helped us enhance In February of this year, Intertanko's to today's industry's needs is all part of the Fritz Heidenreich, president of the information which is contained in vetting committee revived the continuous improvement approach Heidenreich Innovations, commented: the Q88." 'Questionnaire 88 Working Group' under the chairmanship of Captain Ashley Cooper, to review the Q88. Captain Cooper, marine manager at Scorpio Ship Management, notes that: "The revised Q88, with incorporation of further and up to date information required for the ship assessment decision, will prove more user friendly and should find greater appeal within the industry." The Q88 was last revised in 2004, and the new version takes into account new questions and changes to the document's format which makes it much easier to view. The working group also tried to make the Q88 easier to transfer between various The Q88 website has been updated to keep up with recent developments, and also includes an XML version of the questionnaire FedNav to implement IMOS software

www.veson.com Nautical's Integrated Maritime Operations tem, Oracle Financials. business decisions; but also because Veson System (IMOS), to manage its chartering IMOS will handle all voyage operations was a great fit with Fednav's culture and Fednav Limited of Canada is to imple- and operations departments worldwide as for Fednav, Canada's largest dry-bulk ship approach," said Valerie Cordemans, proj- ment the full complement of Veson well as link to its present accounting sys- owning, operating and chartering group, ect manager for Fednav Group Limited. concentrating on the transportation of "Veson's long term commitment and bulk and breakbulk cargoes. management 'hands on' methodology was Fednav had previously used separate very important and similar to our own." systems to run its front and back offices, John Veson, president of Veson with minimal communication between Nautical, added: "Teaming with Fednav them. From there the company did move Limited to understand and meet their on to a full scale Oracle Financials imple- operational requirements has been a mentation, though it initially continued rewarding experience for us. Fednav is with the existing legacy system for char- one of the most highly regarded, estab- tering and operations before moving lished organisations in the worldwide to IMOS. shipping market, and has invaluable "Our management team chose Veson input that we are incorporating into because IMOS will help us make better the product."

The IMOS system is integrated with Fednav's Oracle Financials package

Digital Ship December 2008 page 16 Digital Ship

AVEVA has announced that it has Computer-Based Training (CBT) course. keting and operations in shipping and Training technology company agreed four major contracts for AVEVA The University of the State of port infrastructure. Videotel reports that it has updated its solutions, valued at over $3 million, with California, Long Beach (CSULB) Following on from a previous agree- 'Over and Under Pressurisation of Tanks' Malaysia Marine and Heavy has reached an agreement with SpecTec ment for the installation of AMOS title with new graphic animation Engineering (MMHE), Sime whereby Contship La Spezia and Maintenance & Purchasing on 11 new sequences to illustrate the complexities of Darby Engineering, MTBE technology company Sitep will host, buildings, COSCO Dalian has con- tank pressure management. The company Malaysia and PACC Ship Design. every year, students from the University tracted with SpecTec to install AMOS has been updating and expanding its Veson Nautical has announced the on a 5 to 6 month long internship. The stu- on 8 additional new building tankers in range of programs since the introduction addition of four new employees to the dents will receive formal training in mar- 2009 and 2010. of TMSA2 in July of this year. company's Boston headquar- ters office, with Haorong Li to become director of profes- sional services; Mikhail Elkin joining as a software engi- LEADER IN MOBILE BROADBAND neer; Suchit Patel as a QA engineer; and Brenna Venkatesh as marketing and events associate. Sergey Komarchev of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Germany, has received the What broadband at sea 20,000th certificate of com- SM petence issued for was meant to be. Seagull’s onboard ECDIS

www.aveva.com www.veson.com www.seagull.no www.spectec.net www.videotel.co.uk

ONMA to run AMOS competition

www.spectec.net

Odessa National Maritime Academy (ONMA) has signed a contract with SpecTec to conduct an annu- ® al 'AMOS Competition', that Introducing the new KVH TracPhone V7 will include awards for SM cadets showing a high level with mini-VSAT Broadband service of skill in the use of the mar- itime software. Strengthen crew recruitment and increase crew retention by offering easy, unlimited access to the Internet, e-mail, and telephone The award ceremony for with the new TracPhone V7 satellite communications system using mini-VSAT Broadband service from KVH Industries. this year's competition took Ideal for all types of vessels place at the Central Small 60 cm antenna: Academy hall, with first Fastest data connections: Internet connections up to 2 Mbps down/512 kbps up place going to cadet Hara Matched dome: Ideal for installations matching TracVision® M7 & M9 satellite TV antennas Vladislav. Always-on fixed price or flexible pay-per-megabyte service plans The ONMA management Flexible service pricing: noted that it believed "the Crystal-clear telephone: Integrated Enhanced VoIP Service tailored to maritime customers AMOS system is a vital tool for any shipping company, TracPhone V7 offers your captain, crew, and business an end-to-end communications solution based on the latest spread spectrum and ONMA cadets have satellite technology for superior performance at the lowest costs. All delivered by KVH as your single, reliable source for sales, developed the knowledge installation, activation, and support. and skills as a result of work- ing with AMOS Business Suite, necessary for work on board with AMOS." SpecTec has already in the www.minivsat.com past sponsored licences of AMOS Business Suite soft- ware modules for ONMA,

the largest maritime academy 09_KE_miniVSATad_DigitalShip in the Ukraine, but will now add to the existing education- al programme by including an additional course on the KVH Europe A/S • Kokkedal Industripark 2B • 2980 Kokkedal • Denmark Tel: +45 45 160 180 • Fax: +45 45 160 181 • E-mail: [email protected] newly released AMOS2 © 2008, KVH Industries, Inc. • KVH, TracPhone, and TracVision are registered trademarks of KVH Industries, Inc. • Specifications subject to change without notice Enterprise Management soft- The unique light-colored dome with dark contrasting baseplate is a registered trademark of KVH Industries, Inc. ware system.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 17 SOFTWARE Shipdex - predicting the costs of electronic documentation

Digital Ship’s second Shipdex conference in Oslo included detailed discussion about the adoption costs of electronic documentation for ships, replacing the paper manuals and drawings carried onboard. The medium term benefits of the system seem clear - but what costs and potential hurdles need to be overcome in the short term?

hipdex is a standard protocol for The shipowners’ view electronic documentation for ships, After listening to the morning's proceed- SSlaunched in February 2008, which ings, Christer Bruzelius, senior vice pres- aims to improve the data available to ship- ident of ship management with ping companies in their maintenance and Finnlines, an operator of 36 ro-ro vessels, purchasing systems. declared that he was "very impressed." Better data has the potential to lead to "I see some clear benefits by standardis- better maintenance, more accurate pur- ing this," he said. "There is a clear long chasing and better communications with term benefit." suppliers, leading to happier seafarers, "In the long run, this will lift our better ship maintenance, lower costs, a maintenance. We will maintain our ships potential longer lifetime of the ship and better, we will get better information to improved safety. the crew." Nobody questions the potential long "But it will be a struggle," he warned. term benefits of Shipdex, but over the "We have to invest a lot as shipowners to immediate and shorter term, the path is be able to take this. We have [lots of dif- less clear. ferent] systems for document manage- Suppliers ask: How many shipping ment. But we do need standardisation." companies want this? How much will it Mr Bruzelius noted that shipping com- cost? Will there be another standard panies will have to be ready to demand Leading the maritime industry towards electronic documentation: along in a few months time, and how Shipdex documentation from their suppli- Giancarlo Coletta, purchasing director, Grimaldi Naples (left) and should we pick which one to back? Will it ers if they want to have it. Pawel Bury, IT manager, Intership navigation (right). make it easier for my competitors to get "It comes down, in the end, to the cus- their hands on our data? Can we just stay tomers," he said. "If they say it has to be fairly clear, in the short term considerable of using Shipdex are Euro 27,000 a year no as we are? Shipdex, suppliers have to supply it. I effort is needed. "I think companies are a matter how many ships they have, saving Shipowners ask: Should I invest in sys- think shipowners can play a big role in bit scared about starting this process," around Euro 15,000 a year by not having tems which can use electronic documenta- this by pushing this, definitely." she said. to employ someone full time to manage tion? Will suppliers ever provide it? Shipowners have not had much lever- Shipdex was initiated by shipping com- paper documents, and saving Euro 12,000 Should I try to push suppliers to provide age over their suppliers for the past few panies Grimaldi Naples, a company which from not needing a physical library to it? Are the savings worth the effort? years, but things are changing, Mr operates 95 ro-ro, multipurpose and car store them. There is also an immediate All of these questions were discussed at Bruzelius emphasised. carrier vessels, and Intership Navigation, saving of the Euro 15,000 per vessel Digital Ship's second Shipdex forum, held "In the last few years - we've been a company which owns and manages 50 Grimaldi currently spends to create its recently in Oslo, Norway. The answers are almost begging to engine manufacturers, bulk carriers, tweendeckers and lakers, planned maintenance database from not all entirely clear yet, but the discus- please give us an engine before 2011. But and provides crew management services paper documents. sion, reported below, may help you to we've come to another time now." to a further 70 vessels. Less quantifiable, but potentially bigger build your own opinion about whether or Kari-Anne Larmerud, IT business ana- Grimaldi's purchasing director benefits, are the cost savings from having not Shipdex is right for your company, lyst with Høegh Autoliners, pointed out Giancarlo Coletta estimates that the easier to use and purchasing maintenance and the maritime industry. that although the mid term benefits are immediate savings to shipping companies systems, with better data, says Mr Coletta. Mr Coletta believes that Shipdex should be a 'win-win situation for every- body'. "We wish to make the life of every- body easier," he says. "You can make the life of the vessel better." In order to get started with Shipdex, shipowners should try to put a line in their contracts with their suppliers, saying "all technical documents should be delivered in accordance with Shipdex," he said. Intership Navigation Pawel Bury, IT manager of Intership Navigation, one of the companies which founded Shipdex, said his company has a lot of headaches with manuals. "Technical manuals are sometimes poor quality, or even wrong," he said. "Making maintenance every 5000 hours is not the same as every 500 hours - and that's just a typing error." Intership is currently trying to per- suade its shipyards in China to provide Shipdex documents with new vessels it is building. "I rate our chances of getting Delegates at the Shipdex conference had a lot to think about - we can all see the medium and long term benefits, but how do we Shipdex data from China at 80 per cent," persuade our colleagues and partner companies to adopt this in the short term? said Mr Bury.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 18 JRC’s FleetBroadband family more than just a dedicated solution

FB500 FB250 Q1 2009

The JRC FleetBroadband family is the latest in a long line of Inmarsat maritime products. JRC has a rich history in maritime satellite communication, dating back to the world’s first Marisat terminal (JUE-5A) in 1975, followed by a successful history through the Inmarsat alphabet.

visit www.jrceurope.com to find out more

Also introducing the all-new type approved radars navigation has a new standard Meet the next generation of radars, integrating the patented Constaview™ as standard. New features such as improved short range performance, brushless motors and excellent on-screen menus probably makes them the most sophisticated radars available today.

Read further on our website.

JMA-5300Mk2 JMA-7100 JMA-9100 Black box radar ARPA radar ARPA radar High speed & <10.000 GT High speed & <10.000 GT High speed & ≥10.000 GT SOFTWARE

The company builds 90 per cent of its work with anyone else's), so they don't see and suppliers to streamline their spare vessels in China, and has senior staff out the benefits of adopting something which part databases, because if different sub there, keeping an eye on the newbuild- can help the whole industry. suppliers provide equipment with the ings. But they end up spending a lot of "Can we forget about competing for a same spare part, it should use the same their time just typing in equipment num- while?" he asked. "Can we think about one part number, said Mr Goertz. bers, because they are wrong in the manu- tool for everyone and leave our ego Shipyards and suppliers will find it als, Mr Bury explained. behind?" much easier to collate manuals for their The company has sometimes fallen into customers from the materials sent to them the temptation of thinking that two identi- The suppliers' view by sub suppliers if it is all done electroni- cal ships can share manuals, only to find On the suppliers' side, MacGREGOR, Alfa cally (rather than by collating paper). there are small differences in the systems Laval, MAN Diesel and Yanmar are They will also be able to send further fitted on the ships and it doesn't work. already committed founding members of updates directly to their customers, and "They are almost sister ships but they Shipdex. will benefit from their customers having could have some differences, so a good As well as MAN Diesel, the conference much better databases, so they always verification is needed after making a was attended by representatives of engine order the right parts. copy," said Mr Bury. manufacturers Wärtsilä and Rolls Royce, An additional problem with paper both saying they are currently considering MacGREGOR will be the first supplier to manuals is that the final version is gener- whether or not to get involved. make Shipdex documents - so everyone ally only delivered to the office at some For a supplier, to provide Shipdex doc- else can get the benefit of MacGREGOR's time after the ship is delivered; it takes umentation takes a bit of time and invest- experience, said Katerina Munter, time to get all the data onboard electroni- ment, as Alfa Laval's Mats Ottosson MacGREGOR's head of technical documentation. cally, which means there is a time when stressed. "It's not just pushing a button the ship is sailing without good informa- and Shipdex falls out." tion onboard. Equipment supplier MacGREGOR, produce Shipdex documents, is complete- Having problems with manuals is par- expected to be the world's first supplier to ly upgrading its entire internal software ticularly frustrating when you know that systems to move from paper / Word doc- the equipment suppliers have good data uments to an XML based system, in order systems of their own, but they don't make to generate Shipdex output. them available to shipping companies. The software has so far cost Euro In today's times of crew shortages, it is 500,000, just for the cranes department, very important to have the best tools said Katarina Munter, MacGREGOR's onboard as possible, said Mr Bury. "An manager of technical documentation officer with experience knows exactly services. what he needs to do - but a newly quali- However MacGREGOR anticipates fied engineer needs all the information he many benefits to the company other than With an electronic documentation system, can get." being able to produce Shipdex documents it becomes much cheaper for a shipyard Today's shipping companies need to - not least the ability to produce manuals to create in-house documentation - Kay manage their resources for maintenance as for all of its customers in higher quantities Michael Goertz, operations manager - Germany, SpecTec well as possible, including available man- and quality. power, skilled personnel and spares - and After moving to electronic documenta- to do that means they need good data, tion, German shipyard HDW found that it Suppliers will also be able to offer a bet- he said. got much cheaper to create in-house docu- ter after sales service, something which Mr Bury believes that some of the ments, said Kay-Michael Goertz, current- both shipyards and service suppliers often obstructions to take-up of Shipdex have ly SpecTec's operations manager for have enormous problems with, said been egos and a competitive mentality, or Germany, who was head of logistic proce- Herman de Meester, deputy secretary big suppliers resisting being 'pushed dures and IT at German ship and subma- general of the European Community around', who say that they have systems "It's not just pushing a button and rine builder Howaldtswerke - Deutsche Shipowners' Associations. which are good enough for them Shipdex falls out" - Mats Ottosson, Werft GmbH (HDW) until May 2008. Suppliers can set up a new revenue (although they have systems which can't Strategic Project Manager, It also becomes possible for shipowners stream, selling electronic manuals for Alfa Laval Parts & Service Equipment equipment they have sold in the past - 3rd Digital Ship Conference New standards in electronic ship documentation Tuesday February 10th, 2009, Maritim Hotel, Reichshof, Hamburg

Digital Ship will run its third Shipdex conference in Hamburg on February 10, 2009, about a new standard for exchange of ship technical information between equipment manufacturers and shipping companies, potentially leading to the end of paper documents onboard ships, and shipboard maintenance and purchasing systems being easily populated with accurate and complete data.

We hope to be able to provide reports from the first Shipdex pilot projects with the first equipment suppliers at our Hamburg conference, as well as news about how Shipdex is being incorporated into new maritime software packages, and reports from other industries about their experiences moving from paper to electronic documentation. See the latest program and register online at www.thedigitalship.com/shipdex.htm

Digital Ship December 2008 page 20 Digital Ship with paper manuals. MacGREGOR because it is the world's first supplier to put Shipdex data. It anticipates producing Mårten Storbacka, general manager MacGREGOR, a company which manu- try to produce Shipdex documents - which 50 per cent more manuals and improving engineering, ship power technology, factures heavy equipment for vessels and should make life easier for the next sup- their accuracy as a result of having the Wärtsilä Finland Oy, said that the compa- ports, made a bold decision to move all of pliers to attempt the move to Shipdex, said software. "We will have less cost and ny has already developed its own XML its documentation systems from a paper Katarina Munter, MacGREGOR's man- faster response," she said. internal document management systems, based system to Shipdex. ager of technical documentation services. MacGREGOR particularly likes the but it may be able to provide output in The company has encountered a few The company is installing new software way that Shipdex will be able to facilitate Shipdex format. problems with Shipdex so far, and expects to manage its manual production process communications with the end user, some- When asked if Wärtsilä might be join- to have more problems, but this is mainly internally, which will also be able to out- thing which is very difficult currently. ing Shipdex, Mr Storbacka said "I think it will need a lot of marketing internally, but yes, I can see it as a possibili- ty." One of the biggest chal- lenges with this is persuad- ing Wärtsilä's sub suppliers to also provide their docu- mentation in XML, he said. Suppliers can expect a contribution towards the costs of creating Shipdex manuals from their cus- tomers who demand it. "We don't expect Shipdex docu- ment free of charge - we expect some charges for this," said Pawel Bury, IT manager of Intership Navigation. Alfa Laval Alfa Laval, expected to pro- duce Shipdex documentation next year, already has an internal XML documentation management system; it will not be replacing it but it will be installing software which can convert the output from its existing system to Shipdex, where customers request it. The company has started by looking at providing Shipdex manuals for separa- tors, which are the pieces of equipment which need the most frequent maintenance. Alfa Laval sells the same technologies - separation, heat transfer and fluid han- dling - to many different industries, and it would like to continue using the same system to create manuals for all of them. It is putting together soft- ware scripts which can con- vert the output from its exist- ing software into Shipdex format. The investment in this software is "quite high" to begin with, said Mats Ottosson, strategic project manager, Alfa Laval Parts and Service Equipment, but the cost will reduce over time. It is very important for Alfa Laval to maintain the flexibility to produce docu- mentation in a variety of dif- ferent formats in future as demanded by customers in different industry sectors, and by having a consistent internal system together with conversion engines is the best way to achieve this, he said.

Digital Ship December 2008 page 21 SOFTWARE

"It is almost impossible to get updates S1000D is a highly complex standard There is a difference between intellectu- out to the customer," she said. "Today, developed initially for documentation for al property which is just being viewed on every document we send goes through the military aircraft; its use has since been a screen, and intellectual property where yard, and it's a big possibility that it stays extended to commercial aircraft and other someone can access the raw data - save it, there." military equipment. It is used internation- manipulate it or e-mail it, he said. This is "We can collect information about ally by companies including Boeing and similar to the difference between using equipment performance and will be able Airbus. Windows and having the source code. to respond to spares enquires faster." The founders of Shipdex, Grimaldi and Computer systems have been devel- The company's first opinion of Shipdex, Intership, thought that they would have a oped which can restrict which individuals and its method for putting together docu- tough time demanding that their suppli- can access different drawings, or restrict ments, was that it was not terribly ers provide documents in S1000D format, what drawings can be e-mailed or saved impressed. "We thought it was a bit because it is so complex, so they commis- onto portable hard drives; although this bureaucratic and hard to use," said Ms sioned their software company, SpecTec, could cause a lot of trouble, not least Munter. to write a simplified version, reducing the when someone needs access to certain However the company was persuaded number of pages from 2600 to 180 includ- information in a hurry. by the benefits of Shipdex over time, par- ing business and writing rules. "We could have a mechanism where ticularly because it was already cus- SpecTec hired Marco Vatteroni, who people need special keys - but it's a night- tomised for use in the maritime industry. was developing electronic documentation Shipdex can help streamline the flow of mare," said SpecTec's Kay-Michael Goertz. The costs of developing its own 'docu- systems at Italian shipyard Finncantieri, to information between shipyards and class, reckons Alessia Vergine, team lead of basic ment type definition' system (method of perform the complex task. Timeline and applied research, RINA marine division describing the documents) was estimated Shipdex is a simplified version of The protocol is currently written and at Euro 160,000; the costs of Shipdex are S1000D, but is fully compatible with it. ready to use, although it has not yet been Euro 3,000 (for annual membership), and The electronic documentation needs of publications and SCORM for its training used in a live project. the costs of implementing a free / open aviation and military are similar to the systems, replacing Microsoft Word and The first live project, with source system, estimated at Euro 1,000. maritime industry, but more demanding, Adobe FrameMaker software. MacGREGOR Cranes, should be under- MacGREGOR's cranes and ro-ro divi- because data needs to be more accurate, Subsequently, it can produce operator and way by the end of 2008, followed by both sions are working on Shipdex separately. data changes need to be propagated more maintenance manuals in 3 weeks instead MAN Diesel and MacGREGOR Ro-Ro in "Cranes have come a bit farther than roro," quickly, there is more demand for securi- of 6 months. the first quarter of next year. said Ms Munter. ty, and space is at more of a premium. Corena also recently implemented a Alfa Laval and Yanmar are both expect- MacGREGOR wanted a software sys- The Shipdex team have had a meeting system for a Swedish military aviation ed to provide Shipdex data in 2009, and tem which would enable the company to with the co-chair of the S1000D council, company using S1000D, also incorporat- Raytheon, which is providing navigation keep its options open, because it will and decided that there would be an nfor- ing S1000D data from its aeroplane equipment to Intership's new vessels, is always need to be able to deliver manuals mal co-operation between Shipdex and manufacturer. also invited to provide Shipdex data. in other formats. S1000D, which should lead to a more for- At the moment Shipdex only provides The company found that some of its mal integration. Shipdex was also present- Control of the data capability for one way communication equipment, particularly port equipment ed by Marco Vatteroni during the S1000D The issue of ownership and control of the (supplier to shipping company), but func- for land, did not have codes in Shipdex User Forum (sponsored by ASD, ATA and electronic documentation data is likely to tionality for the shipping company to send that it could use, so it is developing AIA) in Budapest in October. continue to be a hurdle. Suppliers are comments back to the supplier will short- new codes. Keeping a parallel to S1000D should always afraid of detailed information ly be added. also make it easier to update Shipdex to about their products getting into the One standard? new technologies, because S1000D will hands of their competitors. Shipdex and class One question which shipowners and sup- have already done the work. In the paper document era there was an Shipdex could help to streamline the com- pliers will want answering when consider- understanding and contractual agreement munications between shipyards, shipown- ing a move to Shipdex is whether it is, and Software between shipowners and their suppliers ers and classification societies. will always be, the only standard for ship It is important to stress that using Shipdex that shipowners would not lend their Most of the classification societies documentation systems, or if there will be does not mean that the user is forced to manuals to rival suppliers to make photo- already have systems in place for com- another in the future and they might end use the products of any one company copies, although there was nothing to munication of electronic documents up backing the wrong one. (something which would certainly put technically prevent them from doing so. (such as drawings, surveys, audit reports, The Shipdex team believe that the people off). In the electronic document era it is calculations, manuals, specifications and answer is simple - although there are So far maritime software companies much easier to transfer information certifications) but Shipdex could make many standards in the world for tagging SpecTec, Danaos, and ABS Nautical around, which could lead to suppliers' this easier. documentation, there is only one standard Systems have discussed making software fears of their data getting into competitors' in the world for documentation of trans- which is Shipdex compatible, and the oth- hands being heightened. port equipment, called S1000D. ers will probably follow as the market SpecTec's Kay-Michael Goertz argues grows. that these fears are overstated, because SpecTec already offers a range of differ- people are as free to communicate elec- ent services associated with Shipdex tronically as they were with paper - no including consultancy, providing manual more and no less. authoring tools, content management "We say, your rights are the same as tools, manual publishing tools, and offer- before," he said. "We are as good, or as ing services to convert manuals from one bad, as paper. With paper, there was noth- format to another. ing preventing the shipowner from shar- There is also an emerging market for ing it. Paper can be printed, copies and companies which have previously worked sent somewhere. We stick to the same pro- with S1000D, or who provide documenta- cedure as before." tion services for the maritime industry, Mr Ottosson also noted that the data who are starting to offer services provid- modules are created uniquely for each ing Shipdex documentation, or helping individual ship - and so they are only real- convert other systems to Shipdex. ly useful for that ship. Danish document management compa- Katarina Munter from MacGREGOR ny Corena is one of the first to see a busi- noted that if the trust between supplier ness opportunity creating Shipdex manu- and shipowner about passing around doc- als (see page 15); the company already umentation is violated, "we'll stop." provides document management services However Stephen Mulvaney, cus- for aerospace, automotive, energy and the tomer support specialist with Rolls Data security: there is a difference maritime industry and works with Royce, who previously led efforts to help between suppliers allowing customers to S1000D. Rolls Royce's aviation division move to view their data on a screen, and allowing Shipdex author Marco Vatteroni, SpecTec, Corena recently helped one big electronic documentation, suggested that them to manipulate, store and e-mail it, reduced S1000D from 2,600 pages to Norwegian defence technology company maybe concerns about data control should said Stephen Mulvaney, customer support just 180 for the maritime industry implement S1000D for all of its technical be taken seriously. specialist with Rolls Royce

Digital Ship December 2008 page 22

The world’s leading shipbuilding fair is coming to Istanbul

21 – 23 jan. 2009

Phone: +90 (216) 5180397 · [email protected]

Phone: +49 40 3569-2148 · [email protected]

This Fair is organized with the permission of TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) in accordance with the Law No.5174TOBB www.smm-istanbul.com

SMM_AZ_Istanbul_293x392.indd 1 21.11.2008 10:27:43 Uhr Digital Ship

Computer based training Electronic documentation could be used as a basis for creating computer based training, something the aviation industry is already doing with S1000D. "With electronic technical information, you can easily build computer based training to send everywhere - electronic training courses you can supply to your crew managers," said Grimaldi's Mr Coletta. Sylvia Schwab, senior systems engineer with CORENA Norway, a company which provides S1000D docu- mentation systems for the aerospace industry, explained that the aviation industry needs to immediately update both its manuals and training systems You can use electronic documentation after there are any changes to the aero- systems as a basis for computer based plane equipment. There was plenty to discuss in the coffee break training modules, said Sylvia Schwab, A system for web based learning has senior systems engineer with CORENA been developed called 'Shareable Content Norway Object Reference Model' (SCORM), pub- cle, when new parts are introduced and Shipdex ownership lished by an organisation run by the US older ones retired, because it is very hard There have still been a few gripes about the Department of Defence, which can access for a manufacturer to ask shipowners to way ownership and copyright of Shipdex Alessia Vergine, team leader of basic data from S1000D. update their databases. has been set up, with copyright over the and applied research with the marine Shipdex could facilitate data communi- protocol currently retained by the two division of Italian class society RINA, Improved purchasing cation between shipping companies and founding companies, Grimaldi Group and said she believes that Shipdex will help One important benefit of Shipdex is that it their suppliers, to keep their databases up Intership, and a steering committee includ- streamline the flow of information will help shipping companies keep the to date for new equipment. ing all the founder members (Grimaldi, between shipyards and class, leading to right inventory of spare parts onboard and "As a manufacturer we can put quality Intership, Alfa Laval, MacGREGOR, MAN better data management, improved trans- always purchase the right spare parts at in when we start, but it is a joint challenge Diesel, SpecTec and Yanmar). parency and traceability. the right time, because their databases to maintain it throughout the life cycle," Mr Coletta of Grimaldi Naples argues It can help put together checklists for should be much improved. said Mr Ottosson. that this process has been put in place to surveyors, and update systems about Poor data quality is proving quite an There was a discussion about data help manage the development of the pro- components' status, she said. impediment to electronic commerce quality at the recent International tocol - several similar initiatives have "Shipdex will allow for a better man- between shipping companies and suppli- Maritime Purchasing Association (IMPA) foundered because there were too many agement of class information and the clas- ers, said Alfa Laval's Mats Ottosson. conference in London, he added. "E-com- members which made it too hard to make sification process in general," she told us. Shipping companies might have good merce companies said, we can help main- decisions. "It will help speed up data management. It parts databases when they have just tain quality. Can they? I'm not sure, not Mr Coletta said he would be happy to will also help facilitate application of con- bought new equipment, but the problems without involving both the buyer and the pass copyright onto another independent dition monitoring techniques." arise further along the equipment's lifecy- supplier." organisation in future which could man- age it. The members have agreed that they will open up the protocol maintenance group to other companies from next sum- About Shipdex mer onwards, although new members will be voted in by the existing members, and Shipdex is a standard way of manag- ships getting much easier - leading to text, data and drawings which are may be limited to one company in each ing technical information for ships ships being better maintained and last- included in manuals and catalogues, so sector (eg one software company, one clas- (such as manuals, drawings and spare ing longer, something which will make they can be automatically moved sification society, one shipyard and so on). parts lists), so it can be communicated a big impact on every shipowners' bot- between different computer systems All members of Shipdex can apply for between suppliers, shipyards, ship- tom line over the long term. fluidly. any changes they want to see to be made ping companies and ships electroni- It will also lead to improved pur- So (for example) a shipyard's docu- to the protocol, which will be discussed by cally, rather than on paper, as it is chasing, if companies always order the ment management system can auto- the maintenance group. today. right parts because their systems have matically provide the data for a new This means that shipboard computer the right data in them, and shipping vessel including all of the equipment Shipdex structure systems can automatically serve up the companies will be able to use Shipdex on it; the data can be imported into the Shipdex is a kind of language which right piece of technical information at to put together better reports to send shipping company's documentation describes the equipment, tagged so that the right time, completely accurately, authorities and class societies. system, and linked to its maintenance different computer systems can under- with no searching for paper. It means In order to use Shipdex, you have to and purchasing system. stand what the different pieces of text and that shipboard maintenance systems join the Shipdex organisation; the fees Then you end up with a system data mean. and purchasing systems always have for this are Eur 2,500 for initial registra- which can (for example) provide work Shipdex data can include text about the right data in them, and that compa- tion and Eur 500 for annual member- orders (instructions of what mainte- how to operate the equipment; informa- nies no longer have to deal with the ship renewal. nance tasks need to be done today), tion about how to do maintenance; trou- inconvenience and cost of storing paper Anyone can join and use Shipdex, alongside the instructions of how to do bleshooting information (solving prob- documents. including shipping companies, the maintenance. lems); information about spare parts (with It gets much easier to link up the equipment suppliers and software It is important to stress that Shipdex illustration); and information about how maintenance software, creating work companies. is not about PDF documents; PDF doc- to provide changes to documentation, orders, to the documentation - so (for Although the maritime software uments are just an electronic version of explained SpecTec's Marco Vatteroni, example) a vessel engineer can get a list company SpecTec played a big role in paper. To illustrate the difference, author of Shipdex. of today's maintenance tasks, and all the establishment of Shipdex, users are imagine trying to set up a database of Each spare part needs to have a unique the relevant documentation about how not committed in any way to using spare parts for your purchasing system. number, so it can be used for computer to do them, in his inbox. SpecTec software; they can use any If the list was provided to you on paper systems for managing spare part invento- Shipping companies will receive all software which is compatible with the or a PDF document, you would need to ry and ordering new spare parts. Optional of their manuals from their suppliers protocol, the details of which are open- type it into your purchasing system line data includes the equipment serial num- and sub suppliers in a standard format ly available to Shipdex members. by line. bers; a recommended quantity to be and structure. Shipdex is an XML standard - that is, If the list was provided as Shipdex included onboard; and whether or not This should lead to maintenance on it is a way of labelling the chunks of data, you could import it automatically. they are subject to Marpol Annex VI (IMO air pollution regulations). DS Digital Ship December 2008 page 25 ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS

Comar Systems, a UK based manufac- fuel efficiency and emission reduction Schiffselektronik GmbH will offer turer of AIS (Automated Identification solutions. the complete range of products and sys- System) Class B transponders and Dickson Company has released tems manufactured by Kelvin Hughes receivers, has appointed Milltech its new Digital Display Temperature including radar, electronic chart systems, Marine as its US distributor. Milltech and Humidity Data Loggers, for moni- and simplified voyage data recorders will handle the complete range of Comar toring temperature and humidity in (SVDR), while also offering repairs and products which are available with imme- shipping containers. The Loggers feature servicing. diate effect. both push-to-start and push-to-stop McMurdo has appointed Garmin Hatteland Display has announced functions. A temperature-only version is Iberia to handle its distribution through- that Trond K Johannessen is to become also available. out Spain. Formerly Trepat, the distribu- the company's new president and CEO UK-company C A Clase has recently tor was taken over by Garmin last year, from the 1st February 2009, taking over introduced SatPro's LRITpro D200 and and so has streamlined its brands to the from Knut Vidar Lauritsen, who will the LRITpro L800 to its commercial core Garmin product range plus the addi- remain in a management role. Mr marine distribution range, which enable tion of a number of compatible brands Johannessen was previously senior vice ships to send Automatic Position Reports including McMurdo. president at Tomra Systems ASA. (APR) to LRIT data centres, in accordance The UK Maritime and Hatteland Display has been with IMO LRIT regulations. The systems Coastguard Agency has approved the selected by energy management compa- cost approximately £1600. following organisations as Authorised ny Marorka to provide the marine Kelvin Hughes has appointed a Testing Application Service Providers for displays and computers for its onboard new distributor in Germany. Lammers testing shipborne LRIT equipment onboard the relevant UK vessels: Transas Telematics Ltd; Polestar; Thrane & Thrane; Securewest; Fulcrum Maritime Systems; and SELEX Communications Ltd. The UK Ship Register will also have a dedicat- ed LRIT page for further information: McMurdo's range of marine electronics will www.ukshipregister.co.uk. be available through Garmin Iberia in Spain

www.comarsystems.com www.kelvinhughes.com www.milltechmarine.com www.transas.com www.hatteland-display.com www.polestarglobal.com www.marorka.com www.thrane.com www.dicksondata.com www.securewest.com www.caclase.co.uk www.fulcrum-maritime.com Trond K Johannessen (left) is to take over from Knut Vidar Lauritsen at Hatteland www.mcmurdo.co.uk www.selexmarine.com Jeppesen agrees Chile deal OSG to implement Datatrac

www.jeppesen.com these procedural charts. "This agreement is the first step in a true www.datatrac.co.uk work associated with traditional handling The Hydrographic and Oceanographic partnership between the highly respected of engine room logs by collecting digital Service of the Chilean Navy has signed an Chilean HO and Jeppesen Marine," said Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) is to data in a PDA. Data entry is timed and agreement with Jeppesen Marine for the use Michael Bergmann, director maritime indus- implement two systems from Datatrac to PIN secured. of Chilean data in Jeppesen-derived products. try safety-affairs-services, Jeppesen Marine. assist in the capture of onboard vessel data The hand held readers used by the sys- The Chilean Hydrographic Office (SHOA) "The forward looking attitude of the in electronic format, following a 12-month tem operate in association with electronic and Jeppesen Marine have also agreed in executives at SHOA, combined with a testing period. tags fixed within the engine room; touch- principle to work together on the develop- strong Jeppesen Marine team, will bring The Envirotrac system will be used to ing these cues the user to relevant ques- ment of the first product version of Marine new navigation services to life. We believe track the integrity of the vessel waste tions, with answers provided on the built- Pilotage Charts (MPCs) for Chilean waters. that MPCs will be the first of these new stream systems, while the EERL service in screen. The development of the Chilean MPCs services and offers an innovative will allow the electronic generation of The Envirotrac system allows for the will include other stakeholders, such as approach which will improve navigation engine room logs. monitoring, recording and audit of envi- the Chilean Maritime Authority and the safety for mariners, including both the The applications are now being ronmental tags, fitted to waste handling Pilot Association of Chile, who will collec- navigators of the vessels as well as the installed across the OSG fleet. pipe work, associated valves and flanges tively contribute to the development of highly-respected Chilean pilots." The EERL system reduces the paper- to ensure the integrity of the system.

www.mcmurdo.co.uk

McMurdo is renowned as a world leading manufacturer of Be safe. marine safety equipment for both SOLAS and non-SOLAS Fishing vessels, providing a range of distress beacons and Be found. safety equipment for both crew and vessel. EMERGENCY LOCATION BEACONS

FASTFIND PLB RANGE SMARTFIND EPIRB S4 RESCUE SART The new Fastfind Max RANGE The S4 RESCUE SART brings added The E5 406 MHz EPIRB is a 9 GHz X-band dimensions to safety and G5 406 MHz radar transceiver and with 48 hour EPIRB with built-in has been designed operational battery GPS combine the for assisting in air/sea life at temperatures as strength and ship or survival craft low as -20°C. Fastfind durability required rescue operations PLUS and Fastfind for a fully compliant in accordance with allows a minimum of GMDSS approved 406 IMO, GMDSS 24 hours operation in EPIRB with modern requirements. temperatures as low compact styling. as -40°C.

McMurdo, Silver Point, Airport Service Road, Portsmouth, PO3 5PB UK Tel: +44 (0)23 9262 3900 Fax: +44 (0)23 9262 3998 [email protected]

Digital Ship December 2008 page 26 Digital Ship VTMIS upgrade for Bintulu Free sensor network trial from CargoTrax

www.kongsberg.com tion available in the system, together with www.cargotraxsingapore.com.sg The technology can be used to monitor the ability to control system functions, it a number of container variables, with sen- Kongsberg Norcontrol IT is to upgrade the also allows for sharing of VTS related data CargoTrax Singapore is offering free sors available to measure temperature, existing VTMIS (Vessel Traffic with other applications such as a PMIS trials of its MESH Wireless Sensor light, CO2, O2, gas, vibration, door tam- Management and Information Service) at (Port Management Information System). Networks (WSN) technology, for trans- pering, acceleration and radiation, provid- Bintulu Port, Sarawak, East Malaysia, and Bintulu Port first installed a Kongsberg mission of data from both Reefer ing data in real-time. will be responsible for the delivery and Norcontrol IT system over twenty five Containers and Dry Containers, between The data is accumulated on a laptop- commissioning of new VOC5060 comput- years ago with the delivery of a VOC80 now and February 2009. server on the bridge, which can then be er hardware and software, user training, package in 1982-83. This was followed up The free trial will be valid until Friday used to transmit the information packets and maintenance until 2013. by a VOC5000 solution in 1994, with the 27th February and is mainly aimed at the at predetermined intervals via the ship's The upgrade package also includes latest contract awarded to upgrade the cold food supply chain, such as those satellite system to monitoring and control three C-Scope Radar Extractor & Trackers, existing system from another manufactur- exporting meats, fruit, vegetables and centres on land. which aim to improve the port's radar per- er that was installed in 2003. pharmaceuticals. Alternatively, WSN Gateway Nodes formance without upgrading the radar The installation of the new VOC5060 Those interested in taking advantage of may be deployed in container farms and hardware. This is achieved through the solution will take place in November 2008. the offer can download an application ports to directly deliver a continuous use of advanced signal processing tech- "We are particularly pleased to be back form from the CargoTrax Singapore web seamless audit and information on the niques to extrapolate a clearer image from as the main VTMIS supplier at Bintulu, site, at www.cargotraxsingapore.com.sg. container traffic. the raw radar signal. considering the long history we have with VOC5060 is a VTS operator worksta- supplying domain awareness solutions to tion and is used as the primary interface to this, one of the busiest ports in South East Space-based AIS agreements a VTMIS. In addition to providing VTS Asia," said Inge Flaten, president, operators with access to all the informa- Kongsberg Norcontrol IT. www.orbcomm.com by the company's space-based network. The company hopes that these agree- ORBCOMM reports that it has signed ments will lead to a number of direct and eight new test and evaluation agreements indirect contracts that will become the with prospective VARs, distribution part- basis of an initial world-wide distribution ners and potential end-users in connection network for AIS services. with its satellite-based Automatic ORBCOMM says that it has included Identification System (AIS) services. within this group of potential new part- In addition to a recently announced ners organisations such as US govern- agreement with the US Coast Guard, ORB- ment agencies, corporations engaged in COMM says that it has concluded a num- providing services to foreign govern- ber of further agreements to provide test- ments, and those engaged in transporta- ing and evaluation of AIS data provided tion and logistics. Danish ECDIS deals for Transas

www.transas.com now be supplied and used within the The VTMIS at Bintulu Port, in Sarawak, East Malaysia, is to be upgraded by Kongsberg country. Transas has announced that it has reached It has also released a new 3D VTS agreements to install ECDIS systems (Vessel Traffic System), which visually USCG order for Chile in LRIT onboard a number of newbuild and exist- represents a 3-dimensional view of the Hatteland agreement ing vessels for Danish shipowners Torm navigational situation in the VTS area. and Norden. www.hatteland-display.com www.imso.org Eleven Dual ECDIS (elec- tronic chart display informa- Hatteland Display has received an order A new LRIT Services Agreement has been tion system) Navi-Sailor 4000 for 290 Electronic Chart Display and signed between the International Mobile units will be supplied to Torm Information System (ECDIS) displays for Satellite Organisation (IMSO) and the newbuilds, with installations installation on the US Coast Guard buoy Directorate General of the Maritime to take place as construction is tender fleet. Territory and Merchant Marine completed in China between The United States Coast Guard (USCG) (DIRECTEMAR) of Chile. 2009 and 2011. Command and Control Centre in The model LRIT (long range identifica- For Norden, four single Portsmouth, Virginia, procured the displays tion and tracking) Services Agreement sets ECDIS units with 23-inch through a contract awarded to CHI Systems. out the public duties and obligations of monitors will be installed The current Coast Guard platform uses each entity participating in the LRIT sys- onboard the vessels Norden, five video display stations; one in a con- tem, and also contains provisions relating Nord Ocean, Nord Empathy, sole positioned on the forward centre of to payments to IMSO for performing LRIT and Nord Whale. the bridge, two mounted to the overhead audits and reviews. All units will be installed on the port and starboard bridge wings, IMSO director general Captain Esteban by Transas Scandinavia tech- one mounted in a console in the chartroom Pacha-Vicente noted that the organisation nicians during the vessels' dry and one backup system mounted on the is currently in the process of negotiating a dockings between now and bulkhead in the chartroom. number of similar Service Agreements January 2009. Transas has "This is a significant order for us as it with other LRIT data centres and the already supplied ECDIS for reflects our ability to meet the standards International LRIT Data Exchange. five vessels in Norden's fleet, required by an organisation that is com- DIRECTEMAR director general, vice as well as SVDR (simplified pletely committed to security in everything admiral Edmundo González Robles, com- voyage data recorder) systems it does," said Brede Qvigstad, director, naval mented: "Following the successful prelim- for four vessels. and defence division, Hatteland Display. inary visit by IMSO to our data centre in In other news, Transas "Orders from military and government Valparaiso, I am delighted that Chile is reports that its T 214 AIS Base departments are extremely important to now ready to play a full part in the inter- Station has been awarded a us in their own right, but they also demon- national LRIT system, as recognised by type-approval certificate from strate to our civilian customers that we this ground-breaking agreement." the National Agency of have the quality and ability to deliver for Chile is the first country to sign an LRIT Telecommunications of the Shipowners Torm and Norden are to install Transas ECDIS aboard their vessels large and nationally important projects." Services Agreement with IMSO. Republic of Brazil, and can

Digital Ship Ship December 2008 page 27 ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS

First commercial user Touch-screen technology for Kongsberg for Primar ECDIS Online www.kongsberg.com er, simulation, Kongsberg Maritime. applied the technology to a new touch "This will provide them with much screen based Engine Room Simulator con- www.primar.org Kongsberg Maritime has developed a new more flexibility in the training scenarios figuration, the Neptune MultiTouch, system it calls the Multiflex Panel, a flexi- that they present on their full mission sim- which is now in use at the Georgian Primar reports that its new ECDIS Online ble touch-screen that will be used for its ulators, as new scenarios do not require College, Ontario, Canada, and has also service has secured its first commercial Polaris simulation systems and can be hardware to be swapped out." been chosen for installation by the Åland vessel user, following its adoption by the configured with different panel functions. Kongsberg also reports that it has University of Applied Science. high-speed craft Norwegian Vingtor. As a result of the implementation of Providing daily Norwegian fast ferry this technology training institutes using services between Bergen and Stavanger, the system will now be able to offer a HSC Vingtor carries an Adveto ECDIS-4000 wider range of training on their Polaris system linked to a GPRS/3G connection, full mission simulators, without increas- with data speeds of 384 kbps and above. ing costs. The Primar ECDIS Online service will Over 70 different panel functions are allow the ECDIS (electronic chart display available, with the system having been information system) to receive real-time designed as a replacement for equipment ENC updates directly from the Primar hardware by replicating the same panels database and thereby have the very latest in a touch sensitive graphical format. navigational data at all times. During an exercise, students can easily The system is offered free of charge to switch between different functions (e.g. end users via authorised distributors of Doppler log and Echo sounder) on the the Primar ENC (electronic navigational same panel. chart) service, and has been developed The instructors can choose between a and tested over the past year in close coop- wide range of panel functions to be made eration with Swedish ECDIS manufactur- available to the students via the Multiflex er Adveto, the first Primar distributor to Panels from the Instructor-PC, or simply fully implement the system. use pre-configured training scenarios for a The results of the development project specific ship class, which will automatical- showed that ENC updates could be in use ly present the panels required. within minutes of being released by a "Our new Multiflex Panels will provide hydrographic office. our customers with enhanced flexibility and "We believe passionately in working enable them to re-configure their bridge closely with all elements of the maritime instrument set-up to meet their own cus- industry," said Gerry Larsson-Fedde, the tomer training requirements," said Terje The touch screen technology allows users to switch between Norwegian Hydrographer. Heierstad, product and technology manag- different panels on the same display "We're working with other ECDIS manufactures to expand the service." Korea to launch maritime satellite Sonar to aid in Chilean chart production

South Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport Astrium-constructed components have www.reson.com 7125-E high resolution multibeam sonar, a and Maritime Affairs has announced the been shipped to Korea, where the satellite NaviSound 410 Deepwater hydrographic country's intention to launch a new mar- will be assembled by KARI using locally Servico Hidrografico y Oceanografico and broadband echosounder, and a itime communications and weather satel- produced satellite technology. de la Armada de Chile (The Chilean PDS2000 software package. lite during the middle of 2009. The approximately 356 billion Won Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic The SeaBat7125-E provides high- The Chinese government press agency satellite, weighing in at 2.5 tons, will be Service, or SHOA) has taken delivery resolution bathymetry and imagery Xinhua reports that the satellite, sched- launched from South America and moni- of a new Reson sonar system, the second data in real time for 3-D representations uled for launch in June 2009, has been tor maritime developments over a 2,500 such system the organisation has of underwater features and seabed jointly developed by the Korea square km area, centred above Pohang on implemented. conditions. It has an operational depth Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Korean east coast. The complete system will be installed of 400m. French aerospace company EADS The satellite is expected to provide on the vessel Albatross, and will aid the The NaviSound 410 Deepwater hydro- Astrium, with the European partner information on marine life and fisheries, Chilean Navy with the development of graphic and broadband echosounder has responsible for the development of the as well as weather and communications new nautical cartography for Chilean an enhanced hydrographic echosounder maritime monitoring technology to be functions, following commencement of Waters, including electronic charts. that supports single channel operation, used on the spacecraft. operations, until at least 2016. The total system comprises a Sea Bat with a ping rate of 20Hz.

7+(6285&(2)(&',6

(&PDNHV\RXU(&',6WLFN

Î2YHU(OHFWURQLF&KDUW6\VWHPV  ZRUOGZLGHKDYHRXU(&',6.HUQHOLQVLGH

ZZZVHYHQFVFRP

Digital Ship Ship December 2008 page 28 Digital Ship NATO installs Mimic condition monitoring

www.jfmimic.co.uk NATO, conducting maritime research in nature data collection specification, over a collector, was also conducted at that time. support of NATO's operational and trans- 48 hour period during a routine mainte- JF Mimic says that NURC has opted to JF Mimic reports that it has recently com- formation requirements. nance period at her home base of La use the software vibration modules for the pleted the installation of its Mimic The research vessel Alliance was select- Spezia, Italy. vessel, with the option of future upgrades Condition Monitoring software onboard a ed for the installation, which was complet- Training on the Mimic system, along to include electronic logsheets, oil analysis NATO research vessel managed by Anglo- ed, with a full asset list and vibration sig- with the associated hand held vibration data and online monitoring. Eastern Ship Management. The NATO Underwater Research Centre (NURC) is one of three research and technology organisations in 3D simulation from PC Maritime

www.pcmaritime.co.uk

PC Maritime reports that it has launched the Unitest MED3D, a new 3D engine room simulator that can run on a standard PC for training students in modern comput- er-controlled engine room operations. The system simulates a 4- stroke medium speed main engine, three diesel genera- tors and a controllable pitch propeller, together with sim- ulation of a number of other relevant systems. Multi-channel digital sound effects include engine sound correlated with engine speed, a diesel gener- ator starting and running, open indicator valve sound, alarms and machine tele- graph buzzers. The MED3D simulator is an addition to PC Maritime's existing suite of Unitest sim- ulator systems, which include steam engines, slow speed, medium speed and turbo diesel engines. The engine models are 0RUHLV%HWWHU based on generic engine room equipment, rather than being type specific, to pro- vide broader training, and all are supplied with instructor software so they can be used in stand-alone mode, or in supervised mode interacting 7KHQHZ6HD67$5*6HUYLFHSURYLGHVRUELWDQGFORFNFRUUHFWLRQVIRUERWKWKH with an instructor. Anne Edmonds, PC *36DQG*/21$66VDWHOOLWHFRQVWHOODWLRQVWRHQDEOHGXDOIUHTXHQF\RSHUDWLRQ Maritime's marketing direc- ZLWKGHFLPHWUHOHYHODFFXUDF\ZRUOGZLGH tor, commented: "MED3D is the most advanced 3D PC- based engine simulator to be released. Its innovative visu- alisation and zoom tech- niques allow quick and easy )XJUR6HDVWDU$6:RUOG/HDGHUVLQ+LJK3HUIRUPDQFH3RVLWLRQLQJIRU'36\VWHPV access to basic engine room operation, such as opening and closing valves or setting switch positions." "The 3D visuals are inter- )XJUR6HDVWDU$62VOR1RUZD\ active and fully integrated with the mathematical 7HO)D[(PDLOVHDVWDU#IXJURQR:HEZZZIXJURVHDVWDUQR model of the engine and all its associated systems."

Digital Ship December 2008 page 29 ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION Balancing technology and integrity

Improved technology can reduce the number of errors in navigational accuracy - but does it also reduce awareness that the potential for errors still exists? Dr Andy Norris looks at the issue of navigational integrity

he phrase integrity monitoring is fault in any equipment or system, its spin- but it will indicate gross errors and alert Consistency in all three methods gives increasingly used in the navigation off benefit in improving situational aware- the bridge team to the take appropriate great confidence in the integrity of the TTworld. It has been commonly ness is of even higher significance, simply cautionary actions. information concerning that target. applied to processes within advanced elec- because most collisions and groundings Celestial positioning is also a possibili- Differences should ring mental alarm tronic navigational equipment but is now are caused by inadequate situational ty for those wanting to show off their skills bells. being used to describe essential aspects of awareness. but in many areas of the world the poor Correlation in two out of the three the human involvement in navigation. Positional integrity can be enhanced in availability of sights makes this a very methods, providing the prevailing circum- Integrity monitoring within equipment coastal waters by taking visual bearings unreliable method for regular verification stances are consistent with any inaccuracy alerts the user if the navigational accuracy on conspicuous charted objects, transfer- of GPS position. or unavailability of the third, should also has become suspect, and that the system ring the bearings to the chart and checking give the OOW good confidence in the should be used with caution or not at all. that appropriate tie-up has been obtained. GLONASS integrity of the plot. For instance, IMO requires all GPS Greatly improved positional integrity However, all three main methods of units to have Receiver Autonomous monitoring of both ocean and coastal detecting vessels and other floating objects Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) to immedi- route segments is possible using the have common problems. ately detect and inform the user if the GLONASS satellite navigation system. It For instance: visual data is easily positional accuracy has been compro- now has 17 operational satellites, giving impaired in poor conditions; radar data is mised by a signal from a faulty satellite. good accuracy over a considerable propor- considerably affected by sea clutter and Also, Integrated Navigation Systems tion of the globe. rain; not all vessels have AIS fitted and on (INS) conforming to IMO requirements The present coverage is certainly good those that do erroneously transmitted data monitor integrity by evaluating inputs enough to justify fitting it to SOLAS ves- could affect the perceived position of the from several sources and giving timely sels as a position sensor independent of target and create other anomalies. alerts if a problem is detected. GPS. Over half of the present satellites If there is only one indication of a target In the past, when navigation was a have been launched since the beginning of from the three possible sources, great care mainly manual task, mistakes were easy to 2007 and the expectation is that truly glob- is needed in assessing the necessary make and were therefore common, con- al coverage is achievable in relatively required action, as the indication could be stantly reminding the mariner of the need short timescales. erroneous. However, in general, it is likely for validation of all navigational processes. Fitted equipment should be certified to to be valid - almost certainly in many con- Today, because of the increased use of meet IMO standards but these may be dif- ditions, if visual - and appropriate avoid- electronics, navigational errors have sig- ficult to procure at present. Non-approved ing action should be taken. nificantly reduced to a point on many systems may interfere with other bridge Consistently missed radar targets could ships where there is no regular reminder navigational equipment and may not meet indicate a radar equipment fault or that it that things can go wrong. It is essential to manually check the integrity all IMO requirements. is badly set up. If many ships are not The increasing reliability and effective- of data from navigational technology Ideally, there should be an automatic exhibiting AIS data or are wrongly dis- ness of equipment tends to give a false integrity monitoring process continuously played it is likely to indicate a fault with sense of security. However, we are a long Traditional three point fixes can be comparing the GPS and GLONASS posi- own equipment, which should be urgent- way from ship's navigation equipment taken but frequent single bearings can be tions and generating an alert if the posi- ly checked. being able to be considered as intrinsical- even more useful in many circumstances, tion differs by more than a user-set A poor antenna connection is a ly reliable. especially on ECDIS. The latency can be amount. common cause of problems with dis- Because the human is becoming far less very short and therefore even relatively Despite automatic checks, the OOW played AIS targets. If so, it is likely to involved with the detailed process of small errors in the electronically derived should still perform manual integrity mean that own-ship's transmissions will establishing the navigation solution, it position can become apparent from a good checks on the actual difference and, in be compromised. perhaps becomes too easy to accept what visual fix. coastal and harbour waters, continue to Unfortunately, most ships cannot yet is seen on a display. As ECDIS replaces the Transferring radar conspicuous ground check position visually and with radar, display AIS data on radar, making proper use of paper charts, this becomes an even fixed objects to the chart, again very easy particularly to gain the benefits of comparison an unwieldy task. However, a greater problem. to do if using ECDIS, will identify posi- increased situational awareness. number of specific checks during a watch It is therefore essential that the OOW tional inaccuracies. These could be due to By the middle of the next decade GPS that compare specific AIS targets from the continues to maintain a constant check on problems in the positioning system, the and GLONASS will be joined by other MKD with radar data are still worthwhile, the integrity of the displayed navigational radar or the gyro. The most likely error satellite navigation systems, such as at least to check for possible ownship situation. source is easy to determine from a series of Europe's Galileo and China's Compass. equipment errors. measurements if an initial discrepancy is It is also possible that eLoran will be in As technology gradually improves Manual checking found. use in some coastal areas by then. It has there is likely to be a time when the navi- Manual checking of integrity firmly links The echo sounder output should also the advantage that its failure mechanisms gation solution does not need to be the user into the navigation process and be used as a consistency check with chart- are very different to that of satellite sys- checked by the OOW for integrity. exposes problems before a failure leads to ed data. Differences may indicate posi- tems, further increasing the quality of However, until we enter an even more a dangerous situation. tional problems, faulty equipment, an integrity monitoring. distant point in time when technology Integrity checking is not just a matter of inaccurate chart or a failure to compensate could completely take over, the human confirming position. It also needs to cover properly for tidal difference. Detection of other OOW will always need to retain situation- all navigational data, including own ship's For ocean waters, the options for moni- vessels al awareness in order to make appropriate speed, heading and course, the movement toring positional integrity have been quite Comparison of visual, radar and AIS data navigational decisions. Continuing to and current position of other vessels sig- limited. However, a reasonably effective should be made on all vessels that are, or check integrity is an excellent way of help- nificant to navigation, and the proximity method is to compare the current GPS may become, significant to navigation. ing to achieve this. DS of charted features and hazards. position with an estimated position based Establishing integrity is all about check- on the GPS position of an earlier time. ing the perceived navigational situation It is necessary to include leeway, tidal Dr Andy Norris has been well-known in the maritime navigation industry with reality. Fundamentally, therefore, it streams, ocean currents and surface drift for a number of years. He has spent much of his time managing high-tech acts to significantly improve overall but the act of determining these adds navigation companies but now he is working on broader issues within the awareness. greatly to situational awareness. navigational world, providing both technical and business consultancy to Although manual integrity checking is Of course, the accuracy of such an esti- the industry, governmental bodies and maritime organizations. based on establishing whether there is a mated position will not match that of GPS Email: [email protected]

Digital Ship Ship December 2008 page 30 Future events 2009

Digital Ship Digital Ship Digital Ship Cyprus Scandinavia Dubai February 3-4 March 10-11 April 21-22 The Grand (prev. Hawaii Grand), Telenor Expo Centre, Mövenpick Hotel Bur, Cyprus Oslo Dubai

Digital Ship Digital Ship Digital Ship Singapore USA Athens September 21-22* October 7-8 November 10-11* Suntec Convention & Exhibition The Italian Center of Stamford, Aegli Zappiou, Centre, Singapore USA Athens

* Dates to be confirmed For exhibition or advertising enquiries contact Ria Kontogeorgou Direct line: +44 (0)20 7510 4931 Mob +44 7815 481036 Digital Ship Limited, 213 Marsh Wall, London E14 9FJ, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 0015 Fax: +44 (0)20 7510 2344 www.thedigitalship.com On-Waves_DSA3.ai 25/07/07 15:48:39

GOING FOR QUALIFIED CREW?

USE ON-WAVES

On-Waves is the leading maritime service provider that keeps smiling your Crew and your CEO.

GSM, Full SMS, Voice, Data, Pre-Paid cards, Crew Calling, Mobile-TV.

Be mobile everywhere www.on-waves.com / [email protected]