p1-9:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:02 Page 1 January/ …c181984.r84.cf1.rackcdn.com/DShipJanFeb12.pdftion of executive chairman. The rebranding of Stratos and Ship Equip will see sales

II nmarsat has announced that, asof 1 January 2012, its StratosGlobal and Ship Equip compa-

nies have ceased to operate undertheir own brands and will now tradeunder the Inmarsat name.

The restructuring of the company isbeing overseen by incoming InmarsatCEO Rupert Pearce, who took over therole from Andrew Sukawaty at thebeginning of the year.

Mr Pearce was announced as theincoming CEO last summer, and wasalready serving as senior vice presi-dent of Inmarsat Enterprises andInmarsat's group general counsel. MrSukawaty has moved into the posi-tion of executive chairman.

The rebranding of Stratos and ShipEquip will see sales and marketingfor these businesses, and the group asa whole, aligned into four new busi-ness units, one of which will beInmarsat Maritime.

Inmarsat Maritime and the otherthree units, Inmarsat GovernmentUS, Inmarsat Government Globaland Inmarsat Enterprise, will join aCommercial and Sales Support divi-sion to form Inmarsat Solutions,which will become the sales, market-ing and delivery arm of the Inmarsatgroup.

Inmarsat Solutions will be headedby Stratos CEO Jim Parm, as presi-

dent. Frank Coles, previously CEO ofGlobe Wireless before joiningInmarsat’s Global Xpress team earlierthis year, will act as the new presi-dent of Inmarsat Maritime.

Direct salesThis restructuring move, particularlythe decision to bring Stratos ‘in-house’, has raised questions as towhether this is an attempt byInmarsat to move towards a fullydirect sales channel, rather than theindirect sales via channel partnersthat currently makes up the majorityof its MSS business.

However, the company has statedin its communications to these part-ners that it expects to continue usingthe indirect channel, and that its strat-egy is to have a predominantly indi-rect business, operating via inde-pendent channel partners.

“Inmarsat has been delivering mis-sion-critical satellite communicationsservices for customers who operatebeyond the reach of terrestrial net-works for more than three decades,”said Rupert Pearce, CEO, Inmarsat.

“We have led the mobile satelliteservices market as a wholesaleorganisation. This restructure willbuild on that by bringing us closer toour partners and customers, makingus more responsive to their needs

and more efficient in the delivery ofour services.”

“It streamlines our decision-mak-ing process and focuses our activi-ties on the primary markets weserve. It enables us to fully leverageour end-to-end capability – frommanaging the satellite network, todelivering solutions to end usersthrough our highly-motivated chan-nel partners who add global reach

IN THIS ISSUE

January/ February 2012

electronics and navigation

software

satcomsOdfjell to install VSATon 40 vessels – 2

Combined Ku/L-band market continues to expand – 4

Cloud computing for maritime – 6

Interorient commits to CBT – 12Van Oord signs 90-vessel IT infrastructuredeal – 12

Hapag-Lloyd to installBASS – 14

Benchmarking – the magic term?InterManager’s KPI project – 20

Inmarsat shake-up removesStratos and Ship Equip brands

ECDIS – a vast pedagogicalexperiment – 28

Space-basedAIS continues to develop – 33

Navigational distractions – Dr AndyNorris – 34

Incoming Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce has overseen a major restructuring at thecompany, which will include the removal of the Stratos and Ship Equip brands –

with those companies henceforth to operate under the Inmarsat name

continued on page 2

‘We are committed to continueworking with our independent

channel partners’ – Rupert Pearce,Inmarsat

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

Cyprus based and German owned Intership Navigation operates close to 80 ships in a global trade. Intership has implemented Dualog Connection Suite to manage and control the data traffi c to and from all its ships. Th e company has more than two years of experience with the new software.

“It is easy to install, the crew handles their private crew mail on their own, and our IT department has the complete overview via the web”, says the experienced IT Manager Pawel Bury.

And even more important, Pawel adds “Dualog are easy to talk to. Th ey are small enough to listen, but big enough to be responsive.”

“It is easy!”Pawel Bury, IT Manager, Intership Navigation

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p1-9:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:02 Page 1

SATCOMS NEWS

Digital Ship January/February 2012 page 2

Vol 12 No 5

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continued from page 1

and value-added services to our coreservice proposition.”

“Our goal is to grow Inmarsat’s overallbusiness through both direct and indirectchannels. We are committed to continueworking with our high-performing inde-pendent channel partners who can differ-entiate themselves with sector knowledgeand experience.”

“By minimising the overlap betweenthe Inmarsat businesses, we can better tar-get our investment into market develop-ment activities that benefit our entire dis-tribution channel.”

New GX partnerIn related news, Inmarsat has alsoannounced that Intellian Technologies hasbeen chosen as the latest manufacturer formarine stabilised antennas for its forth-

coming Global Xpress (GX) service.Intellian will design and manufacture

a 60cm Ka-band GX antenna and a 1m Ku-band antenna that can be converted to Global Xpress when the service starts in 2013.

Both antennas will incorporate the GXcore module currently under developmentby iDirect.

“Intellian has built a strong position inmaritime satcoms hardware, and hasinvested heavily in their R&D, engineer-ing and global distribution,” said FrankColes, newly appointed president ofInmarsat Maritime.

“Their commitment to produce both aKa-band GX antenna and a Ku-to-GXantenna supports our vision of providing apathway today to the higher performanceof Global Xpress in the near future.”

Printed by The Manson Group Ltd

Reynolds House, 8 Porters' WoodValley Road Industrial Estate

St Albans, Hertz AL3 6PZU.K.

DS

www.marlink.com

Marlink reports that is to supplyWaveCall VSAT systems for installationaboard 40 vessels as part of a new agree-ment with Odfjell Management.

Having worked with Odfjell for severalyears supplying MSS on-demand services,Marlink’s renewed contract represents a

new move to VSAT for the chemicaltanker operator.

"We have been working with Marlinkfor many years and throughout this timethe company has demonstrated exception-al commitment to offering us satellitecommunications solutions that satisfy ourevolving needs," said Knut Fredriksen,vice president of technology management,

Odfjell Management. "Marlink’s WaveCall solution will

ensure the provision of reliable and highquality bandwidth aboard for continuouscommunication between our vessels andoffices ashore, which has become crucial tothe successful operation of our business."

The new contract follows a workshopwith Odfjell Management at Marlink’s EikTeleport, where a customised servicepackage was developed to meet Odfjell’sspecific requirements.

Installations were scheduled on ninevessels in late 2011, with the remaininginstallations to be carried out in 2012.

Each vessel will have access to foursimultaneous voice lines and three LANs for crew and admin purposes,including internet web access and crewcalling functionality.

The vessels will also be equipped withFleetBroadband 500 terminals, suppliedby Marlink.

"There is no one-size-fits-all communi-cations solution, so through maintainingan open dialogue with our customerssuch as Odfjell, we are able to evaluatetheir requirements and package systemsand services together to best match theirneeds," said Tore Morten Olsen, CEO,Marlink.

Odfjell to install VSAT on 40 vessels

Odfjell’s installation schedule aimed to have nine vessels fitted by the end of 2011, and the remainder in 2012

www.boatracs.com

Boatracs has launched two new products,a fleet management software platformcalled Boatracs BTConnect and a tri-modedata communications system fromQualcomm, the Mobile ComputingPlatform 200 Series, or MCP200.

BTConnect is a web-based solutionthat integrates messaging and mappingfunctionality to provide access to fleet-wide data. It includes features such asroute planning, custom landmarks andglobal map layers.

A beta programme for BTConnect wasconcluded in late 2011, prompting thecompany to introduce the system.

"Over a dozen of our customers partici-pated in the beta programme representing

fleet sizes from 1 to 100 vessels," said IrwinRodrigues, president and CEO of Boatracs.

"The feedback was overwhelminglypositive, with specific praise for not onlythe ease of access from mobile devices, but also the ease of managing vessels froma display that combines mapping andmessaging in a very efficient and power-ful manner."

"We are in the process of migrating allof the beta participants to BTConnect now,and have already signed on new cus-tomers to the product."

The MCP200 is a multimode data com-munications system that delivers two-waymessaging and positioning through satel-lite, cellular and Wi-Fi.

Using either a slide-out keyboard or acolour touch screen, the MCP200 has mul-

tiple data ports to connect peripheralssuch as a compact scanner to send docu-ments to shore.

Boatracs says that the new systemoffers higher output at faster speeds forthe same price as previous versions ofQualcomm’s narrowband satellite datacommunications systems.

"Boatracs is excited to offer these prod-ucts to the maritime industry, expandingour portfolio of turnkey solutions thatintegrate hardware, software and airtimefor customers," said Mr Rodrigues.

"With additional services scheduled forrelease in early 2012 such as AIS integra-tion and global broadband satellite cover-age, Boatracs is poised to deliver a flexiblesuite of maritime communications solu-tions to fit any customer’s needs."

Software and communications releases from Boatracs

‘Intellian has built a strong positionin maritime satcoms hardware’

– Frank Coles, Inmarsat

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SATCOMS NEWS


for the IT manager, an online monitoringand reporting portal.

"SpeedCast was the first company tointroduce a global Ku-band maritime serv-ice, which allowed seamless auto beamswitching between many different satellitesand across many maritime VSATs from dif-ferent manufacturers, delivering unparal-leled coverage and performance for ourglobal maritime customers," said NickDukakis, VP of maritime and offshore,SpeedCast.

"In addition SpeedCast was one of thefirst companies in maritime back in 2007 torealise that the main primary link for mostvessels would be Ku-band VSAT with asecondary back-up system dependent onan L-band service. Now many of our com-petitors have adopted a similar model."

"SeaCast SIGMA represents the evolu-tion of our maritime services and experi-ence in the marketplace over the last four years, and we will continue to rollout more innovative products and servic-es in future."

The new service is available viaSpeedCast’s global network of certifiedpartners.

www.redportglobal.com

Global Marine Networks (GMN) haslaunched RedPort Global, a satellite net-work management system for maritimeand offshore satellite broadband users anddistributors.

The company says that RedPort Globalincludes services that can save up to 80 percent of satellite airtime using data com-pression, caching and control, as well asprepaid VoIP, e-mail and internet, leastcost routing, firewall filtering and remotecontrol.

"GMN has long been a leader in satel-lite data services," said Dr Luis Soltero,

Harren & Partner to implementCourier Compressor

SOAP access to INFINITY

www.speedcast.com

SpeedCast has become the latest companyto introduce a maritime package integrat-ing Ku-band VSAT and L-band servicesfor a fixed monthly fee, with the launch ofSeaCast SIGMA.

SpeedCast says that SeaCast SIGMA willcombine unlimited broadband VSAT con-nectivity with a back-up FleetBroadband tobe used in case the primary is unavailable,or to troubleshoot and restore the primaryconnection in the event of an issue.

Three different packages are available,starting from an entry price of $2,800 permonth, ranging from an unlimited 256kbps connection up to an unlimited 1Mbps service.

These packages include all requiredVSAT and L-band equipment (both aboveand below deck), as well as back-upFleetBroadband airtime, for the fixedmonthly price. All packages are for a fixedperiod of 60 months.

Value added services will be included,delivered from the 'cloud' and providinglink acceleration, WAN optimisation, ves-sel tracking, web filtering, voice calls and,

Combined Ku/L-band market continues to expand

www.seasecure.net

Harren & Partner Ship Management inGermany is to install the CourierCompressor system from SeaSecure aspart of its roll-out of FleetBroadband serv-ices across its fleet.

SeaSecure says that its system will beused to reduce satellite traffic and air-time costs through the use of compres-sion technology.

The Courier Compressor is a standalone software that can compress files that

are already in a ‘compressed’ format, suchas PDF documents and JPG images. Thefiles can be sent as e-mails directly fromthe application.

The company says that the software pre-serves text legibility while maintaining visu-al and colour quality. File formats like JPGcan be compressed further by up to 95 percent, and PDF documents up to 80 per cent.

Harren & Partner will also install thesoftware at its offices, to minimise trafficcosts associated with sending e-mails fromshore to the vessels.

www.thuraya.com

Thuraya has announced that its 384 kbpsThuraya IP satellite broadband system hasbeen upgraded to include a new RelayMode functionality.

The Relay Mode will allow users ofThuraya IP to run a range of applicationswhich require a public IP address on the ter-minal equipment attached to the IP device.

“We have set the bar with our ThurayaIP solution as the world’s smallest satellitebroadband solution to support 384 kbps

www.navarino.gr

Navarino reports that it has added a‘SOAP & XML’ feature to its INFINITYsatcom management system, which willnow be available to all users.

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)allows any internet-enabled system oper-ated by the user company to exchangestructured information with the vessel viathe INFINITY system.

Due to the nature of this protocol and itslanguage, SOAP is totally independent andis compatible with any programming model.

Thuraya IP adds Relay Mode

Satcom management from GMN

Harren & Partner is rolling out FleetBroadband across its fleet, and will use the SeaSecure system to help manage the link

Navarino says that this could be partic-ularly useful in the management of crewwelfare-related transactions from shore, bylinking crew management systems withcrew internet accounts.

Each time a new crewmember joins avessel, a new crew internet and callingaccount is created with specific quotas,depending on their rank. Any consump-tion of satcom units, such as with crewinternet PINs being reloaded, would thenbe automatically charged to the company’spayroll system without the need for anyhuman intervention.

www.astrium.eads.net

EADS Astrium has completed its acquisi-tion of Vizada, after receiving the neces-sary regulatory approvals.

Vizada will be integrated into AstriumServices following the announcement, aspart of the €673 million deal between thecompanies.

“We are happy to welcome Vizada intothe EADS Group, which concludes a suc-cessful year for us in terms of acquisi-tions,” said Marwan Lahoud, head ofEADS corporate strategy and marketingorganisation.

“In 2011, we have significantlystrengthened our services portfolio, whichis a key focus of our acquisition strategy.”

Vizada comprises Vizada Americas,Vizada Networks, Vizada EMEA &AsiaPacific and Marlink, with more than700 employees serving 200,000 end-cus-tomers in maritime and other sectors bothdirectly and through a network of 400service provider partners.

The addition of Vizada will grow theAstrium Services workforce to includeover 3,200 employees, under four businesslines: Telecom Commercial, TelecomGovernmental, Secure Satcom Systems,and GEO-Information Services.

Astrium completes Vizada acquisition

‘We have significantly strengthened ourservices portfolio’ – Marwan Lahoud, EADS

president and CTO of GMN. "Now, with the launch of RedPort

Global, we are offering satellite broadbandusers important new data services whilebuilding on the foundation of our popularwebXaccelerator satellite routers andXGate satellite data products."

Concurrent with this new launch GMN is also launching two newwebXaccelerator (wXa) satellite routers,which can work in tandem with RedPortGlobal services.

The original webXaccelerator satelliterouter was launched in October 2010, andGMN says it has received orders for over700 units so far.

streaming,” said Thuraya’s director ofproduct management, Rashid Baba.

“With the new Relay Mode, Thuraya IPwill continue to provide a superior high-speed data experience and flexibility forour consumer base which relies onThuraya IP for critical communications.”

“Following this upgrade to Thuraya IP,any terminal equipment used with it cannow obtain a dynamic or static global pub-lic IP address, allowing for higher opera-tional efficiency and compatibility with allindustry-specific applications.”

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SATCOMS

Everybody’s talking about it, but not everybody is doing it – ‘cloud computing’ is a major point of discussion formodern IT managers, but is yet to take off in the maritime industry. Alexandros Charvalias, Deloitte,

explains some of the potential benefits and challenges of using cloud services

Cloud computing for maritime

‘‘CCloud computing’ is undoubtedlyone of the current ‘hot topics’ inmodern IT, and the concept is

certainly an attractive one – the ability to accessyour data and applications anywhere, on anydevice, at low costs and with expert support.

This next wave of computing, untether-ing the traditional chains between the userand the machine on their desk, aims tomake working with information a moremobile and flexible experience.

Technology giants like Apple andMicrosoft have thrown their weightbehind this vision of the future, applyingtheir resources to systems like iCloud andOffice 365 respectively, and countlessother IT providers are doing their best tolatch on to this wave with a variety of dif-ferent cloud services.

Despite this growing trend, in the mar-itime industry cloud services have beenslow to gain traction.

The reasons behind this are various – thespecialised nature of maritime software sys-tems, the integration of expensive satellitecommunications links into companies’ infra-structure, and the sometimes conservativenature of vessel operators to name but a few.

However, given the continued move-ment in this direction in mainstream tech-nology, shipping companies will need topay attention and examine the cloud serv-ices on offer as the options expand.

Knowing some of the most importantbenefits and challenges associated withthe technology will be critical, particularlythe one key aspect of cloud computingthat is currently foremost in the mind ofbusiness users – security.

As Alexandros Charvalias, assistantmanager, assurance and enterprise riskservices, Deloitte, explains, there are alarge number of potential pitfalls waitingin the cloud for the unsuspecting user.

“As this is a trendy topic, there are a lot ofsurveys going around concerning the matu-rity of the market and the potential issues

with cloud computing. Most of the surveyshave similar results – security is the primaryconcern. This is followed by issues of datacontrol and performance issues,” he said.

“Cloud computing simply means thatdata that you would normally have withinthe enterprise boundaries hosted behind afirewall are now outside that firewall.”

“From a security perspective you have atleast two connections involved – one from theenterprise to the cloud service provider andanother from the cloud service provider to thedata storage location. So in a sense you aredoubling the risk of having the data in transit.”

As Mr Charvalias points out, encryp-tion can be a solution in securing movingdata, though this can be more problematicif you are part of a system that includes anapplication as a service.

In that case you may need to process yourdata on the service provider’s side – and thismay not be possible with encrypted data.

Of course, the issue of data transit presumes that a connection is available to transport the data – and the availabilityof that connection to the service is not guaranteed.

“Unlike pulling out your laptop or desk-top and having access to your data, whenyour data is in the cloud you need the inter-net to access it,” said Mr Charvalias.

“This means that if you have internet con-nectivity issues you won’t have availability.So how can your cloud service providermake sure that you have high availability, oryour own internet service provider?”

“There is also the possibility that thedemand for the cloud services could actuallyrise so fast that the provider’s architecture can-not support it. That could lead to availabilityissues or, even worse, data integrity issues ifupdates are not being completed properly.”

Data in the cloudPresuming that you’ve managed to makea secure connection to the cloud, and initi-ated your required flow of information,

you will then have to deal with the furtherrisks and threats that are an inherent partof operating in the virtual world.

One of the most immediate of these isthe possibility of a cyber attack on the ITarchitecture that you are employing.

“The shipping industry is not traditional-ly a target, but the cloud is a multi-tenantenvironment, so you have multiple compa-nies that are utilising the same infrastructure.If another tenant is a target then you can gettargeted with them since you are within thesame infrastructure,” said Mr Charvalias.

“More than that, the service providersthemselves are actually very good targets.There is one example I know of a compa-ny that was a cloud services provider thatwas being hit with denial of serviceattacks, and the cyber criminals requestedmoney to stop the attacks.”

“For the user, that would mean thatuntil the service provider pays the moneyor finds another solution you will not havehigh availability of the service.”

Then there is the further issue of databack-up, which is taken out of your ownhands in the cloud, and also the jurisdic-tional data privacy issues that working ina virtual world can create.

“It’s more or less the same as any outsourcing, you need to make sure thatthe data that you have sent to the cloud arebeing backed up, at all the server farms andall of the provider’s locations across theglobe, in the same manner that you woulddo it internally,” said Mr Charvalias.

“And you want it done in a manner accord-ing to the laws and regulations that apply toyou. Governance and compliance are impor-tant. There are a number of different types oflegislation that are relevant to shipping, buthow can you be sure that the cloud servicesprovider is actually fulfilling those require-ments, and how can you monitor them?”

“Given the fact that this technology isgeographically boundless, your data can bestored in various locations around the globe.How can you be sure that the provider hasenough controls in place to comply with datatransfer rules in different regions, like theData Protection Act or other requirements?”

Data ownershipOne thing that can be of concern to companies in moving data and servicesout of the office and into the cloud is thepotential problems of ownership – onceyour data is in the possession of an outsideentity it will obviously be much harder toretain control of how that data is managed.

Mr Charvalias points to data disposalas one potential issue that could be diffi-cult to manage to your satisfaction.

“How can you be sure that the data youdeleted have actually been deleted, and thatsomeone in the cloud hasn’t copied it orarchived it or something like that? If you don’thave access to the processes and tools that thecloud service provider is using to perform

that disposal it’s hard to be sure,” he noted.“If you subscribe to a service provider

and start performing data entry and pro-cessing at that provider – who owns thedata? You would normally say ‘I do’, butthat is not always the case.”

“There have been cases of serviceproviders selling data to third parties tosubsidise costs. Perhaps not in full form,maybe as statistics or anonymised data orjust a portion of it, but this is an issue thatneeds to be considered in any contract youmake with the providers.”

Similar issues also apply to removingyourself from the cloud service once youbecome a user, and extracting all of yourinformation from the virtual domain.

“Let’s say you have transferred someservices to the cloud, and you are happy fora while, but after some time you decide it’snot working for you,” said Mr Charvalias.

“Are you happy to pay to get your databack, either in-house or to another cloudprovider? How open is the architecture ofthe provider in supporting extraction ofyour data, and how willing are they tohelp you at the point where your relation-ship is already broken?”

“There was a case where there was a UScompany and it cost them tens of thou-sands of dollars to build custom softwareto extract the data in a usable form, simplybecause the provider didn’t have a veryopen architecture in the applications andwasn’t very cooperative.”

Even if the cloud services provider canbe trusted not to intentionally use yourdata in ways that you had not intended,the danger still remains that an uninten-tional or accidental leak could occur.

“This is a multi-tenant environment, so thatmight also mean that another tenant might getunauthorised access to your data, eitherthrough erroneous configuration or becauseother tenants attack you,” said Mr Charvalias.

“As an example, a company that was offer-ing e-mail services and address book serviceswas a victim of erroneous configuration oftheir cloud service, and this opened up theaddress book of the whole client list to all ofthe clients. It took them two hours to sort it out– and two hours is enough to be a disaster.”

“A security incident with one tenant canspill over to other tenants, and that raisesquestions about who is liable. Is it the serv-ice provider, is it the other tenant? You don’thave any contractual agreement with theother tenant so it will be difficult to sort out.”

“If an authority in another country decidesto seize a server because of another customerin the cloud, your data might also be on thesame physical server and that would meanthat your data was seized as well. That couldlead to data loss or disclosure to other parties.”

Joining the cloud –recommendations

These tales of cyber attacks and data theftmay seem like enough to completely put a

Connecting to ‘cloud’ services can create a new level of flexibility in how you can access and work with your data

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SATCOMS


www.iridium.com

Iridium has added an emergency responsefunctionality to its Iridium Extreme satel-lite phone, through a partnership withGEOS.

The GEOS service has been integratedinto the SOS button on the IridiumExtreme. Pressing the SOS button auto-matically dials the GEOS emergencyresponse centre, providing a connection toa live support representative.

GEOS can then notify ResponseSearch and Rescue (SAR) authoritiesthrough its International EmergencyResponse Coordination Center (IERCC)in Houston, Texas.

The IERCC has translation capabilitiesfor up to 200 languages, and has coordi-nated thousands of responses in morethan 100 countries since 2007.

Standard usage charges apply for theemergency phone call, or for SMS or loca-tion messages sent.

"The GEOS service is one of the manynew innovations we are delivering to part-ners," said Joel Thompson, vice president,product management, Iridium.

"Iridium worked with a select group ofportal providers who developed locationtracking and messaging services for thelaunch of the Iridium Extreme. With thelaunch of the GEOS Emergency Responseservice, Iridium Extreme customers nowhave several options to manage their

communications during an emergencysituation."

"Since the SOS button is programmable,customers have the ability to use theGEOS service if their organisation doesnot offer such a service. We wanted toensure that anyone using the most ruggedsatellite phone on the planet had an optionto reach a highly trained professional in anemergency situation."

Iridium Extreme customers must regis-ter at www.geosalliance.com/iridium toinitiate the emergency response service.

Emergency response capabilities on Iridium satphone

shipping company IT manager off the ideaof moving to a cloud based infrastructure,but Mr Charvalias insists that, while theseissues exist, there are still benefits to begained from using this kind of technology.

“There are a lot of challenges, they arenot unsurpassable but they are chal-lenges,” he said.

“Does that mean that it is not a goodidea? No, but we need to identify and takeinto account the associated risks, under-stand those risks, and mitigate them to atolerable level.”

The first recommendation MrCharvalias makes is to carry out a thoroughrisk assessment before you start looking atthe cloud services available to you.

“The level of detail of that assessment isrelevant to the importance of the data thatyou are thinking about transferring to thecloud,” he said

“This means that, firstly, you need tohave a process in place to identify theimportance of your data throughout its life-cycle – from creation to processing, storage,back-up and, eventually, disposal.”

After deciding on the issues that aremost important to you with regard to yourdata security, it is important to then dis-cuss these specific aspects of the servicewith your potential providers.

“You need to have some type of securityquestionnaire, which you should share withthe potential providers,” said Mr Charvalias.

“Many providers already have suchquestionnaires at their sites, and youshould take that into account when look-ing for a provider. There are even generic

templates for questionnaires like thatavailable from security organisations,which you can use as a basis for this.”

Lastly, make sure that you examine,and then modify the contract terms andconditions that are offered to suit yourown particular circumstances.

“I know this might come as a shock, butthose terms are there to protect the provider,not you! You need to change them, or makesure, at least, that your risks are covered inthe contract,” said Mr Charvalias.

“This means looking at detailed servicelevel agreements, and how these agree-ments will be monitored. Look at the con-fidentiality clauses, in case you want to getinto the system and be able to see what ishappening yourself.”

“Have a detailed definition of responsi-bilities – who has ownership of the data,what are the rights and obligations of eachparty, and who is liable in the event of asecurity incident.”

While these steps may not eliminate all ofthe threats that are out there, following advicelike this can at least help to minimise thepotential for problems with cloud services.For Mr Charvalias, that can mean that thecompany can begin to fully explore the poten-tial of this technology to improve its business.

“Doing these things can help you tomanage the process and get the benefits ofbeing in the cloud, without exposing your-self to extreme risk,” he said.

It’s arrived!

Ask your local chart agent or see www.seamanshiplibrary.com

WITHERBY

Witherby Seamanship International

4 Dunlop Square, Livingston, Edinburgh, EH54 8SB, Scotland, UK.

Tel No: +44(0)1506 463 227 Fax No: +44(0)1506 468 999 Email: [email protected] Web: www.seamanshiplibrary.com

This article has been adapted from apresentation given at the Digital ShipAthens 2011 conference

DS

Pressing the SOS button can providea direct connection to a GEOS

emergency response centre

Alenia Space for this launch success."Globalstar signed a contract with satel-

lite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space inlate 2006 for the design, manufacture anddelivery of its second-generation constella-tion satellites. A total of four launches of sixsatellites each are being conducted bylaunch services provider Arianespace.

The first launch was conducted inOctober 2010 and the second launch wascompleted in July of 2011.

The new satellites are designed to lastfor 15 years, twice the lifespan ofGlobalstar's first generation satellites.

Globalstar satellite launch successwww.globalstar.com

Globalstar has successfully launched sixnew second-generation satellites, from theBaikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The spacecraft were finally launched onDecember 28, 2011, using the Soyuz-Fregat version of the Soyuz launch vehi-cle, after a number of delays had pushedback previous scheduled dates. Launchservices provider Arianespace confirmedthat the upper stage accurately injectedthe six second-generation satellites intothe targeted low earth orbit of approxi-mately 920 km.

Globalstar reports that all six satelliteswere successfully acquired following sep-aration of the Fregat Upper Stage andrelease from the satellite dispenser, andthat it has initiated satellite in-orbit testingwith all six spacecraft operating normally.

"It is with great pleasure that weannounce the successful third launch andcontinued deployment of our second-gen-eration constellation," said Tony Navarra,president of global operations forGlobalstar.

"We are now only one launch awayfrom completing our four second-genera-tion satellite launches and we look for-ward to the future services our new con-stellation will support. With these six newsatellites now safely in orbit, we onceagain congratulate and applaud all of ourGlobalstar employees world-wide andthank launch provider Arianespace aswell as our satellite contractor Thales

The third launch of Globalstar’s network ofsecond generation satellites was

successfully completed at the end of2011. Photo: Roscosmos

p1-9:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:03 Page 8

Find out how KVH TracPhone V7 can change your business at:

www.kvh.com/digitalship

Dramatically cut your airtime costsand improve your ship’s operations with the world’s largest maritime VSAT network, KVH’s mini-VSAT BroadbandS – the most affordable service for broadband Internet, e-mail, and telephone!

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©2010-2012 KVH Industries, Inc. KVH, TracPhone, and the unique light-colored dome with dark contrasting baseplate are trademarks of KVH Industries, Inc. “What Broadband at sea was meant to be” and “mini-VSAT Broadband” are service marks of KVH Industries, Inc. ArcLight is a registered trademark of ViaSat, Inc.; all other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Patents Pending.

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p1-9:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:04 Page 9

www.marinesoftware.co.uk

Steamships Shipping in Papua NewGuinea is to install the MPM - MarinePlanned Maintenance and MSK - MarineStorekeeper software from UK companyMarine Software for the control and man-agement of 13 vessels.

Steamships Shipping currently oper-ates a range of multi-purpose cargo ves-sels ranging from 400 to 6000 dwt, includ-ing tugs, landing craft and an environ-mental research vessel.

The software will be primarily installed

on three of its larger vessels, namely HiriChief, Obo Chief and Kiunga Chief, withthe remaining vessels being operatedashore in 'Master' mode within the centralfleet office software.

This type of configuration offered thecompany a greater degree of operationalflexibility, as there was no requirement toinstall physical software onboard thesmaller vessels.

All software was installed during a recent Marine Software training visit to Steamships' Port Moresby techni-cal office.

www.portvision.com

PortVision has introduced its SmartOpsFleet Management System, which buildson the company’s AIS-based vessel-track-ing system to offer an enterprise resourcemanagement application.

One feature of the new system is thePortVision Activity Logger (PAL), whichis installed in the wheelhouse of each ship.

Customers can use the SmartOpstouch-screen display or implement thePAL on an existing PC to record eventsand delays while capturing all necessaryinformation required for invoicing andreporting.

All PAL data is shared with the fleetoperator’s traffic department to ensure thatusers are provided with accurate informa-tion. The PAL also supports two-way textmessaging to-and-from each vessel.

An invoicing module is included,which supports rules dictating howfreight time, demurrage and pass-throughservices are billed to the customer. Userscan incorporate industry-standard demur-rage, maintenance and delay criteria intoeach invoice, along with Waterway taxesand other pass-through expenses.

Additionally, users can modify invoic-es to meet customer-specific requirements,as needed.

All communications between thewheelhouse and shore-side teams are han-dled using the PortVision TriMode sys-tem, which combines AIS, cellular andsatellite communications with least costrouting.

“SmartOps enables fleet owners andoperators to increase revenue, reducecosts and create tighter and more efficientcustomer relationships,” said DeanRosenberg, PortVision chief executiveofficer.

“It is the only system tailored to thespecific business processes of liquid cargomarine transportation, and incorporatesvaluable best practices for improving pro-ductivity and efficiency while eliminatingpaper, reducing errors and minimisinglabour.”

“Perhaps most importantly, SmartOpsenables unit tow fleet operators to collabo-rate with their customers not only on traf-fic updates and other real-time logistics,but also on complex invoicing and regula-tory reporting so they can speedapprovals while minimising discrepanciesand distractions associated with billingand compliance requirements.”

The system is available now includingfleet operations management, with per-sonnel and work management modules tofollow later in 2012.


Steamships Shipping to install Marine Software

Steamships will implement the software system for its 13 vessels

PortVision introduces software package

SOFTWARE NEWS

p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 1

Digital Ship


www.spectec.net

SpecTec has introduced a database repli-cation system for use with its AMOS soft-ware package.

The company’s new AMOS Replicator(AROR) is the result of four years of devel-opment and testing, and SpecTec claimsthat it can “replicate any data, from anysystem to any system.”

While data transfer capabilities werealready included in previous versions ofAMOS, SpecTec says that the AROR toolallows the process to be managed muchmore easily, and for the process to be cus-tomised by the user.

The application allows users to installand configure the software, import andexport data, monitor the import andexport processes, and survey the datareplication history. AROR can also be used to resolve problems arising

from importingdata with missingreferences.

It has beendeveloped usingM i c r o s o f t . N E TFramework 3.5 andSpecTec says it issuitable for manyDBMS vendors’systems (such asMS SQL, Oracleand Sybase).

Funct iona l i tyfor data capture,data packaging,file splitting, fileposting, and send-ing has been included, with SpecTec noting that the ability to split or join is an uncommon function for this type ofsoftware.

www.maritimefacts.com

Chalmers University in Sweden hasbegun work on a project which aims toexamine the problem of false seafarer cer-tificates, and how the production of adigital seafarer ID card might help toimprove the situation.

This research will form part of the EU-backed Mona Lisa project, and aims to con-duct a feasibility and exploratory study of asystem for control of onboard certificates.

The aim of the study is to construct asystem which will be able to remotely con-trol crew certificates to simplify documenthandling and increase maritime safety.

As part of this project ChalmersUniversity is appealing to industry stake-holders to participate in the study andshare their views, knowledge and experi-ences of seafarer certification.

With this in mind, a website has beenset up, at www.maritimefacts.com, wherevisitors can leave their input in a numberof different ways, whether by leaving acomment or participating in a web survey.

The project partners note that allresponses will be kept confidential, andthat names or e-mail addresses will not beforwarded to anyone else.

Project to examinefalse seafarer certification

SpecTec launches AMOS Replicator

AROR can split the file to be sent intopredefined maximum sizes (defined by theuser) and then reassemble it back to itsoriginal size at its destination.

www.shipserv.com

ShipServ reports that Crystal Cruises hassigned up to its TradeNet e-procurementplatform.

Crystal Cruises, owned by Japan’s NYKLine, operates out of Los Angeles,California. The agreement covers two ships,

Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity,which are both using SpecTec’s AMOSmaintenance and purchasing system.

"As we look to increase the efficienciesof our worldwide operation, we expect thenew system to streamline our purchasingprocesses," said Bob Koven, vice presidentof procurement, Crystal Cruises.

"We would like to thank ShipServ formaking the implementation process sosmooth and seamless."

ShipServ says that its TradeNet com-munity includes approximately 170shipowners, managers, shipyards anddrilling contractors, trading with 37,000suppliers servicing over 6,000 ships.

Crystal Cruises to implement e-procurement

SpecTec claims that the replicator can replicate any data, from any system to any system

Unlock the Potential of Internet On Boardwith Dualog® Connection Suite™.

Contact the Maritime Communications Experts today about what really concerns you.

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www.run

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p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 2

www.palantir.no

Norwegian maritime technology company Palantir is to supply itsKeepUp@Sea system to Van Oord's fleetof approximately 90 vessels after theagreement of a new contract, the compa-nies report.

The deal includes design, implementa-tion and support services for Van Oord inthe development of its new Vessel ITInfrastructure project.

The IT infrastructure being created forVan Oord will be built on Palantir'sKeepUp@Sea solution, and will be deliv-ered as a managed service from thePalantir company headquarters in Stord,Norway.

The agreement will initially cover athree year period. Additional deliveriescovered by the deal include hardware,logistics, roll-out and migration servicesonboard the vessels.

The global roll-out to the Van Oord fleetwas scheduled to begin at the start of 2012.

"This major deal is a statement of qual-ity - both for our KeepUp@Sea solution

QinetiQ GRC has appointedSummit Systems AS, a provider ofcomputer aided design (CAD) and prod-uct lifecycle management (PLM) solutionsto the Norwegian market, as the distribu-tor of its Paramarine marine design soft-ware in Norway.

The IBM Maximo Asset Managementsystem offered by SRO Solutions hasbeen type approved by DNV (DetNorske Veritas) and is now approvedfor use onboard DNV classed vessels withthe Survey Arrangement Machinery PMS.

DA-Desk has announced theappointment of three new executive direc-tors - Marcus Demgenski as managingdirector, Domenico Maria Carlucci asdirector financial services, and HansChristian Mordhorst as commercial direc-tor. The new members of the senior man-agement team join Ken Anderson, whohas been operations director for the pastseven years.

SOFTWARE NEWS


www.seagull.no

Seagull has agreed a deal with Cyprus-headquartered Interorient to act as thesole provider of onboard training systemsto the Interorient fleet.

Interorient employs over 300 shore-based employees and more than 1,200 sea-farers on around 60 fully managed ships,including a number of predominantly iceclass product tankers, containerships, roll-on roll-off vessels and bulk carriers.

The company has used Seagull trainingmodules since 2005, starting withSeagull’s Crew Evaluation System (CES), acomputer-based assessment tool which isused to evaluate the knowledge of seafar-ers as part of the company’s recruitmentand promotion process, and to identifyfuture training requirements.

“The CES is a tool we continue to useextensively to verify the competence ofnew joiners to the company, as well as toenhance the professional knowledge ofour existing crew members,” said ShaneRozario, Interorient’s corporate trainingcoordinator.

Each vessel operated and managed byInterorient, through either of its two mainoffices in Cyprus and Hamburg and itsmanaging office in Miami, is equippedwith a Seagull training computer loadedwith Seagull Training Systems (STS).

The STS incorporates Interorient’sCareer Development System (CDS), andcompany-specific training programmes,as well as a range of generic CBTs andtraining videos. Interorient and Seagullhave already been working together foralmost four years to create a CDS specifi-cally for Interorient’s seafarers.

“In view of our recent fleet growth, andour desire to raise the skills of our officersto a higher level, we realised the need toenhance crew training and provide seafar-

ers with a systematic career developmentstrategy. The result is the CDS,” said Mr Rozario.

“We determined that this should be astructured system of onboard trainingcourses, including Seagull’s standardCBTs as well as various bespoke trainingmodules developed to meet our specificneeds. Most importantly it also had toinclude hands-on training based on our in-house safety management requirements.”

The CDS has gradually been rolled outacross the fleet, and by early 2011 all ves-sels operated by Interorient wereequipped with and running the SeagullCDS. Interorient also intends to obtainclass approval for the CDS in the near

"The core focus on standardisation andautomation of IT&C services proves to bean advantage towards achieving new,international customers."

Interorient commits to Seagull CBT

and the skills of the people involved in supporting and developing theKeepUp@Sea solution," said ArvidDregelid, CEO of Palantir AS.

Van Oord signs 90-vessel IT infrastructure deal

www2.qinetiq.com/home_grc/products/paramarine.htmlwww.srosolutions.netwww.da-desk.com

future.“The CDS is designed to evidence the

onboard, company training requirementsfor a seafarer’s current rank, and also thenext higher rank, for all vessel types,” saidMr Rozario.

“It is used as a promotional tool to pro-vide a career path for all our seafarers, aswell as a knowledge base for competenceand skill development.”

“Together with Seagull we aim todevelop the CDS system as a central pointfor maintaining all onboard training activ-ities, including drills and training relatedto the types of cargoes being carried.”

In addition to shipboard training,Interorient has equipped its branch officesin Riga, St Petersburg, Manila and Cebuwith both CES and CMT training facilities,helping to enable crew to carry on withtheir training while they are ashore.

The company uses more than 40Seagull CBT titles and training videos forits onboard and ashore training regime,covering subjects including safety, naviga-tion, cargo handling and engineering, aswell as the development of ‘soft skills’such as communication and leadership.

During 2011 Interorient switched toSeagull’s online platform, allowing its sea-farers to use CBT training, conduct CEStests and view their training records viathe internet.

According to Mr Rozario, the newonline systems have proved to be moreflexible and are not limited by hardwarespecifications.

“The message we were getting fromour seafarers was that they would like tohave the option of carrying out CBT whilethey are on shore leave, as sometimes itcan get quite hectic onboard ship, makingit more difficult to complete courses,”he said.

“With the Seagull online platform we

have given them that option and we havehad a very positive response so far.”

The online approach has been rolledout across the Interorient fleet over thepast 12 months or so and all the compa-ny’s crew have the chance to carry outtraining using the internet from whereverthey are.

“We now get better, more updateddata,” said Mr Rozario. “We can log onany time and see a real time trainingrecord for our crews.”

In other news, Seagull also reportsthat it has donated a package of its com-puter based training software to MercyShips, the operator of the world’s largestnon-governmental hospital ship, theAfrica Mercy.

Mercy Ships provides free health care,community development, health educa-tion and agriculture projects, mentalhealth programmes and palliative care.

“The donation from Seagull increasesthe skills of our crew, and the onboardtraining programmes will allow us todirect even more of our resources to thepeople of Africa,” said Arvid Solheim,national director - Mercy Ships Norway.

“Prior to this donation it was necessaryfor Mercy Ships to fly crew away from theship for training courses. The fact that thetraining is now available onboard our shipmeans the benefits of Seagull’s donationare two-fold.”

The Africa Mercy has the capability toperform approximately 7,000 surgicaltasks each year and is currently in the finalmonth of a 10-month field service deploy-ment in Sierra Leone, a country the chari-ty has visited seven times over the last19 years.

Once this is completed the vessel willsail to Ghana for a scheduled dry-dockingbefore undertaking six months’ field serv-ice in Togo.

Van Oord was scheduled to begin the roll-out to its fleet in early 2012

‘Our seafarers would like the option ofcarrying out CBT while on shore leave’ –

Shane Rozario, Interorient

p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 3

p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 4


SOFTWARE NEWS

www.castrol.com

A new online version of Castrol Marine'sDirectory of Marine Services is set to golive in December, offering access to dataon ports and product availability.

The paper brochure version of DMSwas developed to allow customers tocheck product availability at each portserved and details of that product (includ-ing lead time, bulk, minimum order

required, etc). In launching a web-based version,

Castrol Marine says it has been able to addsignificant content and capability to theinformation guide.

“As well as being updateable at anytime, the online version of DMS willinclude greater published availability ofproducts, because supply will be linked tostock points instead of port class,” saysJonathan Hutchinson, marine marketing

manager, Castrol. “Furthermore, the DMS

will be a single point ofaccess for all up to dateMaterial Data Safety Sheetsand Product Data Sheets forall products. The online ver-sion offers capacity for addi-tional notes on ports andcontact details for supply, aswell as information onexpected lead times.

The online system will beconfigured for use on PCs,mobile telephones andtablets, and is supported byGoogle Maps to guide cus-tomers on ports.

The online version of the directory offers capacity for a greater level of detail

www.fideliocruise.com

Hamburg-based software provider FidelioCruise reports that it has completed an ITsystems upgrade across Seabourn's six-ship fleet by implementing its systemonboard the Seabourn Spirit.

The project began in March, withFidelio Cruise's Shipboard PropertyManagement System (SPMS), ResOnlineand Fleet Management System softwareinstalled on board the Seabourn Odyssey,a 32,000 gross ton cruise vessel.

Since then, the same systems have beeninstalled on board the recently launchedSeabourn Quest and four other vessels inthe cruise line's fleet – the SeabournLegend, Seabourn Pride, SeabournSojourn and Seabourn Spirit.

The six Seabourn vessels now carry afull range of Fidelio software, with allships now using SPMS for guest, crew andvisitor management as well as on-boardfinancial operations.

The Fleet Management System (FMS)and ResOnline System, installed onboardthe ships and shoreside, will be used tofacilitate the automatic transmission ofdata between ships and head office, pro-

viding real-time updates and enablingSeabourn to monitor and compare theoperating performance of individual ves-sels within its fleet.

The head office will be provided withdata for its fleet-side management account-ing system and an instant snapshot of over-all fleet performance at a pre-determinedfrequency, typically once a day.

The system installation was managedas part of an integration process withSeabourn’s Seattle-based sister company,Holland America Line. Holland AmericaLine’s fleet is already equipped withFidelio software.

"We have taken a rather aggressiveapproach, switching to Fidelio systemsfrom one day to the next, which proved tobe very successful," said Brent Davidson,vice president - information technologyfor Holland America Line.

"We completed the fleet installation inabout six months. We couldn't have doneit without the help of Seabourn’s crews.Everyone was very receptive and adoptedFidelio readily, which made it a lot easierfor all involved. They found a lot ofprocesses much easier and less time-con-suming than their previous system."

Seabourn completes Fidelio implementation

Online version of Castrol directory to go live

http://orionmarineconcepts.com

Maritime software company OrionMarine has launched version 1.1 of itsNAU – Integrated Vessel ManagementSystem.

The system is available in the ‘cloud’, in45 languages, and includes an interactivetraining and certification module as partof the monthly subscription. No extraannual maintenance or support costs arecharged.

Users can switch the language of the system to one of a list of languageswhich includes English (as the default),French, Indonesian, German, Russian,Chinese, Korean, Hindi, Japanese, Italianand Dutch, by selecting from the drop

down list.The previous version 1.0 is already

in service for approximately 100 ships,with modules covering requisitions,planned maintenance, work planning and permits to work, electronic documen-tation, environmental management andrisk assessment.

A variety of modules for reporting,accounting and analysis are also available.

Aquarius Maritime in Singapore hasbeen among the first shipping companiesto choose to apply the system to its fleet,with Aquarius managing director, CaptPankaj Mohan, pointing to the integrationof the multilingual tool as being of partic-ular benefit to the company’s multination-al staff.

Orion Marine launches latest software Hapag-Lloyd to install BASSwww.bassnet.no

German shipping company Hapag-LloydAG is to install fleet management systemsfrom Norwegian software provider BASS.

Hapag-Lloyd, which operates a fleet ofmore than 145 container ships, will initiallyimplement the BASS package on 40 vessels.

The contract includes all ten BASSnetmodules, covering maintenance, procure-ment, dry-docking, safety, risk manage-ment and operations, as well as serviceslike database building and conversion.

"After a detailed evaluation process weidentified BASSnet as the most completeand powerful fleet management suite inthe market," commented Jens Habler,Hapag-Lloyd’s senior director IT infra-structure & operations management.

Hapag-Lloyd has now joined fellow

vessel operators like Stolt Tankers, PacificInternational Lines, NYK ShipManagement, “K” Line and CMA CGM inusing the BASS system.

"BASSnet’s success reflects the dedica-tion, teamwork and customer-orientedapproach of our company," said BASSCEO, Per Steinar Upsaker.

"It shows that BASSnet is meeting our customers’ requirements for a busi-ness driven, complete all-in-one user-friendly suite. We can succeed evenagainst hard competition, and of courseit helps that our products are built onup-to-date technology, a single databaseand are unrivalled."

"In order to save costs, shipping firmsneed to automate. Invest in our integratedsuite, and you will soon see the results inyour bottom line."

Hapag-Lloyd will initially implement the system on 40 vessels

www.regs4ships.com

Regs4ships reports that the Antigua &Barbuda Department of Marine Servicesand Merchant Shipping has officiallyrecognised its Digital MaritimeRegulations service as an electronic equiv-alent to the Antigua & Barbuda Carriageof Nautical Publications requirements.

Vessels flagged to that state can nowreplace a number of their printed docu-ments with a single compliance CD orDVD disc. Regs4ships operates a databasecombining flag state, EU, ILO, IMO andMCA documentation into a singleresource.

Antigua & Barbuda is one of fifteen flagstates on whose behalf the company cansupply Digital Maritime Regulations,which include shipping related directives,circulars and information letters from theflag state, plus copies of the maritime con-ventions, codes and related publications.

The service is available via a subscrip-tion package.

"This is great news for Regs4ships,"commented David Clayden, sales and mar-keting manager at Regs4ships Limited.

"We are continually improving ourproducts and services and flag state recog-nition is paramount. We look forward tocontinued expansion throughout 2012."

Antigua & Barbuda accepts Regs4ships digital publications

p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 5

20 years experience. 1 simple solution.• Type Approved PMS

• Minimal Training Required

• Rapid Technical Support Service

• No ‘Per Seat’ or any Annual License Fees

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• Complete Package or Single Modular Components available

• PMS, Stock, Procurement, Dry Dock, Safety & Document Management Solutions

From ship to shore,simplicity is the key to success.

Visit www.marinesoftware.co.uk or email [email protected]

p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 6


SOFTWARE NEWS

www.krs.co.kr

www.thomasgunn.com

The Korean Register of Shipping (KR) andThomas Gunn Navigation Services haveboth made donations of their respectivetechnologies to worthwhile causes duringthe Christmas period.

KR has donated 150 copies of its KR-CON software application to the WorldMaritime University in Malmö, Sweden.

KR-CON is a database application thatcontains the full texts of all IMOConventions, Codes, Resolutions andCirculars, contained in a single USBdevice, that can assist in applying the var-ious rules and regulations correctly.

In addition to donating the KR-CONsystem to the university KR says it willalso provide updated versions each year.

“KR-CON is one of KR’s greatest soft-ware and R&D achievements,” said OhKong-Gyun, KR’s chairman and CEO.

“Using state-of-the-art technology, wehave been able to archive the vast reposi-tory of IMO-generated material and deliv-er it in a user-friendly and intelligent for-mat to a range of shipyards, shippingcompanies, flag states and other maritimeauthorities.”

“I was particularly proud when we

were asked to create and supply a tailoredversion to the European Maritime SafetyAgency (EMSA) to assist with its port statecontrol activities. I am equally proud to bedonating our system to the WorldMaritime University.”

Meanwhile, Thomas Gunn has donateda complete set of world routing charts tothe Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) to voyagearound the globe for the first time, creat-ing an opportunity for physically disabledpeople to explore the world from thedecks of a square-rigged sailing ship.

“No other country operates a tall shipthat can accommodate disabled people,including wheelchair users, to the extentof the specifically designed and purpose-built JST vessels,” explains Andy Spark,ship operations manager, Jubilee SailingTrust.

“While the concept of sailing a tall shiparound the world with novices on board isnot new, this circumnavigation bringsnew meaning to the idea that ‘everybody’can experience crossing the oceans on asquare-rigged sailing ship. The ethos ofthe JST is to integrate people of all physi-cal abilities, so at any one time, around 50per cent of the voyage crew will be able-bodied and the other 50 per cent will bedisabled.”

“To accommodate a range of disabili-ties, the JST ship features lifts for wheel-chair users, an audio compass for thevisually impaired and a hearing loop forthe hearing impaired. Representativesfrom the proposed ports of call for the voyage are already expressing aninterest in chartering the ship during her visit to their country as an unprece-dented opportunity for their disablednationals.”

The planning process for the 18 monthvoyage is well under way, with the vesselexpected to leave the UK next winter andfollow the route of the old trading square-riggers, arriving in Australia in time torepresent the UK during the InternationalFleet Review of the Royal AustralianNavy, in October 2013.

The JST ship will then take part in a TallShips Race from Sydney to Auckland.

“We are delighted to support thisunique endeavour,” says Thomas Gunn,founder and managing director of ThomasGunn Navigation Services Ltd.

“During our work with the Trust wehave seen it changing lives, giving peopleof all physical abilities and sailing experi-ence the chance to experience the thrilland adventure of being at sea, sailing sideby side as equals.”

Christmas gifts from KR and Thomas Gunn

www.gl-maritime-software.com

Icelandic shipping company Eimskip is toimplement the GL ShipManager and GLFleetAnalyzer fleet management softwaresystems from Germanischer Lloyd.

Eimskip chose the new systems afterexamining applicationsfrom six maritime softwareproviders, and will use thetechnology to support theship management activi-ties of its expanding fleet.

The focus of the imple-mentation will be on inte-grating processes such asmaintenance management,purchasing and inventorycontrol, as well as safetymanagement, and willinclude an interface withthe SAP accounting systemalready in place atEimskip.

The FleetAnalyzer will

be used for reporting and monitoring ofbudget and maintenance performance, aswell as creating metrics on a fleet-widelevel for further analysis.

The project began at the end of 2011,with a set of initial project milestonesscheduled to be achieved by the beginningof 2012.

Eimskip to install GL softwarewww.classnk.or.jp

ClassNK has released a revised version,version 2.5.0, of its direct strength assess-ment program for container carriers,PrimeShip-HULL (DSA)/Guideline forContainers.

The software, which will be made avail-able free of charge, is designed to performthe direct strength assessment (DSA) cal-culations for container carrier structuresdefined in the guideline. Using an FE(finite element) model, users can executecomplicated FEM analyses through theuse of special features such as the auto-matic identification of structural membersand compartments.

The class society says that this could assistship designers and shipyards in improv-ing efficiency in the ship design process.

“The workload of ship designers hasincreased as a result of the ever growingnumber of regulations and conventions.ClassNK sees the easing of such burdensand the improving of efficiency through IT

products and services as a key goal of ourSociety,” says ClassNK president, NoboruUeda.

“This software is the product of theSociety’s many years of experience in bothdrawing approval and software develop-ment. ClassNK will continue to use thisexperience to further boost usability,upgrade overall performance, and devel-op powerful new functions.”

ClassNK updates free container structure software

ClassNK’s software is available free of charge

New softwarefrom Intellocorp

www.bureauveritas.com

Northern Marine Management has com-pleted the first certification audit of anyshipping company in the world to the newstandard ISO 50001- 2011 - EnergyManagement Systems, covering systemat-ic monitoring and control of energy usage.

The audit of Northern MarineManagement Ltd, Stena’s ship manage-ment division, was performed by BureauVeritas.

Only four other organisations in the UK

have this certification, one being the RoyalMint, and no other shipping company hasyet achieved this.

Northern Marine Management techni-cally manages fifty-seven vessels, includ-ing the Stena tanker and gas carrier fleet aswell as vessels for various other blue chipship owners.

“Achieving this new and high standardfor energy management across the wholecompany is a key step for us in demon-strating that shipping is at the forefront ofenvironmental responsibility,” said Philip

Northern Marine first for energy management audit

The FleetAnalyzer is one of two systems to be provided

www.intellocorp.com

Maritime technology company Intellocorpreports that it has partnered with Danishshipowner Sea-Flex to launch two newproducts, IntelloShip and SeaPlan, for 2012.

The software systems are both availableas Software as a Service (SaaS) or as an On-Premise-Software installation, and aim toprovide tools to manage operations andmonitor the performance of the company.

The IntelloShip system is used to con-trol and analyse a range of shipping com-pany data, offering drill-down capabilitiesfor specific detail as required. This is sup-ported by the SeaPlan service, which isused to manage compliance, certificatemanagement, and other administrativetasks like purchasing and budgeting.

Through its partnership with Sea-Flex,Intellocorp will be able to performonboard testing of the software, with theaim of removing any bugs before enteringinto the marketplace.

“IntelloShip is a software that has beenneeded in the maritime industry for a longtime, the added value of IntelloShip is sig-nificant and will add transparency, timeli-ness as well as cost savings,” said ShannonMcKee, president of Access Cruises.

Fullerton, technical director, NorthernMarine Management.

BS ISO 50001 Energy ManagementSystems is intended to assist organisationsin making better use of their existing ener-gy consuming assets, create transparencyand facilitate communication on the man-agement of energy resources and promoteenergy management best practices andreinforce good energy managementbehaviours.

Northern Marine implemented its firstShipboard Energy Management Plans on

board its Stena AB vessels during 2005,which was followed by the introduction ofan environmental and energy efficiencyrating scheme on five of the company’s ro-ro vessels.

These moves meant that the monitoringand measurement processes were largely inplace for the new fleet and company-widestandards, which were codified and docu-mented in the form of the company’s twonew policies: the 'Safety, Environmental,Energy & Quality Policy' and the 'Energymanagement and Efficiency Policy'.

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We’ve connected our dots to help you better connect yours.Perhaps you’ve heard that Harris Corporation is building the largest business focused specifically on remote communications — Harris CapRock. If so, you’re probably wondering what that means for you.

For starters, it means you have access to the world’s most advanced terrestrial, wireless and satellite network for remote communications. It means you’ll get responsive, reliable communications connecting your operations anywhere on Earth. It means the most extensive local service and support in the most countries with teleports on 6 continents, 5 Customer Support Centers, 83 points of presence on a global terrestrial network and 140 countries served. It means we’re ready to meet all of your communication demands today and tomorrow.

So how will Harris CapRock better connect your dots? If you had to pin us down, we’d say “in every way.”

www.harriscaprock.com/maritime-ds

© 2012 Harris CapRock Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. RELIABILITY NEVER REACHED SO FAR™

p10-24:p1-14.qxd 13/01/2012 11:54 Page 8

What do these market leaders have in common?

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The Ultimate Ship/Shore Network Manager

Digital Ship


www.aveva.com/marine

AVEVA has released its latest DesignReuse 12.1, Space Management 12.1 andSurface Manager 12.1 versions of its soft-ware products for ship design, all part ofthe AVEVA Marine portfolio.

AVEVA says that Design Reuse 12.1will allow for copying of ship design dataso it can be reused on a similar ship, allow-ing a standard design policy to be used onnew designs.

The new software enables designers tocreate new designs using parts of previousdesigns, and to apply a standard design toa new project. Objects can be copied basedon properties, attributes or dates.

AVEVA Design Reuse also allows forthe definition of the material quantitiesand costs of similar ships to be createdearly in the design process, for budget

estimation and project cost monitoring."AVEVA Design Reuse allows ship-

yards to make the fullest possible use oftheir expertise and previous designs. Thiscuts down design time and effort whenmodelling a new project," said StéphaneNeuvéglise, head of business management– marine systems, AVEVA.

"Through its adaptive capabilities,AVEVA Design Reuse can cut up to 70 percent off the time needed to redesign a sim-ilar ship from scratch."

AVEVA Space Management 12.1 is ashipbuilding system used to automatical-ly create and manage layout drawingsthat document the subdivision of the shipinto spaces with their functional designproperties.

The company says that the capabilities ofthe new product should help to reduce riskin the design of more complex ships such as

cruise ships, naval surface vessels, sub-marines, ferries and offshore supply vessels.

AVEVA Space Management generatesa ship wide, room-oriented functional def-inition of the ship design, which can bereused in other design disciplines. As thedesign evolves decisions regarding theshape and functional properties of spacesare recorded and refined in the software.

Interrelationships between the func-tional needs of adjacent spaces can thus behandled to ensure that the overall shipdesign is safe, complies with regulationsand is cost efficient.

Design properties are recorded in the3D model of the ship and can also be doc-umented in automatically created GeneralArrangement based drawings.

“AVEVA Space Management is a newtool for space design decisions whichreduces potential project-risk by enabling

a ‘what if’ approach within the designprocess,” said Mr Neuvéglise.

“It facilitates advanced functionaldesign optimisation by using an early 3Dspace model of the whole ship, allowingmany more options to be considered in theavailable design time. In parallel, it auto-matically creates General Arrangement-based drawings typically used to recordspace design decisions.”

“Designers can then focus on designdecisions rather than the creation of draw-ings that document the decisions. This isparticularly important on complexdesigns that require multiple design itera-tions that create many GeneralArrangement drawing revisions in orderto reach an acceptable design.”

The other new product, AVEVA SurfaceManager, allows the transfer of surfaces toand from external systems, in various for-mats such as IGES, SAT, DML and STEP AP203, by the use of neutral standards.

Surfaces from existing projects for con-version can also be extracted into externalformats for use in third-party software.

The AVEVA system includes tools forquality assessment of the managed surfaceand, if needed, can repair defects detectedin surfaces transferred from third-partyapplications.

For the sub-division of work packages,the Surface Manager can also split surfacesso shipyards can protect the investment andconfidentiality of their hullforms by onlydistributing to sub-contractors the part ofthe hullform they need to do their work.

Design software updated by AVEVA

The latest versions of AVEVA’s Design Reuse (left) and Space Management (right) have been released

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II n June 2011, InterManager launchedits ‘Shipping KPIs’ in London (DigitalShip, September 2011). Since then, the

corresponding online database for report-ing and benchmarking, InterManager KPIEnvironment (IMKE), has been made pub-lically available.

A total of 62 companies have enteredtheir KPI (key performance indicator) datafrom Q1 and Q2 2011 into IMKE followingthe launch. The first to enter informationinto the database were what the IMKEpartners call the ‘fast five’: ColumbiaShipmanagement, Bernhard SchulteShipmanagement, Thenamaris ShipsManagement, V. Ships and Marfin.

This ‘fast five’ were to go on to form thebasis of the subsequent ‘Shipping KPIExpert Group’, which was expanded toalso include MMS Co, Marintek andWilhelmsen Ship Management, as well asSOFTImpact as the company responsiblefor assisting developers in shaping thefinal web based application.

These IMKE pioneers were quick tograsp InterManager’s KPI concept and theindividual parameters, but were also aidedby the fact that their existing reportingstructure enabled them to easily adapt theIMKE system to their own organisations.Together, the ‘fast five’ have provided datafrom a significant number of vessels for thedatabase, amounting to 646 so far.

As the inflow of companies and vesseldata continues, the IMKE database isanticipated to contain data material from1,000 vessels by April 2012 and, it ishoped, will contain KPIs for 2,000 shipsby the end of 2012.

This kind of growth will require theshipping industry to respond positively tothe project, and for more organisations toenter their KPI material. Only if the data-base contains a substantial amount of datawill the benchmarking tool provide signif-icant informative value.

However, since the comprehensive useof the benchmarking tool requires the col-lection of a wide variety of information,including finance, inspection, HR, techni-cal, environmental data etc, it is an ambi-tious goal to hope for wide industry par-ticipation as soon as the end of this year.

“Although most companies have therelevant information available some-where,” says Markus Schmitz, managingdirector of the IT company creating theIMKE software, SOFTImpact, “assem-bling, centralising, preparing and process-ing this array of data can pose a big entryhurdle.”

Extensive research and collaborationwith the shipping industry over the pro-ject’s six year development period has fur-ther shown that a number of shippingcompanies have hitherto not used a struc-

tured collection or storage system for KPIrelevant data.

He pinpoints that, so far, there has beenno unified and standardised way of accu-mulating performance related data andworking out KPIs in the shipping industry.

“A large number of companies,” saysMr Schmitz, “do still not use KPIs toreview and improve their business per-formance. The ones that do, resort to theirown systems – there is no such thing as astandard, yet.”

To further the confusion, the variety ofKPI storage formats, from simple papercopies or Excel to advanced databases andcollection systems, has proven to bealmost unlimited. A further complicationlies in the fact that there are usually vari-ous people responsible for the collectionand storage of the data needed for theIMKE database.

Only a very small number of organisa-tions have this data so readily available intheir system that it can be exported into anew external system without much effort.At the forefront of these are the tankercompanies that are often under pressurefrom their charterers, namely big oil com-panies, to provide KPIs.

As such, tanker companies have shownparticular interest in using IMKE at thisstage.

Benefits of using IMKEIMKE is an online database tool thatallows users to enter data about their fleet.This data can then be used to do reporting.

Another important function is thebenchmarking tool. Once sufficient KPIdata has been accumulated this will enablea user to compare the performance of hisfleet, or certain parts thereof, to the indus-try average.

“The concept of a KPI database is thatthe quality of work can actually be meas-ured as opposed to gauged,” explains Mr Schmitz.

The first six months of having the sys-tem online have shown that IMKE userscan be divided into groups according towhat use they intend to make of the data-base. The two main categories are shipowners and ship managers, and MrSchmitz has found their aims to be sur-prisingly different.

“The owners are actually a very stronggroup when it comes to using IMKE,” saysMr Schmitz. “At the moment they are thestrongest interest group.”

“Their key goal is self-improvement.This means they are mainly interested incollecting and entering data where theyreckon they can improve, which are espe-cially the ones where they do not excel.”

“Management companies can share thebenefit of self improvement and addition-

ally see an opportunity to demonstratehow well they are doing towards theircustomers.”

The use of the database is entirely up tothe companies entering their data, there isno regulation of its use. IMKE does not askthe user to enter a complete set of KPI,however the more data a user has avail-able when starting to use the database themore comprehensive the results will be.

Mr Schmitz notes that a number of KPIsare specific to the kind of vessel and thetype of trade engaged in.

Shipping KPI data is collected quarter-ly and can be entered into IMKE at anytime (i.e. data from past quarters can beincluded). Data can be entered via aninterface that allows for electronic datatransfer into IMKE.

As soon as the data is saved in the system, the KPIs are automatically calcu-lated. These can be used for reporting andcomparing the vessel with other ships inthe fleet.

Vessels can be displayed separatelywith an individual pie chart or in a fleetoverview. A colour-coded system makes itpossible to spot unusual data immediate-ly. With a click on the highlighted KPI, theuser receives an explanation containingthe definition of the parameter, itsdependencies and the formulae used tocalculate the rating.

The company’s KPIs can, in turn, bebenchmarked against a chosen referencegroup. This group is compiled accordingto the specifications of the user anddefined by parameters such as individualvessels, vessel types, trading areas, nation-ality of senior officers, vessel subtypes,flag and DWT ranges.

For example, a vessel operator canchoose to benchmark a particular vessel inhis fleet against all container ships that are

trading in Europe, under Russian officers,under the German flag, above 200,000DWT.

The resulting bar chart will initiallyshow the highest condensed parameter,the Shipping Performance Indices (SPI).By clicking on the respective bar, the usercan drill down to the individual KPI andobtain an explanation, a breakdownaccording to vessel type, and any trends.

Ultimately, it depends on the individ-ual organisation as to what use it makes ofIMKE with regards to input, reporting andbenchmarking; the possibilities are mani-fold.

Of course, the complexity of any tooldelivering an array of functions also cre-ates the need for instruction, and theIMKE partners have already started toschedule training programmes for theshipping community to introduce the fea-tures of the technology, starting with asession at the Digital Ship Hamburg 2012conference (see box at end of this article).

“Firstly, users need training,” says MrSchmitz, “for the internet page, which weare trying to keep simple, intuitive anduser friendly.”

He also acknowledges that “due to spe-cial user requests and in order to incorpo-rate all desired functionalities the softwareis getting increasingly complex. But then,every powerful software is difficult touse.”

“The next step in training,” he contin-ues, “is the KPI standard as such. The userneeds to know what is measured and how.Ultimately, the user needs to understandhow the KPIs that result from the data hehas entered are to be interpreted. E.g.what does it mean if a company has a cer-tain KPI of 7? Is it good or bad, and whatif the industry average is 9 or 5?”

Another reason highlighted for compe-

The IMKE tool allows users to benchmark their performance against the aggregated results of other operators

Surviving in a difficult market is something that a lot of companies have been faced with recently. InterManager,whilst not promising a magic wand, has developed a tool that may help achieve this difficult feat, and has recruited

Columbia Shipmanagement as one of the first companies to test it. Markus Schmitz, SOFTImpact, and Dietrich Wulffand Alexander Oswald from Columbia Shipmanagement spoke to Digital Ship about this new technology

Benchmarking – the magic term?

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Powering Satellite and MoreCommunications

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SOFTWARE


tence training is the fact that it is only if theuser knows what he can gain from enter-ing data into the system that he will bemotivated enough to do it properly.Training is also essential to ensure that alldata is entered correctly and that the data-base is displaying the right information.

Currently, the trust that owns and man-ages IMKE is working to set up a certifiedtraining system that can guarantee qualityand comprehensiveness.

Another entry hurdle for using a com-plex tool is the time and financial invest-ment required to begin, as well as the sub-sequent ongoing effort involved.

With regards to IMKE this dependsvery much on the size of the company andits existing reporting and controllingstructure. The effort could be justified ifthe solution is going to prove valuableover time.

“IMKE has been designed for a longusage period,” remarks Mr Schmitz,“and we hope it will be in use for at leastten years.”

Mr Schmitz further emphasises theimportance of ensuring that all users inter-pret the KPI accurately and use IMKE cor-rectly. This is paramount in order toobtain accurate benchmarking results.

InterManager debated a variety of solu-tions and decided against an independentvetting process. The system, however, hasbeen designed to detect KPI values thatdivert abnormally from the typical standard.

For example, if a company enters that ithas 6 cadets per vessel and the usual num-ber is between 0-3 the system detects thepotential mistake and notifies the user.

“It is tricky to adjust the software torecognising wrong values, but some val-ues are so wrong that an automatic systemcould detect it,” explains Mr Schmitz.

Confidentiality – who hasaccess to the data?

In order to ensure maximum security,strict confidentiality measures have beenintroduced. Vessel data can only beentered by the DOC (document of compli-ance) holder, typically the ship’s manager,who also permits and restricts access tothe data.

All entered data is owned by the com-pany who has supplied it. This becomesespecially significant when a vesselchanges management – without authorisa-tion of the previous manager, the newmanager cannot view and use the data.

Apart from the internal managementthere are several external parties thatmight potentially be interested in viewingthe KPIs and the results of the benchmark-ing process.

In addition to the owner and charterer,insurance companies and P&I clubs havesignalled their interest as this would allowthem to adapt their premiums and rewardcompanies with strong KPIs. It is, howev-er, down to the individual company todecide on this.

OutlookAs an industry initiative, the InterManagerKPI project and its IMKE database dependon a few significant factors in order to be successful.

“The most important key to the projectis to obtain a critical mass of vessel data,”explains Mr Schmitz.

“By the end of 2012 we are hoping tohave 2,000 ships in the database. This, Ithink, is the amount that is necessary touse the data effectively and to secure thesuccess of IMKE for the whole industry.”

Such large numbers are, however, notneeded for segmented analyses. Certainparts of the shipping industry are onlyinterested in benchmarking against each

other, such as tanker companies. The criti-cal mass for these certain segments maythus be reached much earlier.

“I believe that IMKE will reach the crit-ical point in some segments such as thetanker and gas carrier business much ear-lier than for the overall shipping indus-try,” asserts Mr Schmitz, mentioning 500vessels as a good number.

Another long-term concept whereIMKE could be applied is for KPI basedcontracting. Under such a scheme it wouldbe possible to award higher fees to shipmanagers that produce strong results inthe benchmarking process.

“Some very confident managers seethis as a prime goal,” notes Mr Schmitz.“The standard is a living being that willconstantly evolve, change and adapt. Itwill never be completely finished.”

“Now is a very dynamic time. The data-base has been in use since June and com-panies can see what they can do with thetool, play around.”

“We get a lot of queries to add featuresand functions. The wish-list is long. Thechallenge at this stage is to incorporate theimportant functions whilst at the sametime keeping the software manageable

and usable and not creating a monster.”The system will go through a period of

live testing, subsequent to which thewhole database will be reviewed and nec-essary corrections made. In short, the stan-dard has to be verified according to reallive data.

Mr Schmitz is convinced that, with thehoped for industry participation, therewill be substantial benefits to the users.“The KPI project,” he concludes, “hasextreme potential.”

ColumbiaShipmanagement

Columbia Shipmanagement is one ofIMKE's ‘fast five’ users, and a member ofthe Shipping KPI Expert Group,

Captain Dietrich Wulff, Q.A. Manager/ DPA, Columbia Shipmanagement, andAlexander Oswald, who assisted in tech-nical matters by consulting with ColumbiaShipmanagement on matters of BusinessIntelligence, told Digital Ship about thecompany’s motivation to participate inthis project.

“We felt obliged,” says Mr Wulff,” to beamongst the first companies to get startedon the IMKE project. The uploading ofperformance indicators for a sufficientnumber of vessels at this stage was, and is,essential in order to validate the concept.”

Another key factor for early participationand support of the project was thatColumbia Shipmanagement, like otherorganisations, has experienced difficulties incommunicating using its proprietary KPIs.

“It was evident,“ explains Mr Wulff,“that a KPI standard within the shippingindustry was missing. Consequently,there was a need to focus on the mostimportant performance indicators andprovide a tailor-made reporting tool forthe various stakeholders.”

“Before the InterManager KPI projecteverybody had a different understandingof what individual KPIs mean. A standardmakes it a lot easier to exchange data withanother ship management company orowner and it gives us common ground fordiscussion.“

Columbia Shipmanagement has beeninputting data into IMKE since early 2011,so far providing data and information on90 out of the company’s 190 vessels.Columbia used a file based upload mech-anism, with support from SOFTImpact,for this process, though this mechanism isplanned to be replaced by a fully automat-ed interface in the coming quarter.

Mr Wulff is conscious of the fact thatthe tool is still in its initial phase, butexplains that Columbia Shipmanagementwere still able to be convinced to take partin this project at such an early stage, pro-viding a contribution which he feels isvital for its success.

“Monitoring, measurement and con-trolling of processes,” he explains, “can beachieved by using KPIs at any given time.KPIs are great tools to assist a company toidentify trends, control limitations andtrack effectiveness of corrective actions.”

“Being able to benchmark effectivelywas one of the main objectives in takingpart in the KPI project that led to the set-up of the IMKE benchmarking website.”

“The absolute fundamental basis forthat is to establish a common understand-ing on KPIs among all stakeholders. It is of

the utmost importance to have commonground for discussion about the KPIs,their source and dependencies betweeneach other.”

Mr Wulff also highlights a furtherpotential advantage of IMKE as an off-the-shelf reporting and business intelligencesolution. “Organisations,” he says, “wish-ing to make use of the industry standardare able to do so without having to investheavily into their own IT-infrastructureand business intelligence knowledge.”

No considerableintroductory input

As explained by Mr Schmitz, IMKE’sintroductory investment with regards totime and money can be substantial. Thisconcern, however, did not prove true forColumbia Shipmanagement.

Columbia Shipmanagement has usedan internal Enterprise Resource PlanningSystem (ERP) since 2010. The ERP, whichfunctions as the company’s central busi-ness application, hosts all processesthroughout the whole Columbia group.

Mr Wulff explains, “this ERP is thetransactional system and contains all busi-ness process related data.”

In order to incorporate theInterManager KPI system, the IMKE data-base had to be connected with the ERP. Aspecific software architecture was devisedto secure the data transfer.

Some time had to be spent on aligningthe InterManager KPIs with the company’sproprietary KPI system, a part of the sys-tem integration that is detrimental for thesuccess of the tool. In order to obtain cor-rect benchmarking results, organisationsthat have been using KPIs need to ensurethat their understanding of each individualparameter is the same as InterManager’s.

Columbia Shipmanagement’s IT teamanalysed the KPI framework via the hand-book provided by InterManager andbroke the parameters down into the busi-ness processes contained in its ERP.Subsequently, reports were designed anda validation process created.

The transition from ColumbiaShipmanagement’s previous system to thenew one using IMKE was executed by thecompany’s in-house IT- team.

“This process,” says Mr Wulff “wasvery straight forward. We don’t need ded-icated staff to collect data for the IMKEwebsite, the business process output itselfdrives the InterManager KPI frameworkand BI (Business Intelligence) solution.And since the BI platform had been imple-mented prior to the KPI system, there wasno considerable financial input.”

Columbia Shipmanagement is confi-dent that the on going integration of theInterManager KPI framework into thecompany’s ERP system will be concludedwithin four months.

However, companies that do not use anERP system already, or are less familiarwith the use of KPIs, might take consider-ably longer to implement IMKE.

Minimal ongoing effortOn top of the initial investment, compa-nies adopting the tool will need to esti-mate the continuing effort that will berequired to keep the system running.Columbia Shipmanagement says it hasfound the implementation of IMKE with

An overview of the fleet’s KPIs can quickly show where the company is performing well,and where improvements may be required

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SOFTWARE


its BI solution manageable, and the ongo-ing effort to be minimal.

“There is hardly any additional work-load for our staff,” says Mr Wulff. “Thenecessary parameters are fed into the system through their daily work. All data entered into the ERP is automatical-ly loaded into IMKE and figures can be extracted according to need at anygiven time.”

Staff at Columbia Shipmanagementalso needed no enticement to learn about anew system. “On the contrary,” says MrWulff, “our users are keen on using thetool, because this way they can analysetheir daily progress and see their resultsimmediately, as well as spot room forimprovement.”

Thus, there is no extra IMKE trainingneeded for the company’s users, a furthersimplification of the integration processwhich is likely to add to the acceptance ofthe system by the staff.

Columbia Shipmanagement has alsoavoided another potential stumblingblock, the correct understanding andinterpretation of the InterManager KPIsby the individual user. The company issupporting its staff through a structuredsystem of information on each individualKPI, displaying the KPI value as well assome of the calculation background.

Additionally, the system is configuredto offer an explanation on how the KPIsare calculated, what specific work process-es they are based upon and on the owner-ship of the process. “We devised this inorder to make our lives easier and theprocess of calculating KPIs and bench-marking our company waterproof,” notesMr Wulff.

Aided by the existing BI and the in-house IT team, ColumbiaShipmanagement has been able to inte-grate the new system with virtually no

additional effort from the staff. However,it should be noted again that not all com-panies could be expected to implementIMKE so easily.

As Mr Schmitz explains, there will beneed to create specific structures and care-fully instruct the staff collecting the dataand using the database. The implementa-tion phase for an organisation that has nei-ther the IT resources at hand nor the nec-essary data ready is therefore likely to takesubstantially longer.

For most companies it will further beessential to be able to make use of a soundguidance/ support and training system,both during the implementation phaseand whilst using the IMKE tool. Supportand training should ideally encompass allstages of the transition period to theInterManager KPI system, and carrythrough to the ongoing use of the system.

Columbia Shipmanagement has so farnot needed extensive training or support.This, however, might be due to the factthat the company, as a member of the KPIworking group, was already familiar withthe concept of the system as well as itspotential complications.

A new user will firstly need to under-stand the InterManager KPI system withall its parameters and their hierarchy.“This,” says Mr Wulff, “is essential inorder to establish how to collect the rele-vant data in the organization.”

“For the accuracy of the benchmarkingtool it is absolutely crucial that all usershave the same understanding of theparameters. Guidance should thereforeleave minimum room for interpretation.”

The support should further cater for theneeds of different users. Some users, suchas smaller companies, might want to col-lect their data, upload it on to the IMKEwebpage and use the reporting function.They will look for support in collecting

and uploading data, using the reportingfunction and subsequently in understand-ing and interpreting the results.

Other organisations that use their ownreporting systems, such as ColumbiaShipmanagement, will want to integratetheir structure with the InterManager KPIsystem and IMKE database.

“These,” explains Mr Wulff, “will lookmore for technical support in merging the two systems and feeding the databasewith data as well as obtaining resultsafterwards.”

Outlook and potentialThe IMKE database and benchmarkingtool is still in its early stages. It may havebeen proven to work as a reporting toolso far, but its worth as a benchmarkingdevice is yet to be determined. Thisdepends on industry participation and the amount of data entered andupdated regularly.

Mr Wulff is hoping for a positiveresponse within the shipping industry.“One can only estimate, but I would saythat 1,000 vessels is the minimum to pro-vide for a sound industry representation,”he says.

“The more vessels enter their data, thebetter and more accurate the results are.”He adds however, “that this process mightwell take a while.”

Mr Wulff further points out that it isimportant that every single indicator

reaches a volume of around 1,000. “This,”he warns, “might not be so easy toachieve. Some KPI are very specific to cer-tain companies or areas. Additionally, notall users will have the data available andmight want to contribute some of the KPIat a later stage.”

If the development of the IMKE data-base goes as planned by InterManager,and as hoped for by ColumbiaShipmanagement, the effect on the ship-ping industry might be significant.

“I can imagine,” says Mr Wulff, “thatthe KPI tool will be used by potential cus-tomers in the future in order to assess andappraise a company’s competence, similarto the practice in the oil industry.”

“A shipping standard, where everyonehas the same understanding of the KPI,will be of great value in this respect. If Iwas to convince a potential user of theInterManager KPI system and database, Iwould give them one key phrase: bench-marking.”

“Benchmarking,” concludes Mr Wulff,“is the core of the project and its mostimportant feature and main benefit. Everycompany that is interested in the continu-ous improvement of its performance – andincidentally in the survival on a very diffi-cult market – needs to know how goodthey are and gauge where they stand incomparison with the competition. Fromthis point of view, benchmarking may bethe magic term!” DS

As part of its efforts to introduce the benefits of its KPI project to the shipping com-munity, InterManager will be running a workshop as part of the Digital ShipHamburg conference on 1-2 February 2012, that aims to provide an overview of howcompanies can utilise the IMKE KPI Standard and System to collect performance dataand benchmark their ship operations against the industry.

Attendance at the workshop is free for employees of shipping companies. For fur-ther information or to register for the workshop, visit the Digital Ship website, athttp://www.thedigitalship.com/conferences/hamburg/hamburg_2012.shtml

Digital Ship Limited, 2nd Floor, 8 Baltic Street East, London EC1Y 0UP, UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7253 2700 Fax: +44 (0)20 7251 9179

Contact Ria Kontogeorgou,exhibition manager, to discussavailable positions and rates

Tel +44 (0)20 7017 3401Mob: +44 (0)7815 481036


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configured to operate as various vessels.The simulator will be mounted on amotion platform and will work withKongsberg's K-Chief 700 automation sys-tem, K-Pos Dynamic Positioning Trainerand a Ballast Control system.

Also included is a Neptune EngineRoom Simulator with BigView touch screentechnology and three new engine models,as well as a Riser Management Simulatorand a crane simulator which will be part ofthe final delivery scheduled for 2013.


www.kongsberg.com

Kongsberg Maritime has released anEngine Room Simulator (ERS) modelbased on a Dual Fuel Diesel Electric(DFDE) Engine Room configuration froman LNG carrier.

The simulated ship has two propulsionmotors geared together to one fixed pitchpropeller. In addition to propulsion con-trol and power management systems, themodel includes four Dual Fuel Generators(6.6kV), one bow thruster, and a numberof ship service and gas handling con-sumers, both low and high voltage.

Students can train on dual fuel engines,learning how Boil Off Gas (BOG) can beused in an effective plant and in a dieselelectric combination.

In addition to gaining a full under-standing of DFDE engines, training sce-narios on potential energy saving can becreated that take into account the currentcost of fuel and compare the efficiency of aDFDE plant and a traditional steam plant.

"The training requirement for Dual Fuelengines is growing rapidly," said Leif PenttiHalvorsen, product manager for engineroom simulators, Kongsberg Maritime.

"Of the 30 LNG carriers with non-steam

turbine propulsion on order at Samsungas of December 2006, 16 featured DFDEpropulsion. Since then, the share of newLNG carriers with DFDE propulsion sys-tems has grown to be the majority of allnew LNG carrier buildings."

"According to LNG world shipping sta-tistics of all LNG carriers on order, 36 outof 49 have a DFDE configuration.Kongsberg K-chief systems are used tomanage and monitor the necessary powerand gas cargo supplies on board, so wehave an excellent foundation for the newDFDE ERS model."

In other news, Kongsberg Maritimealso reports that it is to supply simulatorsto the MOSAIC 2 facility (Maersk OffshoreSimulation and Innovation Centre) whichrecently began construction at MaerskTraining in Svendborg, Denmark.

The framework agreement signed byKongsberg Maritime and Maersk Trainingcovers delivery of a range of simulatorsand on-going support to the new trainingcentre, which is an extension of the exist-ing MOSAIC facility in Svendborg thatopened in February 2010.

Simulator delivery is scheduled tostart within 6 months and includes anOffshore Vessel Simulator that can be

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS Digital Ship

LNG engine room simulator from Kongsberg

The complete engine room simulator incorporates a number of different simulated systems The MOSAIC 2 training facility will be installed with Kongsberg simulators

The DFDE configuration is included in Kongsberg’s Engine Room Simulator

Simulator deal for NCAwww.forcetechnology.com

The Norwegian Coastal Administration(NCA) has entered into a long term con-tract with FORCE Technology for the pro-vision of simulator based training for 350pilots and VTS operators.

The five-year contract will focus ontraining on resource management andteamwork between pilots and VTS opera-tors, and will take place at FORCETechnology's simulator training centre inLyngby, Denmark.

"We chose FORCE Technology becauseof their high competence level and theirexperience gained through many years ofconducting training with a strong focus onhuman factors and pedagogical methodswithin simulator based training," said JonLeon Ervik, head of centre for pilotage and

Vessel Traffic Services in Norway.FORCE Technology uses an in-house

developed software based on the DEN-Mark1 mathematical model, SimFlex, onits simulators, which the company sayshas been instrumental in creating a believ-able simulation experience.

"This is a significant contract for themaritime training department of FORCETechnology," said Peter Sørensen, head ofdepartment, training, ports and humanfactors at FORCE.

"FORCE Technology has been conduct-ing international pilot training and pro-vided input to design of VTS operationsfor many years and we are very happythat the NCA has chosen our company astraining provider. We see this as the resultof many years of focused effort on thedevelopment of efficient training tools."

www.vespermarine.com

Vesper Marine is to introduce two newClass B AIS products to its WatchMaterange for 2012, the company reports.

The WatchMate Vision Class Btransponder with touch-screen controland a fully wireless Class B AIS transpon-der black box, AIS XB-8000 are both beinglaunched during the new year.

The company says that they will aim tominimise screen clutter and unwanted tar-gets, allowing the user to concentrate onlyon vessels that are of importance and toavoid unnecessary alarms.

Four individual alarm profiles areavailable (Harbour, Anchor, Coastal andOffshore) which can be customised so thatthe user can switch between profiles.

"We are adding to our existing product

line-up with a touch-screen version whilstkeeping the same values of the incrediblysuccessful easy-to-use approach ofWatchMate, which incorporates ourunique feature for the filtering of targets atthe user’s discretion," said Mike Ogle, gen-eral manager of sales and marketing forVesper Marine.

"We continue to offer the fullWatchMate family of intuitive AIS devicesto suit the differing vessel types andcourses that owners take."

"Users can be assured that whicheverWatchMate device they choose, each ver-sion provides filtering techniques thatreduce the amount of clutter on screenand so enhance safety by ensuring that users focus only on the objects and vessels that are relevant to their safepassage."

New AIS products from Vesper Marine

p25-36:p15-25.qxd 13/01/2012 12:21 Page 1

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS


ECDIS systems, adding to an earlier trainingapproval for Transas ECDIS. The compa-ny can now provide type specific training,class room training at its headquarters,training on location and onboard training.

Transas Marine’s German divisionhas become the first German training insti-tute to receive BSH Flag State approvalfor its STCW compliant ECDIS training,the company reports. The training followsthe IMO Model Course 1.27 and is compli-ant with the Manila Amendments toSTCW 2010, compulsory for training as of1 January 2012.

www.adveto.com

Swedish ECDIS supplier Adveto, throughits distributor GPS Marinkonsult AB inStockholm, has secured an order to supplyits technology to the expedition shipNational Geographic Explorer after thecompletion of a test and evaluation pro-gramme, the company reports.

This vessel will be the first AdvetoECDIS equipped vessel sailing all watersaround the world, including the Arcticand the Antarctic.

“GPS Marinkonsult started to workwith ADVETO’s navigation productsmany years ago. I must conclude thataccording to my opinion ADVETO has thebest ECDIS on the market,” says GöranSjödin, CEO of GPS Marinkonsult AB.

“ECDIS-4000 from ADVETO has fea-tures like multi routes, advanced predic-tors, alternative night presentation anddownload of Primar charts and chartupdates over Internet directly into theECDIS. This makes Adveto ECDIS anideal system for all operations.”

Adveto ECDIS for National Geographic

www.fugromarinestar.com

The National Geographic Explorer will sail all over the world using the Adveto ECDIS

Martek Marine has opened aregional hub office in Singapore, whichwill be headed by Simon Whitaker, asregional director. He will be supported byregional sales managers Soon Young Tan,who will focus on South East Asia,Australia and New Zealand, and ClaytonThomas, who will be responsible for mar-kets in North Asia.

Marine electronics company AageHempel reports that has opened a newoffice in Panama, which commenced oper-ations on January 16th 2012. This newoffice joins other locations such as Spain,Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal and Malta inthe company’s sales and service network.

Alphatron Marine has beenapproved to provide ECDIS training cours-es on JRC (Japan Radio Company)

Nautisk Forlag acquires McCurnintion. Our global distribution network hasbeen too inefficient in the USA/Americas," said Nautisk Forlags CEOThomas Fjeld.

"Now we [will] gain a new hub whichis centrally placed for distribution all overthe American continent and sub-conti-nent, in addition to acquiring a profitablecompany with satisfied customers. Wewill immediately start the implementationof Nautisk’s logistical system, as well asseek a wider customer base."

Patrick Thompson, who has worked forMcCurnin as office manager for severalyears, will continue as general manager ofNautisk Forlag in New Orleans.

www.nautisk.com

Chart distributor Nautisk Forlag hasacquired 100 per cent of the stock inMcCurnin Nautical in New Orleans, withthe acquisition having taken effect onJanuary 1 2012.

Nautisk Forlag says that it aims tostrengthen its global chart distributionbusiness and enhance its digital capabili-ties through the purchase.

McCurnin Nautical was established inApril 1982, and has worked with NautiskForlag since 2008 on digital chart distribu-tion using Nautisk's Neptune software.

"We are very pleased with this acquisi-

www.martek-marine.comwww.alphatronmarine.comwww.transas.comwww.aagehempel.com

p25-36:p15-25.qxd 13/01/2012 12:21 Page 2


Digital Ship

UKHO Information Overlay added to JRC ECDIS

www.raytheon-anschuetz.com

Raytheon Anschuetz Singapore has beenawarded a contract to supply anIntegrated Bridge and Navigation Systemto a new Platform Supply Ship (OSV)being built at Nam Cheong Dockyard inMalaysia, while a complete Raytheonbridge will also be delivered to a new ves-sel being built at Bodewes Shipyards.

The delivery in Malaysia to the 79mDNV classed vessel will take place in Q32012, and covers four navigation worksta-tions for the front bridge, with radar, chartradar, ECDIS featuring a radar video over-lay, and customised conning.

For aft bridge operations, a fully opera-tional conning workstation will also bedelivered, while the ship's steering systemwill feature an adaptive autopilot whichworks with the ECDIS to create a trackcontrol system.

“At Raytheon Anschuetz Singapore wehave built up excellence in tailoring solu-tions to the particular needs of Asian ship-building, from standard navigation sys-tems to advanced configurations,” com-mented Jan Lötzsch, managing director of

Raytheon Anschuetz Singapore. “The bridge system for the new PSV is

an excellent proof of our capabilities inproject engineering, assembly and testing.”

Meanwhile, at Bodewes Shipyards,Alewijnse Marine Systems has delivereda complete Raytheon Anschütz bridgesystem for a ship owned by NescosShipping B.V.

The bridge package included X&S bandradar, dual ECDIS, autopilot and gyro-compass from Raytheon Anschütz, andwas supplemented by VDR, AIS andGMDSS equipment.

“We have many years of experience inthe design and supply of navigation andcommunication systems from manybrands across all kinds of vessels,” statedMichiel Louwerse, Alewijnse navigationand communications manager.

“Our recent partnership with RaytheonAnschütz allows us to offer a very highquality solution for all kinds of new buildvessels, from feeders to workboats.”

“The order to deliver the full bridgesystem for hull number 762 is another stepforward in our mission to supply bridgesystems in the Dutch market.”

Raytheon bridge for Malaysian and Dutch vessels

Raytheon Anschütz GmbHD-24100 Kiel, GermanyTel +49(0)4 31-30 19-0Fax +49(0)4 31-30 19-291

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UKHO reports that its AdmiraltyInformation Overlay is now available viaAdmiralty e-Navigator and on JRC ECDISmodels.

The Admiralty Information Overlay, afree service to Admiralty Vector ChartService (AVCS) customers, is available onJRC ECDIS models JAN-701B, JAN-901B,JAN-2000.

UKHO says that the Overlay is theonly service to include the worldwideTemporary & Preliminary Notices toMariners (T&PNM), and also includesthe results of UKHO’s review of theworld’s ENCs.

Viewed on e-Navigator, the Overlayallows the bridge team to view andassess the impact of T&PNMs and othernavigational information when planninga voyage.

When viewed on a JRC ECDIS, theOverlay is automatically displayed as anadditional layer over the ENC to see howT&PNMs may impact a voyage.

"Admiralty sets the benchmark foraccurate ENCs with the AVCS, and mostof our ECDIS customers rely on the datafor their primary navigation," said TamihoShinya, JRC.

"It is therefore important for them tohave access to this additional informationin a simple, integrated way. By deliveringcompatibility with the Overlay on ournewest ECDIS models, our customers canplan and execute voyages with improvedsafety and ease, and more easily demon-strate compliance during Port StateControl inspections."

In addition to JRC ECDIS, theInformation Overlay is also availablethrough Transas Navisailor and theSevenCs ORCA Master Electronic ChartSystem (ECS).

The Information Overlay will be avail-able through e-Navigator V 2.4 fromDecember 2012.

"The integration of the InformationOverlay into both front and back of bridgeoperations is delivering significantenhancements to the mariners’ ability toplan safe and efficient routes and to theirsituational awareness while executingthose voyages," said Ian Moncrieff,Admiralty chief executive.

"It’s a further example of our commit-ment to provide mariners and shippingcompanies with the accurate and trusted data they need to sail safely andcompliantly."

JRC ECDIS will now have the AdmiraltyInformation Overlay available

p25-36:p15-25.qxd 13/01/2012 12:21 Page 3

EE lectronic Chart Display and Infor-mation Systems (ECDIS) representthe navigational future. Used prop-

erly, they offer substantial advantagesover the old paper and pencil method, acontinuous plot of the ship’s position,warnings about navigational hazards inthe vicinity, and improved safety.

A huge bonus is the ease of correctioncompared to the labour-intensive manualcorrection process necessary with papercharts, which would drive a navigatorwith a world chart folio mad.

So why is there some apprehensionabout the now mandatory process thatwill see the world fleet fitted with ECDISover a six year period? What is there to beafraid of in this hugely positive technolog-ical development?

A number of major concerns do remainabout the adoption of electronic chart sys-tems. None are new but, as with manydevelopments that are enthused over bythe manufacturers who have produced thenew equipment, it is the translation fromtheory into practice that tends to beglossed over.

The cat’s pyjamasDuring the developmental stage of ECDISand its performance standards, insuffi-cient emphasis was given to the need todevelop a common presentation withstandardised nomenclature and controls.This might be no great surprise – radarsets and most navigational equipment aresubject to the same problems.

The new, high technology, equipmentthat is found on ships today has beendeveloped by manufacturers who buildtheir products with input from more thanone industry.

In the case of ECDIS, information tech-

nologies merge with existing navigationprocedures, the presentation of hydro-graphical data with ship systems automa-tion, ergonomics with education.

It makes available a volume of informa-tion that in itself poses a problem to theinexperienced user (data saturation), yetevery equipment and chart supplier alikeis totally convinced that his equipment isthe cat’s pyjamas.

Why? Because each one is selling acommercial product, adding bells andwhistles to ‘improve’ the capabilities of hisequipment and differentiate it from thecompetition.

The range of different ECDIS systemstoo is becoming a headache, one that ismade worse not only by shipowners´ tech-nical departments not liaising with thecrewing department but also by manufac-turers fighting to get a competitive edge.

Currently some 30 manufacturers areflooding the ECDIS market with morethan 40 different types of ECDIS makinguse of numerous different visualisationkernel brands.

Different nomenclature is used foridentical functions, one uses a trackballwhere another uses a mouse, default bril-liance settings are not the same (in spite ofspecific guidance on this point), etc., etc.

One of my students, who has actuallywritten his thesis on the risks representedby the variances in terminology, realisedvery quickly that there is no defined,standard, terminology: confusion waspre-programmed…

ECDIS trainingIn trying to force the implementation anduse of ECDIS (it has been around for some20 years) as the primary navigation devicewith the objective of increasing safety, the

international regulatory bodies have shotthemselves in the foot.

They have created an environmentwhere the bulk of the effort and costs areaimed purely at achieving ECDIS compli-ance on the basis of available equipmentand all other considerations that con-tribute to safety of operation have more orless fallen by the wayside.

To be more succinct, no regard has beenpaid to the human factor, to the usability, inthe implementation of the new technologyin an area where the human being is stillthe primary operator and decision maker.

Let us be clear, the changeover frompaper to electronics represents a majorchange, and one that has important impli-cations for training and bridge procedures.

An ECDIS is not something that can beinstalled by the manufacturer, with a fewreassuring words offered to the crew inresidence, which is then left to make themost of this exciting piece of kit.

Indeed, there have already beengroundings where precisely this indiffer-ence had been adopted and had con-tributed to the mishap.

Let me put this into context: have youever bought a new mobile phone and triedto use it without reading the instructions?Would you like to be doing that whilstdriving a 250,000 ton tanker?!

Perhaps it is the computer age we live in,when few of us ever receive any formal train-ing in the equipment we have to use everyday, which produces a mindset that regardsan ECDIS as just another sort of businessmachine to become used to, when it is, fora navigator, a major ‘change of course’.

So training does become a very muchmore serious matter: ‘generic’ training,which introduces the navigator to theprinciples of ECDIS, is absolutely essentialas a precursor to type training, which willensure that the navigator is capable ofoperating the equipment fitted to the shiphe or she will sail in.

It is the development of this trainingthat is still the subject of debate over itslength and extent at a time when equip-ment is already being fitted to new shipsand retrofitted to others.

This also has implications for the move-ment of officers around a fleet, especiallywhere different types of ECDIS equipmentare fitted, as officers will then be requiredto undergo additional periods of familiari-sation when they change ships, makingthem less flexible from a personnel depart-ment’s point of view.

The usability of commercial ECDISsoftware tends to range from difficult toverging on the impossible. ECDIS usesexpensive software doing an importantjob, on what may be a large and veryexpensive vessel. Surely it should bedesigned to be easy and straightforwardto use?

Oddly enough this is often not the case.There are several reasons for this:� The official ECDIS standards do not

lend themselves to useable software. For example, the performance specifi-cation for ECDIS is over ten years old so naturally it is based on ideas and technologies that were prevalent ten years ago.

At the time the standard was written there was not much around in terms of marine navigation systems and chart data. So rather than just drawing on best practices and experience, the stan-dard also needed to present a vision of how the committee thought that navi-gation software ought to be: a nearly impossible task no matter how good their crystal ball was.

� So designing ECDIS compliant soft-ware that is also usable is difficult in the first place, but it gets worse. Given a realistic situation of limited budgets and resources, the focus of the devel-opment effort tends towards the need for compliance. Usability is a secondary issue since unless the ECDIS can be certified as compliant with the standards it cannot be sold as an ECDIS.

� Actually getting the software certified is a time consuming and expensive business. I am talking many months and thousands of dollars here. It is not trivial. And here comes the catch: once the software is certified then it cannot really be changed without having to be re-certified.

� Ship owners are tight fisted. Typically they will not spend a penny more than necessary on equipment so as long as it meets the regulations – at which point it is usually the cheapest system that will do. I am not saying this is wrong – running a ship is a fantastically expensive busi-ness, but it does tend to make for com-parisons based on simple cost rather than other factors. A particular compa-ny’s software may be easier to use but if it is more expensive than its rivals then it will be hard to sell.

S-ModeS-100 is the chart data standard intendedto replace S-57 at some point in the future.

The groups working on this haverecognised that a typical ECDIS can be abit tricky to use. They have also noted thateach ECDIS tends to be tricky in a differ-ent way, so they have come up with asolution called ‘S Mode’.

The basic idea is that every ECDIS has abutton which will set it into S Mode. Inthis mode the controls, menu options, set-tings and so on will be exactly the sameirrespective of which company made theECDIS.

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION


ECDIS – a vast pedagogical experimentWhile the mandatory carriage requirement for ECDIS will undoubtedly introduce a number of benefits for navigators,

international regulatory bodies have created a huge potential problem trying to force through these changes without proper regard for the availability of the training that will be required to make sure the technology

is used safely, writes Prof Capt Ralph Becker-Heins, Safebridge

Maritime training has traditionally focused on classroom-based instructor training

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This is such a beautifully naive notion –it says ‘we’re a bit scared of this softwareso let’s make it all the same’.

Of course, the companies developingECDIS would implement S Mode but theywould almost certainly stop there – wherewould be the incentive and budget to doanything more, where the competitiveedge, when human nature would guaran-tee that only the S Mode would beemployed?

Everything would boil down to cost.How else would you differentiate betweensystems that all look and feel the same?

Do you seriously for one momentthink industry will go there? That is theroute to stagnation and a dead end; it is in

complete contradiction to the dynamic ofmodern business - and so we come backto training.

The pedagogicalexperiment

There is only one way to make softwaremore usable and that it to allow softwaredevelopers to experiment. They have totry out ideas and find out what works –and with whom, for no two people arealike in their learning capabilities.

It is very difficult; in fact it is amazing-ly difficult and it takes time, which we donot have.

With ECDIS, new navigation equip-ment has been introduced into the world’s

merchant fleets well ahead of the develop-ment of any sort of formal trainingrequirements for that new equipment.

For decades maritime training institu-tions, but also STCW training requirements,followed their own training pedagogy. Thatwas heavily grounded in teacher-centric,classroom-based lectures that methodicallyadvanced students through each of theskills in a series of lessons.

Often the instruction was based almostexclusively on such explicit learning tech-niques with little emphasis on instructorguided, implicit learning (learning by doing).

Back then, students were assumed to belinear thinkers, which is not a natural con-dition, and not very technologically savvy.But modern students are very comfortableusing quite sophisticated telecommunica-tion and computer gaming technologies.

If we are honest, today’s students arenormally more comfortable in these virtualenvironments than their instructors.Because of that, increased experimentallearning (that is student-centric) in a con-trolled interactive environment (simulation)is suited as most appropriate for becomingfamiliar with a new ECDIS device.

Training is the bridge but there is alsoan overwhelming need for user feedback

to ensure that ECDIS actually delivers thesafety benefits expected by the industry.How can the training branch provide thisbridge and assess the human needs?

And, finally, why do I refer to it as a‘vast’ experiment?

Estimates indicate that there are at a min-imum some 250,000 officers out there requir-ing ECDIS training. If we look at the next sixyears to come (the implementation period ofECDIS on board the ships) this means250,000 training events for generic training.

But additionally some 750,000 trainingevents for type-specific ECDIS familiarisa-tion, e.g. an officer will be confronted withan unknown ECDIS when changing theship, but also when staying with the samemodel of ECDIS, as the ECDIS manufac-turer may have released a major ECDISsoftware upgrade for his brand.

The industry has to further developquality equipment based on best practice.

However, the underlying trial-and-error method has to be accelerated to col-lect user feedback on a large scale, andwithout undue delay, from which to betterunderstand the users’ needs, revise theparameters and then improve the systembefore having the navigation systems ofthe future tested again.

Prof. Capt. Ralph Becker-Heins is a Professor of �avigation and Directorof Safebridge, a Hamburg-based maritime training company specialisingin online, type-specific, ECDIS simulation training.

This article has been adapted from a presentation delivered at theIAME 2011 conference. To read the original paper, visit the Safebridgewebsite at: www.safebridge.net/node/82.

DS

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p25-36:p15-25.qxd 13/01/2012 12:22 Page 7

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Space-based AIS continues to develop


Digital Ship

Space-based AIS provider ORBCOMM hasannounced that it has successfully launchedVesselSat2, an Automatic IdentificationService (AIS) enabled satellite, while com-peting provider exactEarth has announcedthree new orders for its global vessel track-ing and monitoring system, exactAIS.

ORBCOMM’s new satellite was built byLuxSpace Sarl, an affiliate of OHB SystemAG, and was launched by the China GreatWall Industry Corporation from theTiayuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) inthe Shanxi Province of the People'sRepublic of China on January 8, 2012.

The company reports that the satellite wassuccessfully deployed from the Long Marchlaunch vehicle into its proper polar orbit.

After successful completion of in-orbittesting and check-out, VesselSat2 is expect-ed to provide complete global AIS cover-age, including the North and South Poles. Itis expected to enter into commercial servicebefore the end of the first quarter of 2012.

ORBCOMM is the exclusive licensee forthe AIS data collected by VesselSat2 as wellas VesselSat1, which was launched into anequatorial orbit on October 12, 2011, and isnow providing commercial service.

ORBCOMM says that combining thisexisting satellite with the new VesselSat2will provide higher probability of vesseldetection, greater refresh rates, andimproved message delivery speeds for itsAIS users worldwide.

"We are excited to announce the suc-

cessful launch of VesselSat2, enablingORBCOMM's satellite AIS service to pro-vide complete global coverage," said MarcEisenberg, CEO of ORBCOMM.

"AIS users will experience an evenhigher quality of service, including lowerlatency and optimal data delivery, solidi-fying our market leadership and bringingus another step closer to providingunmatched AIS service as we deploy ournext generation constellation."

VesselSat1 and VesselSat2 will also sup-plement ORBCOMM’s next generation(OG2) constellation of 18 AIS-enabled satel-lites that currently are under construction.

ORBCOMM recently announced anupdated launch schedule for the OG2 satel-lites, which includes launching the firstOG2 prototype satellite on the first CargoRe-supply Services (CRS) mission in mid-2012, followed by an additional launch oftwo OG2 satellites into a high inclinationorbit as a secondary payload in late 2012.

In early 2013, the company plans tolaunch eight to twelve OG2 satellites, andthe remainder of the constellation of 18 OG2satellites is expected to be launched in 2014.

All launches are to be performed bySpace Exploration Technologies (SpaceX),and are expected to be on Falcon 9 rockets.The AIS technology will be carried as asecondary payload on other SpaceX space-craft launches.

ORBCOMM says that the inclusion oftwo OG2 satellites as a secondary payload

on a high inclination insertion orbit willenable it to significantly improve messag-ing services in polar latitudes.

Additionally, it should provide theability to thoroughly test and verify OG2satellite performance before the primarylaunch of eight to twelve OG2 satellites.

"We are pleased that SpaceX has offeredORBCOMM this opportunity to launch twosatellites that will help our customers usingour OG2 messaging services, and addi-tionally augment service to our maritimeAutomatic Identification System (AIS)customers that benefit from coverage athigher inclinations," said Mr Eisenberg.

"The net outcome of these revisedlaunch plans has us launching OG2 satel-lites at a faster pace with less risk."

Space-AIS ordersCompeting satellite-based AIS dataprovider exactEarth meanwhile hasreceived three new orders for its servicesfrom different governments.

The governments of Australia andSingapore are both new customers for theservice, while another existing customer,the Canadian Government, has signed anew contract to use satellite AIS data tosupport a range of applications includingmaritime surveillance and security, trafficmonitoring, environmental protection,and search and rescue operations.

exactAIS uses an AIS receiver-equipped satellite constellation and its

own processing technology to deliver awide overview of vessel locations.

"With these recent customer wins wehave now surpassed $10 million of ordersbooked in the last twelve months," saidPeter Mabson, president of exactEarth.

"This news caps a very successful yearhighlighted by the further expansion ofour satellite constellation. We are con-stantly demonstrating the benefits ofexactAIS to maritime authorities world-wide and this continues to result in newcustomers."

"It is a testament to our global capabili-ty to see that exactEarth now has cus-tomers spanning five continents across theworld and, as recently reported, we deliv-ered more than 3 billion AIS messages tothese customers over the past year. Weexpect to gain further market traction infiscal 2012 as we add to both our in-orbitand ground-based infrastructure."

VesselSat1 Photo: ISRO

DS

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AA s reported in Digital Ship lastmonth, the London P&I Club isright to warn that technology can

cause costly distractions. The examples ofthis range from seemingly obvious misde-meanours to subtleties that justify why awatch officer has to be so carefully trainedand subsequently kept well informed.

However, many of the obvious distrac-tions, such as accessing the web or dealingwith personal e-mails while undertaking awatch, are not really a technology issue.

It has always been easy to compromisegood watchkeeping, for instance by read-ing a magazine or scribbling a letter, activ-ities which are obviously equally distract-ing when compared to their more modernequivalents.

Banning web technology from a bridgeis certainly not a solution. Used appropri-ately – and not by the watch officer – it canusefully provide additional information tothe bridge team in support of the safetyand efficiency of the ship.

As we enter the e-navigation future theOOW will actually need to be regularlyaccessing web-based information, but theactivity, by legislation and design, will nec-essarily be far removed from the normaldiversional experience of web-browsing.

Distraction arising from the misuse ofnavigational displays is the more difficulttask to eradicate, not least because there isgenerally no right answer as to how a com-plex display, such as radar or ECDIS, shouldbe optimally set in any given situation.

The problem today is that we are need-ing to navigate ever more safely in increas-ingly demanding situations. This is onlypossible by having access to increasinglydetailed information.

The skill is always to have the rightlevel of information available and not bedistracted by irrelevant detail.

The radar displayRadar forms a good example of the prob-lems that the wrong decisions on displaysettings can give. In fact it has sufferedfrom display detail issues since it was firstintroduced to merchant vessels over 60years ago.

Leaving aside problems of inappropriaterange scale selection, the historical problemwith radar was associated with incorrectsettings of the gain and clutter controlsallowing critical targets to be missed, eitherbecause they didn’t paint a return at all orbecause returns were hidden in a visualoverload of displayed noise and clutter.

Modern signal processing technologyhas significantly simplified the setting-upof a good basic radar image and it appearsthat few incidents are now caused byincorrect settings of these controls.

Today, the main problems arise from thesteadily increasing functionality of radarand the amount of complex information

that can be displayed at any one time. A considerable amount of data is now

provided outside the radar circle.However, this is normally quite well laidout, with few operator options on its use,and does not seem to create significantdistraction problems for anyone familiarwith the particular system.

Even so, the detailed layout of this areavaries considerably from system to sys-tem, underlining the need for properfamiliarisation of the equipment beforeundertaking a watch, especially as it hasbecome the main area used in the controland indication of user-set parameters.

The real potential problem facing theuser lies within the radar circle. So muchinformation is available for display that anunskilled operator can easily fill it with adensity that can totally obscure a develop-ing critical situation.

For example, the data available on amodern radar display includes colourcoded radar returns, AIS targets, targettrails, tracking vectors and identifiers,own ship heading line and past track, nav-igation lines, routes, maps, range ringsand parallel index lines.

Also, radar displays are now increas-ingly offering the option of being able toshow ENC data – which, despite its greatusefulness, also unleashes more displaymisuse possibilities.

Target trackingModern radars for large vessels typicallypermit the simultaneous tracking of 200targets – 100 each of radar and AIS. It is thiscapability, in particular, that can create dis-play confusion when inexpertly used.

It is probable that some users erro-neously think that if everything possible isbeing tracked by both radar and AIS thenthe collision alarms will always providean alert to any possible problem.

However, the mass of vectors and identi-fiers that can arise, particularly with manyoverlaid radar and AIS tracked targets, canprevent a good appraisal of the real issues.In addition, automatic collision alerts aremore likely to be confused with the wrongtargets because of the crowded display.

A mindset that assumes that an auto-matic warning will be given for any poten-tial problem detaches itself from a properunderstanding of the ever-evolving situa-tion. Even worse, it wrongly assumes thatcurrent technology will always identify apotential problem.

It is difficult to argue, however, that thetracking capability of radar should bereduced to prevent any misuse, simplybecause the number of targets being ideal-ly tracked is so situation dependent.

Also, as so frequently argued in this col-umn, AIS and radar used together greatlyenhance the ability of the user to assess theintegrity of the perceived situation.

For the current situation, a skilled userwill readily decide on a good option thatwill avoid a confusing display, while stillretaining an integrity monitoring capabili-ty for critical targets.

This could include the judicious use ofthe target association functionality, whichdecreases the display complexity of tar-gets that have been acquired by both radarand AIS.

In the not too distant future it can beenvisaged that radar processors will beforming ‘sleeping’ tracks on all targets, bothby radar and AIS. The tracking controls ofthe operator will just select which targetswill actually display basic tracking informa-tion on the display, such as course vectors.

Sleeping tracked radar targets wouldstill trigger collision alarms, just as can beset today for sleeping AIS targets.

The instant availability of tracking datawould help de-clutter the scene as mosttargets could be left without vectors beingshown, with perhaps the display set toshow trails or past position plots of a sen-sible length for all moving targets.

On-going trainingSome of the set-up issues with modernradar appear to arise from the poor andeven non-existent training that some usershave received on AIS, and particularlywith using AIS on radar.

This was underlined at a recent gather-ing, when a number of serving watch offi-cers appeared not to understand the term‘sleeping AIS targets’, even though theywere using modern AIS enabled radar dis-plays at sea.

Perhaps it was just the term that baf-fled them. However, knowledge of theconcept of sleeping AIS targets is critical

when de-cluttering a modern radar dis-play, particularly when AIS is being usedto its fullest potential in providingintegrity enhancement.

A major problem is the mindset ofmuch of the industry, thinking that radartraining is a fixed learning experience thatforms part of the fundamental educationof watch officers and remains valid for life.

The safe navigation of a vessel is a diffi-cult task and OOWs should rightly beproud of what they do. However, just likemedical doctors, they all need to be keptproperly abreast of modern developments.

This is the only way that they will con-tinue to make judicious use of all the tech-nology provided on the bridge. If this isignored, the distraction potential of newersystems could become an increasinglydominant issue.

Often the question is asked ‘why do weneed change from what we have now?’The fundamental answer to this is thathumans, through their governments,demand ever-increasing levels of safetyand environmental protection, at the sametime as demanding affordable and easilyavailable products.

The present navigational aids on shipsare inadequate to meet these increasingend-customer demands. Just as problemat-ic, on many occasions they are still far frommeeting the present demands of the OOW.Ongoing change is therefore inevitable.

What we have to ensure is that we keepthe OOW properly engaged in obtaining afull understanding of the present situation.

Automatic alerts from the technologyshould rarely come as a surprise, not leastbecause the OOW is maintaining his or herown skills in setting up clear displays pop-ulated with relevant detail.

An unfortunately common contributory cause cited in marine accidents is the failure of navigators to competently apply the modern technologies in use on today’s vessels. However, whether using computer based systems or traditional methods,

good training and good watchkeeping have a greater influence than the technologies themselves, writes Dr Andy Norris

Navigational distractions

DS

Dr Andy �orris has been well-known in the maritime navigation industry for anumber of years. He has spent much of his time managing high-tech navigationcompanies but now he is working on broader issues within the navigationalworld, providing both technical and business consultancy to the industry, gov-ernmental bodies and maritime organizations. Email: [email protected]

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION


Over 60 years radar has evolved to reduce initial problems with display settings, but other issues remain

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