DIGITAL SHIP MAGAZINE (NOVEMBER 2010)

GG lobalstar hasannounced thatsix of its new sec-

ond-generation satelliteshave been successfullylaunched, a major step inthe introduction of its newhigher capacity satellitenetwork.

The satellites werelaunched from theBaikonur Cosmodrome inKazakhstan, using theSoyuz launch vehicle, onOctober 19th at 11:11 pmlocal time (5:11 pm UTC),using the Soyuz-Fregatversion of the Soyuzlaunch vehicle.

Launch servicesprovider Arianespace confirmed that the upperstage of the vehicle accu-rately injected the six-satellite dispenser into thetargeted low earth orbit ofapproximately 920 km.

Globalstar reports thatall six satellites have sincebeen successfully acquiredfollowing separation of theFregat Upper Stage andrelease from the satellitedispenser.

The company says thatit has now initiated satel-lite in-orbit testing, and theperformance of all six

spacecraft is nominal atthis time.

“After more than fourand a half years of concen-trated effort we areextremely pleased toannounce the successfulinaugural launch of our sec-

ond-generation constella-tion satellites,” said TonyNavarra, president of glob-al operations for Globalstar.

“It is with great enthu-siasm and excitement thatwe begin initiating oursecond-generation satel-

lite operations and lookforward to the future serv-ices the constellation willsupport.”

“With all six satellitesnow safely in orbit we congratulate and applaudall of our Globalstaremployees world-wideand thank launch providerArianespace as well as oursatellite contractor ThalesAlenia Space for thislaunch success.”

Improvingservice

The new satellites have afifteen year design life, andhave been constructedunder a contract signedwith Thales Alenia Spacein late 2006.

The 700kg satellites arelarger and heavier than thefirst-generation platformsin Globalstar's orbital con-stellation. A total of 32first-generation satelliteswere launched by Starsemon eight Soyuz flights from1999 to 2007, with thosemissions each carryingfour 450kg spacecraft.

For this new generation,a total of four launches ofsix satellites each will be

IN THIS ISSUE

November 2010

electronics and navigation

software

satcomsUSCG agrees $42m mini-VSAT deal – 4

IP exhaustion and the rise of IPv6 – 6

Making the most ofVSAT at Teekay – 8

New growth ahead in the maritime satcoms sector – 12

Electronic documents get P&I coverapproval – 16

Voyage optimisationintroduces GoogleEarth – 18

Tanker operation sparks widespreadBPM rollout at Chevron – 22

Globalstar launch success

Engine performance monitoring systems from Wärtsilä – 26

Satellite AIS company sells stake – 27

ECDIS – ensuring competence – 31

Changing attitudes – Dr Andy Norris – 34

Having survived the public admission in 2007 that “substantially all” of itssatellites may soon be unable to support two-way data communicaitons,

Globalstar has recently successfully completed the launch of the first six satellites in its second generation network

The successful launch from Kazakhstan led to thedeployment of six second-generation satellites.

Photo: Arianespace

continued on page 2

© 2

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“Dualog has been around for a long time and they are renowned for their

customer, providing us with the best solution and support at all times. We know our communications are secure in their hands,” says Bill Caldwell.

All Northern Marine-managed ships are being equipped with Dualog® Connection Suite™ to manage and control ship-shore data communication.

Management has chosen Dualog as its trusted maritime communication partner.

– Bill Caldwell, IT manager of Northern Marine Management

“It’s a matter of trust and security”

Meet us at Digital Ship Athens 2010 1-2 December, Athinais Cultural Center Dualog® Connection Suite™ - Take Control

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:17 Page 1

SATCOMS NEWS

Digital Ship November 2010 page 2

Vol 11 No 3

UPCOMING CONFERENCESDIGITAL SHIP ATHENSAthinais Cultural Centre

1-2 December 2010DIGITAL SHIP SCANDIVNAVIAScandic Hotel Bergen City, Bergen

2 - 3 February 2011

DIGITAL SHIP SUBSCRIPTIONSGBP £150 per year for 10 issues

Subscribe online at www.thedigitalship.com

or contact Stephan Venter [email protected],

tel +44 (0)20 7017 3407

Digital Ship Limited2nd Floor,

8 Baltic Street EastLondon EC1Y 0UP, U.K.www.thedigitalship.com

PUBLISHERStuart Fryer

EDITORRob O'Dwyer: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3410

email: [email protected]

CONFERENCE PRODUCERSKarl Jeffery: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3405

email: [email protected] Hodge: Tel +44 (0) 20 7253 2700


ADVERTISINGRia Kontogeorgou: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3401


PRODUCTIONVivian Chee: Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 5540


EVENTSDiana Leahy EngelbrechtTel: +44 (0)118 931 3109


CONSULTANT WRITERDr Andy Norris (navigation)

[email protected]

No part of this publication may be repro-duced or stored in any form by anymechanical, electronic, photocopying,recording or other means without theprior written consent of the publisher.Whilst the information and articles inDigital Ship are published in good faithand every effort is made to check accura-cy, readers should verify facts and state-ments direct with official sources beforeacting on them as the publisher canaccept no responsibility in this respect.Any opinions expressed in this maga-zine should not be construed as thoseof the publisher.

continued from page 1

conducted by launch services providerArianespace using the Soyuz launch vehi-cle, with the 24 second-generation satellitesto be integrated with eight first-generationsatellites that were launched in 2007, toform a new 32-satellite constellation.

Globalstar says that, with each subse-quent launch, customers can expect a pro-gressive return to the quality of systemaccess and data session performance met-rics available before some of the satelliteproblems it reported in an SEC filing inearly 2007.

At that time Globalstar had discoveredfrom its analysis of the network that thedegradation of the solid-state poweramplifiers of the S-band communicationsantenna, used to provide the downlinkfrom the satellite to a subscriber’s phoneor data terminal, was “occurring at a ratethat is faster than previously experiencedand faster than the Company had previ-ously anticipated.”

The statement continued: “Based on itsmost recent analysis, the Company nowbelieves that, if the degradation of the S-band antenna amplifiers continues at thecurrent rate or further accelerates, and ifthe Company is unsuccessful in develop-ing additional technical solutions, thequality of two-way communications serv-ices will decline, and by some time in2008 substantially all of the Company’s

currently in-orbit satellites will cease tobe able to support two-way communica-tions services.”

“As the number of in-orbit satelliteswith properly functioning S-band antennadecreases, despite a successful launch andoptimised placement in orbit of the eightspare satellites in mid-2007, increasinglylarger coverage gaps will recur over areasin which the Company currently providestwo-way communication services.”

“Subscriber service will continue to beavailable, but at certain times in any givenlocation it will take substantially longer toestablish calls and the average duration ofcalls may be impacted adversely.”

Despite these significant problemsGlobalstar has managed to survive and,with the launch of these new satellites, ison its way to the restoration of a fullyfunctioning network with even greatercapacity than its existing technology.

The new constellation, combined withthe company’s next-generation ground net-work that is expected to be installed by2012, will provide increased data speeds ofup to 256 kbps in a flexible internet protocolmultimedia subsystem (IMS) configuration.

Globalstar recently reported the com-pletion of hardware and software updates to three ground monitoring controlcentres, the Globalstar data network and system planning centre in the months

leading up to the launch.The company has installed satellite

telemetry and command unit (TCU)upgrades at seven of its satellite gatewayground stations to operate with its newsatellites.

TCU upgrades were installed at gate-way ground stations in Argentina,Australia, Botswana, France, Korea, andthe United States. The upgrades aredesigned to provide Globalstar with thecapability to globally monitor and controlthe orbital deployment of the second-gen-eration constellation.

"The updates to our ground monitoringcontrol centres, data network and systemplanning centre and the TCU gatewayupgrades complete the final ground net-work installation milestones required forthe launch of our new satellites," said PeterDalton, CEO, Globalstar.

"Once our new constellation is fullydeployed next year, we expect to onceagain reliably provide the world's finestquality mobile satellite voice and fastestmobile satellite handset data services tocommercial and government customersaround the world."

The telemetry and command unitupgrades were also provided and installedby Thales Alenia Space, the manufacturerof Globalstar's new second-generationsatellites.

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www.thuraya.com

Comtech and Thuraya have announcedthat their new maritime broadband satel-lite transceiver will be available to com-mercial fleets in early 2011.

The new broadband terminals, devel-oped in partnership between Comtechand Thuraya, will offer simultaneousvoice and data services to ships at seawithin the coverage area of the Thurayasatellite network.

“Now, more than ever before, ship owners, builders and masters need to drive operational efficiencies andimprove seafarer comfort. They are lookingfor assurances on quality, reliability andvalue,” commented Dan Wood, presidentof Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation.

“Equally, there is a real imperative forthe market to respond to our offerings -much of the hardware in the larger mer-

chant fleets is due for review or upgradeover the next three years.”

“Our best-of-breed partners andproven technical expertise put us in agreat position to match the performance ofthe established players, and we’re focusedon delivering that superior quality at acompetitive price. ”

Comtech has says it has now begun tosound out candidates to trial its firstbroadband terminal, designed for largemerchant fleets and other vessels withhigh bandwidth requirements.

“We’ll be staging product releasesthrough 2011, beginning with a broad-band terminal designed for large commer-cial vessels,” said Mr Wood.

“We are confident that ComtechMarine’s high performance features willoffer a compelling value proposition tocustomers and we are excited about theindustry response so far.”

Comtech and Thuraya broadband ready for 2011

Comtech says that it is currently looking for trialists for its maritime satcom system

www.vizada.com

Vizada has launched a proprietaryVSAT satellite communications service,the latest addition to its maritime broad-band portfolio of services.

The new VSAT service is based oniDirect technology, and provides stan-dard IP data speeds of more than 1 Mbpsfor multiple applications such as inter-net, e-mail and VoIP.

Vizada says that, like all of its broadband offerings, the VSAT servicecan be combined with one or a range ofits Vizada Solutions value added servic-es, to manage data transfers, increasesecurity, and help control communica-tions costs.

The company's maritime broadbandportfolio also includes InmarsatFleetBroadband and Iridium OpenPort,and Vizada says that the addition ofVSAT to this list will improve customerchoice in terms of data connectivityspeeds, coverage, and terminal andantenna size.

Vizada also says that the introductionof the service will enable it to match thedual requirements of many of its ship-ping company users by bundling themaritime VSAT together with InmarsatFleetBroadband.

“With this new VSAT service we aimto offer our service providers an exclu-sive competitive advantage by armingthem with a high-performance broad-band communications service supportedby industry leading solutions and tech-nical expertise,” said Erik Ceuppens,CEO Vizada EMEA & Asia.

VSAT from Vizada

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www.singtel.com

SingTel has launched a combined set ofsatellite services, under a unified communi-cations platform it is calling @SingTel v2.0.

Titus Yong, vice presidentof SingTel Satellite, describesthe new service as an "all-in-one business and crew wel-fare solution that unifiesdata, e-mail and web surfingon a single platform."

The system aims to inte-grate these communicationsservices with remote diagnos-tics technology, all operatingvia Ku-band VSAT terminals.

"Connecting people,teams and information, it isfeature-packed to deliver thereliability, scalability, securi-ty and flexibility customershave come to expect fromSingTel," said Mr Yong.

"This solution enablescrew to read news and accessthe internet while staying intouch with family and friendsduring the long months atsea, via secure and cost-effec-tive e-mails and SMS."

Crew communicationsservices include voice overIP phones, and a prepaidmessaging card whichdeducts credit when thecrew sends SMS and e-mail.This card will be extended tocover voice traffic in thefuture, SingTel says.

One single integrated e-mail account is created forcrew members and will fol-low them as they moveamong different vessels. Theuser logs-in via the portalinterface and can access e-mail and SMS messages in asingle application.

A free ManagementUtility is included for opera-tional use, so shipping com-panies can view their e-mailtraffic online, do archiveretrieval, download call datarecords and conduct e-mailmanagement activities suchas setting mailbox size limits.

Remote diagnostics arealso integrated as part of theshipboard console of the uni-fied platform, allowing forpre-programming of param-eters specific to each cus-tomer or vessel - includingline of sight, satellite foot-prints, communications com-ponents, physical compo-nents, LAN networks andvoice over IP phones.

This can be useful in help-ing technicians to correctlydiagnose problems with thecommunications system. Forexample, pre-programminginto the system the location

of a known problem part of the ship'sphysical infrastructure (such as a crane),which could block line of sight, might pre-vent the existing blockage from beingrecognised as a system fault.

"Downtime at sea can mean hundredsof thousands incurred in docking fees andcompensation," notes Mr Yong.

"The SingTel Remote DiagnosticsSolution [is] proven to cut problem deter-

mination time from one week to one hour.And in most cases not involving partsreplacement, the system can be remotelyrestored to health through system and net-work management tools."


Digital Ship

Unified communications from SingTel

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:17 Page 3

SATCOMS NEWS


www.kvh.com

KVH has agreed a $42 million deal with theUnited States Coast Guard (USCG) to sup-ply satellite communications systems to itssmall cutter fleet.

KVH’s mini-VSAT broadband servicewill be used to provide the USCG's SmallCutter Connectivity (SCC) Ku-band systemand Air Time Support Services solution.

USCG's Telecommunications andInformation Systems Command (TISCOM)will deploy the technology over a three tofive year period aboard as many as 216small cutters, representing 16 different cut-ter classes.

The contract, encompassing shipboardhardware, airtime services and support, isa 10-year Indefinite Delivery/IndefiniteQuantity (IDIQ) contract, valued atapproximately $42 million.

In conjunction with the contract award,

USCG agrees $42m mini-VSAT dealKVH has also received the first task orderfrom the USCG to begin programmeimplementation immediately. KVH will besupported by ViaSat in this multi-yeareffort, as well as by logistics partnerMackay Communications.

The Small Cutter Connectivity programis part of USCG’s initiative to move the lega-cy cutter fleet’s commercial satellite systemsfrom Inmarsat to Ku-band. KVH currentlyprovides its mini-VSAT broadband serviceto 38 USCG small cutters, which will be partof the potential 216-vessel deployment.

“In the face of rapidly expanding datacommunications requirements, includingreal-time use of biometric technology,homeland security efforts, and extendedworldwide operations, the US Coast Guardneeded a global communication solutionrobust enough to support these demandsand rugged enough for even the mostdemanding maritime conditions,” said

www.beamcommunications.com

Beam Communications has launched adocking station for Inmarsat’s global hand-held satellite phone, IsatPhone Pro, specifi-cally designed for the marine environment.

The water resistant IsatDock Marineenables charging and calling onboard a ves-sel while keeping the IsatPhone Pro handsetsafe and dry inside a marine-standard enclo-sure (with an Ingress Protection rating of 54).

The marine enclosure provides a coverover the IsatPhone Pro, is key-lockableand can be wall or desk-mounted.

The IsatDock Marine allows the hand-set to also be used as a hands-free speak-erphone, and has an RJ11 interface to con-nect standard telephone equipment,including integration to a PABX for multi-handset access.

The company says that the system willalso allow access to data services over thephone when these capabilities arelaunched in the near future (currentlyexpected to be in Q1 2011).

IsatDock Marine also has a dedicatedinternal GPS receiver to support its track-ing function, providing periodic locationmessages and/or instant manual locationmessaging at the press of a button.

An alert mode is included, which offersmanual alerts through a two button presson the dock or through an external alertbutton connected to the device.Emergency alert messages can be sent viaSMS, or SMS to e-mail.

Pending type approval from Inmarsat,IsatDock Marine will be commerciallyavailable by the end of the year.

Marine docking station launched forInmarsat handheld

The docking station is water resistantand offers hands-free calling

www.mtnsat.com

Intership Navigation has signed a serviceagreement with MTN SatelliteCommunications for the provision ofbroadband VSAT satellite connections toits two new giant bulk carriers.

The 177,000 dwt ships are being built atthe New Century Shipyard in Jing Jiang,China. The first, DHL Pacific, was deliv-ered in August, and the second, Percival,is scheduled for delivery by the end of the year.

Both ships were designed as designatedtraining vessels, which can accommodateup to 12 nautical students and a trainingofficer in addition to their standard crewcomplement.

DHL Pacific has been equipped with asecondary training bridge, separate fromthe ship’s navigation bridge, with a built-in simulator for watch-keeping instruction.

Practical training is supplemented by anonline education programme fromMagellan Academy of Shipping &Transport (MAST), a web-based academythat offers e-learning courses for nauticaland technical seagoing staff.

“MTN’s VSAT services are critical to thee-learning programme, giving our instruc-

tors and students unlimited access to thisunique online training platform while atsea,” said Pawel Bury, IT manager,Intership Navigation.

“Using the MTN satellite connection,the students can participate in chat roomsand online forums to seek advice fromcareer coaches at the company’s shoretraining centre in Manila.”

“It also permits the shipboard trainingofficers to access and check e-learningresults of students via the shore-basedMAST administration software and pro-vide assistance as needed.”

Bradford Briggs, senior vice presidentand general manager, MTN commercialshipping and energy services, also com-mented: “Intership Navigation’s commit-ment to crew training is truly impressive.”

“We hope other major shipping compa-nies will follow their lead in leveraging theavailability of VSAT-enabled onboard e-learning to help the next generation of sea-farers become fully trained on the newgeneration of advanced shipboard naviga-tion and engineering systems.”

Installation of the VSAT systems wasoverseen by Satlink (Maritime Services),MTN’s sales and service channel partnerin Cyprus.

Intership to install VSAT on two newbuilds

Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH CEO. “It’s gratifying that the US Coast Guard

recognised that the combination of ourTracPhone V7 and the mini-VSAT broad-band service offered the capacity and relia-bility to meet these requirements while pro-viding the best value to the government.”

“We are honoured to provide the dedi-cated professionals of the US Coast Guardwith the critical satellite communicationtechnology and service that they need tocomplete their missions successfully nowand in the future.”

In other news, KVH and its partnerViaSat have recently announced a 100 percent capacity increase for the network car-rying mini-VSAT Broadband services inEurope.

A new satellite, NSS-6, has also beenadded to the network to expand the over-all coverage area for the Ku-band satellitesystem.

"The addition of a new satellite, and therollout of a powerful new high-densitywaveform, dramatically enhances the abil-

ity of our mini-VSAT Broadband networkto support existing and future subscribers,"said Brent Bruun, KVH vice president ofsatellite sales and business development.

"The network is built upon a robust,flexible architecture and ViaSat's ArcLightspread spectrum technology, permitting usto quickly and easily expand the service."

Current mini-VSAT customers will beable to benefit from these enhancementsusing their existing KVH hardware.

KVH has also announced a new distri-bution agreement with Furuno, wherebythe Japanese company will begin marketingand selling mini-VSAT Broadband airtimeservice and supporting equipment, alongwith a compatible 1-metre antenna system.

"We look forward to working withKVH to bring the mini-VSAT Broadbandservice to our customers so that they willbe able to enjoy the benefits of its seamlessglobal network, broadband connections,and affordable airtime," said KazumaWaimatsu, director of the marine electricproducts division, Furuno.

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SATCOMS


The finite number of IP addresses available under the current version of the protocol will eventually mean that all such addresses will be exhausted. A new version of IP has been created to solve this very problem –

however, the transition may take some effort, writes Howard Hughes, Inmarsat Training Academy

IP exhaustion – the rise of IPv6

AA few months ago, I came out ofthe dark ages and invested in a Playstation 3. Much to my

wife’s amusement, I now spend a coupleof spare hours a week shooting friends onthe internet.

In addition, I also possess a HighDefinition TV on which I can watch…well, TV channels. But it too shows me theinternet.

And there’s my laptop, my belovediPhone, and a few other essential (no really!) gadgets, all with varying levels of internet access. All of which connect to my incumbent and laboured wirelessrouter.

Each of these devices requires a simpleIP address to connect to my router. Therouter in turn masquerades these address-es as one single public IP which can thenbe seen by the outside world. This publicIP is assigned to me dynamically by myInternet Service Provider (ISP)

I am not alone with this kind of equip-ment list. If several preserving techniqueshad not been brought into play my set-upwould have required at least four publicIP addresses.

Since the 1980’s, when computing wasbecoming less Goliath-sized mainframesand more desktop PC, the need to shareinformation was becoming critical.

Several different companies were vyingfor the mantle of having the best protocolto deal with business/user needs. Eachoffered varying levels of efficiency andaccuracy in ensuring data was sent andreceived accurately.

Some protocols were specialised intransporting traffic locally within the localarea network (LAN), others for wide areanetworking (WAN).

But one suite of protocols came throughas being the leader for both easy adoptionfor local and wide area delivery, one thathad developed from its early military con-ception through to commercial main-stream use.

Used in conjunction with upper layertransport protocols, information could bereliably sent and received and even re-directed to other points to ensure delivery.

To do this, IP requires an address. Eachone needs to be unique for both host anddestination.

The address is made up of 32 bits ofdata in the form of binary, separateddown into four sections. Each section isknown as an Octet (as it contains eight bitsof binary).

For us to understand this easily(humans are far slower than computers) itis converted to decimal and the address isknown as a Dotted Decimal Notation, orIP address to you and me.

These addresses came from a centralorganisation that globally managed the

assignment to individual corpora-tions/Internet Service Providers etc.

IPv4, as it is known, is able to provide4.3 billion IP addresses (232). This soundsan impressive number, but when you con-sider that every public router, web-server,DNS server, etc requires an IP address,and then all the home users, it certainlytakes a large portion of these billionsaway.

Consider then that by 2005, out of thehundreds of millions of homes in thedeveloped world, over half had internetconnectivity. All this connectivity needsat least one address.

Some interim methods were adoptedthat provided a dual purpose of saving theconsumption of addresses and providinga form of security. The most common ofthese is known as Network AddressTranslation (NAT). All routers are capableof supporting this.

There are several different varieties of NAT, but the basic principle is thesame. An IP node or group of IP nodeshave their addresses hidden and are presented to the outside world as one sin-gle address.

The problem however is that as we cre-ate new devices to talk across the internet,or increase our existing infrastructure, wepotentially need more addresses and sothe issue of demand and decreasing avail-ability arises.

Ipv6 solutionsIs this the end of the world? Of course not!We haven’t come this far without lookingat advancing this technology. The answerlies in something called…IPv6.

IPv6 is very different to its predeces-sors. For one, the address is longer, and tobe honest, it looks a little less friendly.

Instead of Binary, the address is nowhexadecimal. IPv4 was only 32 bits inlength; IPv6 is now 128 bits in length. Eachsection is now separated by a coloninstead of a decimal period.

There is also of course the answer to the questions: how many addresses can this new version support before it runsout too?

Well, it should be able to support closeto 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 unique addresses! Or toput it in a shorter format, 2128. I think thatshould suffice for the next few years...

Apart from the obvious visible change,there is of course, a technical change in itsabilities.

These can get quite complex, but coverapproximately the following areas:1) With the high number of addresses,

NAT will no longer be a necessity. Each IP node can have its own unique address.

2) With the removal of NAT, IPv6 can be

used for Peer to Peer applications. The benefits are widespread, from gaming software to just making a basic phone call through a PBX. The caller could now go directly to the handset, rather than through an intermediary.

3) Improved auto-configuration. IPv6 will still support stateful connections assigned by DHCP, but also has the ability to auto-configure. So, in theory, a device could communicate with another IP node without the need of DHCP or static address assignment.

4) Simplified headers. Currently IPv4 has headers that identify certain characteristics of the datagram which then has to go through a checksum process by the receiving node. This can slow the throughput of the data. IPv6 has a much simpler header structure that allows far faster process-

ing which will free up resources on routers, for example.

5) The introduction of the Flow Label field in the header will allow improved Quality of Service (QoS). The flow label will allow routers to identify which flow that packet is from, for example, identifying the source and destination or point-to-point and keep-ing the packets within the same flow.

6) Improvements on Multicasting. Multicasting can be and is used for services like Multimedia, where an event is sent to selected groups. However, this doesn’t work through subnets and routers have to be config-ured to support it. IPv6 offers large multicast address ranges that will help. This could certainly open the boundaries for multimedia applica-tions like IPTV onboard vessels.

For Station711 ISP’s list in your region, please contact [email protected] www.station711.com

Cost reduction Simplified operations

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p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 6

Digital ShipAlso, Anycast is now introduced in a more effective manner. Anycasting does not send to all nodes in a net-work, only to the nearest. This would help in cases of redundancy. If I com-municate with the nearest server in the group and the route fails on the next session, a connection can be provided the next server in the same group.

7) Better Mobility connection. When a device changes its location but wants to retain existing connections, this can be done with Mobile IP v6 (MIPv6)

8) IPSec support. IPv6 comes with secure communication ability built in. This will enable users/crew to communicate very simply but with potential of encrypted and protected transmission

Consequences of IPevolution

So perhaps all of this sounds particularlybrilliant on a technical scale? IPv6 wasannounced back in 1998, so why hasn’tthis been embraced already?

According to usage counters, ISP’s willrun out of assignable addresses by aroundJune 2011 (worst case scenario). Whatdoes this mean for us, the users?

Well, this is not quite 23:59:59 on the31st December 1999 where the doommon-gers were waiting for planes to fall out ofthe sky and the world to melt. The end ofIP address assignment will have a knock-

on effect, but not immediately. IT manufacturers will indeed have to

start providing equipment that will sup-port IPv6. Because of its structure, IP’s 4and 6 cannot communicate seamlesslywith each other, so a router that’s connect-ed to the internet may have to supportIPv6 for incoming and outgoing traffic,but convert to IPv4 for the internal side –your computers.

Some readers may already be awarethat Microsoft and Apple already havesupport for IPv6.

From the release of Microsoft Vistaonwards, Microsoft’s operating systemhas both levels installed and working.Apple started support with OS-X.Although the IPv6 side may not be used itis at least supported. Cisco as well hasalso supported the technology since 2001.

So why so slow? Well this could beattributed to financial reasons. Quite a fewISP’s across Europe, Asia and Americaalready offer IPv6 services, however totake advantage you also need home oroffice equipment to support the new IP.

The US Government has also recentlystated that all of their networks shouldbe equipped to support and run entirelyon IPv6.

So does this mean that you should nowcontact your vendors and demand IPv6supporting equipment, or rush out to buynew computers and routers? No, not at all.

A quick search on the internet can pro-vide you with several counters that showthe date, or estimated date of IP exhaus-tion. Digging a little further you can find afew statements that explain the counter inits proper form.

The counters which show the count-down to doom, indicate exhaustion predicted on current assignment tech-niques, not the day IPv4 will no longer be available.

It is important to understand this whenresearching. This discovery can go a longway to explain why there has been a slowadoption of IPv6.

The new version certainly will requireuptake by providers and users alike, butnot in the next twelve months. Also, thedate of exhaustion has also changed overthe years, ranging from 2011, to 2013. Thishas been varying due to the ways in whichblocks of addresses have been assigned.

It is also possible to assume that the

date of exhaustion has been increased by a“last rush” of providers taking more thanthey need.

At this stage, we may not need to runout and buy IPv6 equipment today. Theworld will not stop turning in the next 10– 12 months, but it pays to be ready.

To put it another way, imagine tryingto change a ship's power plant while it isstill at sea. In theory (and a grand theory!)it is possible to do if in perfect conditions,but there are plenty of other environmen-tal considerations that would slow downthis very large task.

A considerable amount of work still hasto be completed by those who providebackbone connectivity, and then vendors,software houses etc. will also have tochange to incorporate the new technology.

All of this will take some time, sodespite what you may see, IPv6 is coming,but the end of the world for internet com-munication is not next year.


For your smart@sea,please contact your service provider and ask for Station711 smart@seaand ask f

@

A secure network Crewnet

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Firewall Acceleration & Compression

tion requirements in one box rt way to communicate

About the authorHoward Hughes has worked for the Inmarsat Training Academy asa technical trainer since 2007, specialising in the design and deliv-ery of basic product and advanced BGA� / FleetBroadband net-work courses, and assisting customers with their solution needs.

Mr Hughes has over 16 years experience working as an engi-neer, project manager and technical manager in the telecoms andIT industries. E-mail: [email protected]

DS

www.eutelsat.com

www.speedcast.com

Eutelsat and SpeedCast have furtherexpanded the reach of their regional mar-itime broadband service, with the exten-sion of their 60cm VSAT coverage toinclude the Mediterranean region.

The 60cm service is part of Eutelsat andSpeedCast’s overall global maritimebroadband network, which includes 1mKu-band and 2.4m C-band systems.

The expansion of Mediterranean cover-age for the 60cm service complementsSpeedCast and Eutelsat’s existing coveragein the Caribbean, South East Asia, MiddleEast and India, East Asia and China, andAustralian regions.

The system utilises DVB-S2 encodingfor bandwidth optimisation and Adaptive

Coding and Modulation (ACM) for opti-mised power utilisation.

A monitoring and asset tracking solu-tion, named 'SMART' (SpeedCast’sMonitoring And Reporting Tools), is alsooffered with the service, providing vesseltracking, network management, and serv-ice level performance monitoring. SMARTcan be accessed via a web-based networkmanagement portal.

“Addressing the high market demandfrom shipowners for extended coverage inthe Mediterranean for the 60cm servicewas a further important step for Eutelsatand SpeedCast," said Laurent Paul, direc-tor maritime services, Eutelsat.

"This demand demonstrates how VSATservices are now fully integrated as a coresolution in the regional maritime broad-band market."

Eutelsat and Speedcast expand 60cm Ku-band coverage

www.boatracs.com

Boatracs has completed installation of itsOmniTRACS satellite communicationssystem on Marquette TransportationCompany’s Gulf-Inland towing fleet ofover 55 vessels.

Marquette chief information officer, JimTownsend, said that the reliability of theOmniTRACS satellite system was a key fac-tor in the decision to make this technology astandard fit for his company's vessels.

“We looked at multiple vendors forpotential communications solutions,” MrTownsend said.

“We selected Boatracs based on theiroutstanding 24/7 customer service, the

demonstrated stability and reliability oftheir satellite communications solution,and its overall ease of use. We have beenvery pleased with our long term relation-ship with Boatracs.”

Boatracs CEO Irwin Rodrigues notedthat this most recent installation is the latestin his company's long history as a technolo-gy solutions provider for Marquette, whichhas been a Boatracs customer since 1996.

“We have a strong working relation-ship with Marquette,” he said.

“They are very well respected in themarine transportation industry and we arehonoured that they have chosen theBoatracs solution for their vessels and torenew their relationship with us.”

Marquette completes Boatracs installation

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 7

The Teekay Corporation has now reached the milestone of having VSAT communications systems installed on 41 of its vessels – and it is not stopping there. Rob Morrison, Teekay, told Digital Ship

about some of the ways that his company has changed its operations with broadband onboard


SATCOMS

HH aving signed a deal in the secondhalf of last year to install VSATsatellite communications sys-

tems across its tanker fleet (see Digital ShipSeptember 2009), global shipping corpora-tion Teekay has passed the 40-ship markof vessels using the technology, and isdriving ahead with its installation pro-gramme to extend this even further.

While Teekay's 2009 contract was withUS-based VSAT provider MTN, the currentinstallations include systems from a num-ber of different providers – 22 installationsare running Marlink VSAT services in theNorth Sea and in Brazil, while four vesselsare operating with VSAT from NSSL.

These vessels use a mixture of both C-band and Ku-band technologiesrespectively.

MTN will act as the company's mainprovider going forward as the installationprogramme continues, with the MTN sys-tem now installed on 16 vessels. Under theterms of the contract between the twocompanies these ships enjoy a 128 kbpsCIR (committed information rate), whichis burstable up to 384 kbps.

Embarking on a project of this magni-tude is quite an undertaking, and certain-ly requires extensive investments of timeand money to complete successfully. ForTeekay, the decision to pursue the imple-mentation of this technology has beendriven by factors encompassing a numberof different operational areas.

One of the most immediate of these,and one that will inevitably form a largepart of the discussion at managementlevel, is cost.

According to Rob Morrison, IT manag-er of vessel support at Teekay, examina-tion of the company's use of communica-tions in the preceding years had led it tothe conclusion that the fixed monthly feesavailable for 'all you can eat' servicesfrom VSAT providers would be the low-est cost solution to its voice and datarequirements when compared to a FleetBroadband solution.

“In some cases we look at the costs ofour Inmarsat-B and Fleet 77 systems and itmakes sense,” he told us.

“We have two vessels in Brazil that arecosting between $6,000 and $7,000 permonth over Fleet 77 – when they go intodrydock in January or February we’ll beputting VSAT onboard. Chartered out, thecustomer is going to save $35,000 per yearby putting VSAT onboard, and the busi-ness loves that.”

“We communicate more and more by e-mail to the vessels. In the past we had lim-its as to what we could send to the vessels,but with VSAT there is no limit. There’s alimit to the bandwidth, but we can sendanything we want to the master or thechief engineer, big files aren’t a problem.”

Remote accessAfter the decision was taken to begin mov-ing these ships to VSAT, the Teekay ITdepartment began to investigate how itcould use its more extensive access to thevessels to create further efficiencies andpush costs lower.

One of the most successful applicationsit has introduced in this regard has beenremote access to onboard systems, allow-ing the Teekay office on shore to deal withIT or equipment problems directly onthe ship.

Mr. Morrison highlighted that there is amixed range of computer competenceonboard. With remote access, the ITdepartment can do the computer work andthe crew are then freed up to do what theywere hired to do. A definite “win-win”.

One way this technology will be lever-aged is through the updating of the safetymanagement system.

Mr Morrison notes that, while updatingthe system would work perfectly wellover its previous dial-up communicationservices, with the flat fee nature of theVSAT systems there is no associated addi-tional cost.

He calculates that, on the vessels usingdial up technology, operational expendi-ture costs associated with these updateswould be approximately $3,600 per vessel,per year.

Extending the remote access idea evenfurther, Teekay has also allowed its ownthird party suppliers to be able to interactwith the systems they have supplied tothe ships, an initiative which MrMorrison notes has already had a hugeimpact on costs.

“We have one system being used in theNorth Sea that we had a lot of troublewith, and now the vendor can connect tothe vessels and diagnose the problem,” heexplained.

“They can fix it about 50 per cent ofthe time from shore, without having tosend somebody to the vessel, which has reduced the costs of maybe 10 visitsper year for the technicians. Having itfixed right away also means there’s nodown time.”

“On our gas ships we also haveHoneywell connecting in directly. Wehave locked it down, but they would evenhave been able to open and close valves onthose gas ships from shore. But to fix prob-lems it saves a lot of time, they can seewhat the problem is, get the right parts outto meet the vessel right away, and solvethings first time.”

Teekay has been careful to create strictsecurity policies with respect to this thirdparty access, to control exactly who canlog in to the ship's network, and the typesof systems they can communicate with.

“We give our vendors RSA key fobs sothey need to authenticate with our Teekaynetwork, and then they get access to aCitrix icon that allows them to get in to thevessel,” said Mr Morrison.

“We disable those accounts until theyare needed, they need to contact IT and wewill allow them access to log in throughTeekay to access their systems onboard,whether that’s a control system or a plantsystem, or whatever it is.”

“There are some really exciting possi-bilities in this area. If the vendors can

catch up to us I think the business is goingto save a lot more money doing this.”

Crew welfareHaving VSAT onboard has also allowedTeekay to revolutionise the communica-tions services it is able to offer its seafarers,and this has been a key issue for the com-pany's management in making the decisionto introduce the technology in line with itscrew retention aims for the next few years.

“In Teekay we think that attracting sea-farers and retaining seafarers will be achallenge going forward, so we believethat actually having VSAT onboard makesthat 20-year old more likely to join Teekaythan another shipping company,” saidMr Morrison.

“What we do is we have two separatenetworks onboard. One’s a crew networkand one’s a business network. We lockdown the business network so it’s absolute-ly rock solid, then the crew can use thecrew network to their heart’s content.”

“We see lots of use of Facebook, instantmessaging – we think that’s fantastic forthem and it doesn’t take away from thebusiness communications. We allocate Xamount of bandwidth to the crew networkso it can never affect business operations.”

Video conferencing facilities are alsoavailable to Teekay's seafarers over thecrew network, with webcams availableonboard which have been seeing heavy usefrom some of the younger seafarers com-municating with their friends and family.

However, voice calling over Skype hasbecome one of the most popular applica-tions available to the seafarers, and wassomething that Teekay was insistent abouthaving when negotiating with its commu-nications provider.

“One of the first issues we overcamewas that our providers didn’t want us touse Skype over the VSAT, but we wantedit because it was better for the crews andcheaper for the crews,” said Mr Morrison.

“So they allowed us to do it and it’sbeen great for crew welfare.”

Skype can be quite high in bandwidthusage, so MTN generally recommendsusing a crew calling platform that canpacketise the data in VoIP and send it overthe satellite link more efficiently.

However, since Teekay wanted theservice onboard it has been agreed that itwill be allowed to run over the VSAT, andthe company notes that with the burstablebandwidth available and the numbersmall number of crew access kiosks forinternet usage on the ships it hasn’t reallyeaten into the bandwidth in a big way.

One of the downsides of the wide rangeof communications access that Teekaycrews now enjoy is the increased potentialfor viruses or other computer problems tomake their way into the network. While

Making the most of VSAT at Teekay

Crews on Teekay's VSAT-enabled vessels have access to a range of communications options, such as Skype

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 8

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 9

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 10

Digital ShipMr Morrison concedes that this is an issue,the company has taken steps to make surethat it has some protection, particularly onthe business side.

“We have seen an increase in viruses,but one way we’ve got around the prob-lem is that we have separate kiosks forcrew internet use and next to them there’sa rebuild disk, so as soon as they do messup the computer they can put the disk in,go for coffee, and 15 minutes later it’s backto where it was!” he said.

“Again, this is all separate from thebusiness network and can’t affect it, thereis allocated bandwidth for that so all theywill do is slow down each other.”

Teekay's policy when it comes to crewinternet access is to try and treat its seafar-ers in the same way that any other Teekayemployee on land would be treated, andtrust that they will display the same levelof respect for corporate policies that any-one else would.

“We want to leave the crew network asopen as possible, because it’s their time offand we want to treat the crew membersthe same as our office members,” MrMorrison explained.

“If I can surf the internet in the officethey should be able to too, they’re profes-sionals like we are on shore.”

Actual utilisation of the bandwidth canalso be monitored, with MTN utilising theSatmanage software system from Parallel(now owned by iDirect) to track all of theships' traffic.

MTN says it has fine tuned the system

to work with Riverbed's compression andoptimisation technology, which can beused to demonstrate how effective thatsystem has been in maximising the avail-able bandwidth.

InstallationOne of the more complicated aspects ofthe move to VSAT is the management ofthe installation process, with the heavierequipment involved requiring specialplanning to get the system up and runningon board without causing major disrup-tion to the ships' business.

“One of the downsides of VSAT, wefind, is the size of the antenna,” notes MrMorrison. “FleetBroadband is nice, you canactually install it yourself, but we requireshore cranes to install a VSAT antenna, andthat requires about two days.”

“Off-hire for two days is expensive, soour strategy is to install the VSAT anten-nas at every drydock, so it’s every fiveyears. If we could do it for every vesselthis year we would, but as it is it’s everyfive years, so it’s a slow adoption.”

“We’ve also decided that any vesselless than 18 years old will get VSAT – inthe past it was 10 years old, then 15 yearsold, but the costs are coming down so nowevery vessel under 18 years old that goesinto drydock will get a VSAT antenna.”

Mr Morrison notes that MTN has pro-vided welcome support in this installationprocess, providing technicians that can doIT work for Teekay onboard the ships.

“I don’t need to send an IT guy to the


ship to change IP addresses, configure sys-tems, or reset printers,” he said.

“That saves me $5,000 in installationcosts by not having to send someone.”

Susan Agemy, vice president, productengineering at MTN, says that this sup-port is a key element in making theprocess run smoothly and ensuring thatnew users have a successful introductionto the technology.

“Our team works with a certified pri-vate manager dedicated to Teekay, work-ing with the site on vessel preparation,”she told us.

“Then we have a team of engineers thatwork with Teekay on evaluating theirapplications to run over satellite. Theycome to our facility and we have them doapplications testing so they can see whatlevels of CIR and MIR they needed fortheir applications to perform properly.”

Network configurations can be donepre-configured or on-site, and can beremotely enhanced as necessary.

While Teekay's VSAT installations up tothis point have consisted of a mixture of C-band and Ku-band systems, Mr Morrisonsays that the company will be concentrat-ing on Ku-band equipment going forward.

“We used to roll out C-band antennasto our vessels, but now we’re moving tofull Ku-band.,” he said.

“We’re also leasing the equipmentinstead of buying it, so it’s the same OpExcost throughout the year. Once you get itapproved once it’s easier to get it approvedevery year when the OpEx is the same!”

“The Ku-band coverage areas are near-ly equal to C-band now, so we’re doingthe full Ku-band leasing option on everynew vessel installation.”

Having had this taste of what broad-band on board can do for the Teekay fleet,for now at least the outlook is in one direc-tion – bigger and better.

“We’re going to be pushing ourproviders to provide more bandwidth at alower cost,” he said.

“We need the bandwidth to do more ofthese kinds of things. 128 kbps is so fiveyears ago!”

Virtek Communication ASVerftsbassenget 1 • N-3188 Horten • Norway • Telephone +47 33 03 05 30 • Fax +47 33 03 05 31

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DS

'Our providers didn't want us to use Skypeover the VSAT, but we wanted it

because it was better for the crews' - Rob Morrison, Teekay

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 11

OOver the last 25 years, maritime satel-lite communications have changeddramatically, from basic voice and

low-data-rate applications used in safetyapplications to fully integrated IP networks.

The main applications used today in themaritime sector over satellite communica-tion systems include voice, security andsafety communications, real-time informa-tion updates (weather, routes, trade prices,etc.), internet access, corporate networks(VPN), file transfer, crew communications,video/audio conferencing, instant messag-ing, and asset tracking & surveillance.

Hand in hand with the changing natureof maritime communications, the numberof satellite communication products forthe maritime markets has grown consider-ably in recent years, offering the end usergreater choice and the possibility to adaptthe onboard communication system totheir specific needs.

MSS (mobile satellite services) high-data-rate systems, such as InmarsatFleetBroadband and Iridium OpenPort,seem to have found an attractive spotbetween the legacy low-data-rate MSS solu-tions and the still large and expensive VSATsystems, and providers are benefiting fromthe current trend of moving towards high-er-speed data communication needs.

MSS broadband is proving to be a keydriver in terms of ARPU (average revenueper user) and revenue. Thanks to higherspeed and increased use of data applica-tions, the average data usage per terminalis growing rapidly.

Although the high end of the marketcould see an erosion of revenues due tothe strong VSAT competition, the tradi-tionally medium- and low-consumptionsegments are expected to continue show-ing an increasing ARPU due to low-pricedequipment and enhanced functionalitiesof low-end maritime broadband.

The maritime satcom market is highlyprice-sensitive in terms of equipment acqui-sition, installation and bandwidth pricing.

The cost of MSS equipments variesfrom $5,000 to $20,000 while the cost ofVSAT equipment generally ranges from$30,000 to $70,000.

Despite a high equipment cost, VSAT isstill a competitive maritime satcom solutionthanks to the flat-rate basis of bandwidthcost. The monthly fixed pricing of VSATsolutions ranges from $950 to $8,000 (mainlydepending on data rate and QoS) for unlim-ited usage, while the MSS solution is pricedon a per-minute or per-megabyte basis.

VSAT satcom is, therefore, a more cost-predictable solution. It has been observedfor quite a while in the industry that VSATservices, especially the Ku-band ones, arenow gaining market acceptance, which isleading to a stronger take-off in maritimebroadband data systems.

Ka-bandAlthough brand new for the maritime

industry, dedicated Ka-band systems haveproven economically and technically viablein the satellite consumer broadband market.

North America now has multiple sys-tems including Anik F2, Spaceway 3 andWildblue 1 with additional systems underdevelopment (Viasat-1, Jupiter, etc.). InAsia, the iPSTAR from Thaicom providesa total throughput of 45 Gbps.

In addition, other new systems areunder development, including the O3Bconstellation for telecommunicationtrunking services, Hylas 1 & 2, KASAT inEurope and Yahsat 1B in the Middle East.

A number of small Ka-band secondarypayloads are also hosted in other satellitesystems which are planned to be launchedin the next few years.

In August 2010, the leading MSS opera-tor, Inmarsat, announced a contract withBoeing for three Ka-band satellites, eachproviding 89 fixed spot-beams. The London-based MSS operator plans to put the Ka-band system in operation start in 2014,named Global Xpress, providing 50 Mbpsthroughput for maritime communications.

This leapfrog move for Inmarsat blursthe border between MSS technology andFSS technology.

By providing Ka-band VSAT service,the company should be able to better posi-tion itself under the increasing competi-tive pressure from broadband VSAT and60cm antenna mini-VSAT services. Inaddition, with high-end Ka-band service,Inmarsat will have the flexibility to takeon more aggressive marketing operationsin the traditional L-band MSS market.

Market growth Despite the fact that the economic climate of2009 was still under the sway of the globaleconomic crisis, the global maritime satellitecommunication market achieved almost 11per cent growth in operating terminals andclose to 9 per cent increase in revenues.

The total size of the market reachedalmost 300,000 active terminals and morethan $1.4 billion at the tier-1 serviceprovider level.

In the merchant shipping industry, whichrepresents about 90 per cent of world trade

transportation, the economic recession hasimpacted the maritime sector in variousways, including reduced maritime trafficand reduced prices for maritime trading,leading to a difficult financial situation forshipping companies and fleet operators.

As an illustration, the Baltic Dry Index,an indicator for prices of maritime cargotransportation, went down from over10,000 points in mid-2008 to less than1,000 in the first quarter of 2009. Althoughthe index showed some recovery through-out the second quarter (going up to over3,000), it will take some time until theindustry returns to the levels of 2007.

As a result of this difficult environmentfor shipping companies, vessel builders arefacing business erosion and a declining orderbacklog. According to ECSA, the globalbacklog of orders stood at more than 5,500new ships for transportation in 2008, andorder cancellations are estimated to possiblygo up to 20 per cent over the next few years.

Additionally, a number of orders arebeing postponed. In 2009, the market sizeof the merchant shipping industry was rel-atively stable and the number of shipsonly increased by 2 per cent, reachingaround 40,000 ships of at least 300 gt.

In terms of transportation capacity, theglobal merchant ship fleet reached 1.19 bil-lion dwt in 2009, representing a growth of6.7 per cent from 2008, partly resultingfrom the new ships that had been orderedbefore the economic crisis.

A problem in the industry is the currentovercapacity of vessel space compared tocargo. This overcapacity could lead torestructuring and bankruptcies of fleetoperators, also due to reduced access tofinancing.

So far, the direct impact on the mar-itime satellite communication industryhas been modest. Despite some decrease

in equipment sales and new installations,a large number of service providersreported continuous growth in satelliteusage and service revenues.

To illustrate, the Norway-based VSATservice provider Ship Equip reported thattheir customers’ monthly data transmis-sion increased from 9.1 gigabytes per shipin April 2009 to 19.7 gigabytes per ship inApril 2010.

Inmarsat also reported that its maritimerevenue increased 7.4 per cent, with datatransmission increasing 10.8 per cent in 2009.

Indeed, both the established MSS serv-ice and the emerging VSAT business con-tributed to the growth of the overall mar-itime satellite communication market.Since 2005, the global market has beengrowing at double digit rates in both ter-minals and satellite capacity revenues.

Today, the merchant shipping segmentrepresents the largest satellite communica-tion market in the maritime sector, withclose to 200,000 terminals (including bothMSS and VSAT ones).

So far, there is no sign that the 30-year-old maritime satellite communicationmarket will slow down its growth; on thecontrary, a large part of the maritime com-munity is not yet well addressed by thesatellite communication industry, andopportunities are still ahead in underde-veloped vertical segments, emerging geo-graphic markets, and new applications.

Euroconsult expects the satellite mar-itime communication market to grow at ahigh single digit rate in both terminals andrevenues. By 2020, the global merchantshipping sector is expected to reach410,000 satellite communication terminalsmainly consisting of L-, VHF, C-, Ku- andKa-band systems which together will gen-erate more than $850 million revenuesat tier-1 service provider level.

Despite turmoil in the global economy, the maritime market has responded to the introduction of new technologiesand reducing data costs in satellite communications to continue the move towards broadband onboard.

Growth in this area is set to continue for some time to come, writes Wei Li, Euroconsult

New growth ahead in the maritime sector

SATCOMS NEWS


About the authorWei Li is senior consultant at Euroconsult and is the Editor of Maritime TelecomSolutions by Satellite - Global Market Analysis & Forecasts. Euroconsult is aconsulting and analyst firm specialising in satellite applications, communica-tions, and digital broadcasting, providing strategic consulting and analysis,comprehensive research reports and forecasts. Mr Li can be reached [email protected]

Despite fluctuations in shipping rates, maritime satcoms are expected to continue growing over the next decade. Source: Maritime Telecom Solutions by Satellite – Global Market Analysis & Forecasts

DS

p1-15:p1-14.qxd 05/11/2010 13:18 Page 12

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SATCOMS NEWS


in a Loan Agreement between Motorolaand Iridium Satellite dated December 11,2000, which it said triggered an obligationupon Iridium Satellite to make certain“commitment fee” and “loan success fee”payments.

Motorola was a major provider of tech-nology and funding for the originalIridium satellite communications compa-ny, which applied for Chapter 11 bank-ruptcy protection in 1999.

Iridium did note at the time of the com-plaint that if a declaratory judgementwere to be granted ruling that the GHQtransaction was in fact a change of controlas alleged, Motorola would also have theright to "terminate certain intellectualproperty licences" held by IridiumCommunications and its subsidiaries.

As that document noted, "These licensescover substantially all [Iridium's] systemtechnology, including software and sys-tems to operate and maintain its networkas well as technical information for thedesign and manufacture of its devices."

Following the new agreement betweenthe parties the risk of such a move hasbeen averted, and Iridium is free to con-tinue unburdened with its next-genera-tion satellite plans.

www.iridium.com

Iridium Communications reports that ithas successfully closed the $1.8 billionfinancing facility for its next generationsatellite constellation, Iridium NEXT.

The facility is provided by a syndicateof nine banks led by Deutsche Bank, BancoSantander, Société Générale, Natixis andMediobanca International, and includesBNP Paribas, Crédit Industriel etCommercial, Intesa Sanpaolo andUnicredit Bank Austria.

The syndicate will provide up to $1.8billion of financing to Iridium under thearrangement, for the design and manufac-ture of Iridium NEXT satellites.

With the closing of this funding agree-ment, Iridium’s Full Scale SystemDevelopment Contract with Thales AleniaSpace has now come into effect, replacingthe existing Authorisation to Proceed.

“We are extremely pleased with thesize of the facility, which together withinternally generated cash flow, we contin-ue to believe is sufficient to fully fund ournext generation of satellites,” said TomFitzpatrick, CFO, Iridium.

“We are also obviously pleased with thefacility’s highly attractive funding cost,long-term nature, and with the covenantsand other terms that have been agreed.”

“We are proud to be associated withthe pre-eminent group of lenders thathave participated in the facility andbelieve their support speaks well of ourfuture prospects.”

The credit facility consists of two pro ratatranches. One tranche of up to $1.537 billionwill bear a fixed interest rate of 4.96 per centper annum, while the second tranche of upto $0.263 billion will bear a variable interestrated based on the London Inter-Bank OfferRate (LIBOR) plus 1.95 per cent per annum.

The repayment period of seven yearsbegins following substantial completion ofthe Iridium NEXT launch programme,which is expected to occur in 2017.

“Since we announced Thales AleniaSpace as our prime contractor, they havemet the milestones agreed upon for thisfirst phase of the project, and we are off to

an excellent start,” said Matt Desch,Iridium CEO.

“Our requirements developmentprocess is well underway. Planning anddesign for the satellites and constellationare on schedule. Both our teams and rosterof partners are growing quickly."

"On the overall Iridium NEXT pro-gramme, we expect to spend approximate-ly $600 million by the end of 2011. Of thisspend, approximately $400 million will befunded under the (credit) facility.”

In other news, Iridium has alsoannounced that it has signed a confiden-tial settlement agreement with Motorola,that resolves all disputed matters in thelawsuit filed by Motorola in February 2010against two Iridium subsidiaries.

The two companies had been in discus-sions to resolve issues arising from theproceedings brought by Motorola seekinga payment of more than $24 million.

Motorola filed a complaint against theIridium subsidiaries following the closingof the transaction between GHLAcquisition Corporation and the equityholders of Iridium Holdings that led toIridium's listing on the NASDAQ.

Motorola alleged that this transactionconstituted a “change of control” as defined

Iridium satellite financing deal completed

On-Waves GSM deals for three ferry companieswww.on-waves.com

Maritime GSM provider On-Waves hasbeen awarded contracts by ferry compa-nies Finnlines, Minoan Lines andEuropean Sealines, to provide voice, SMS,Wi-Fi and data connectivity to guests andcrew while at sea.

The deal will include a total of 12 ves-sels across the three companies.

On-Waves has already worked withFinnlines for a number of years, and willextend its agreement to include installa-tions on six further vessels.

These include Finnclipper, Finneagle,and Finnfellow (with varying passengercapacities of between 400-550), as well asFinnpartner, Finnsailor, Finntrader (whichcarry varying numbers between 120-300passengers).

Three of these ferries trade between

Finland and Germany, and the other threeare deployed on routes within the Baltic.

The fleetwide contract with MinoanLines covers five vessels which operatebetween Italy and Greece: Europa Palace(2034 pax), Ikarus Palace (1632 pax),Olympia Palace (2034 pax), KnossosPalace (2310 pax), and Festos Palace

(2310 pax).The third agreement, with European

Sealines, covers the F/B Bridge, whichlinks Italy and Greece and has a passengercapacity of 900.

On-Waves notes that these 3 agree-ments may include additional vessels inthe future.

Finnlines will install the GSM service on a further six vessels

www.mtnsat.com

MTN Satellite Communications reportsthat it has completed a Wi-Fi networkupgrade and expansion aboard twoSilversea Cruises vessels, Silver Wind andthe flagship Silver Spirit.

The new Wi-Fi networks installed provide high-speed wireless internet connectivity throughout the ships, includ-ing passenger cabins, public spaces, out-side decks and pool area, as well as crewquarters, using MTN's VSAT network andincorporating distributed-network tech-nology from Aruba Networks.

Technical installation support was pro-vided by HMS, Inc.

“With the new upgraded MTN Wi-Finetwork, passengers and crew can accesshigh-quality wireless internet connectionsanywhere on the ship,” said Jason Cohn,manager of IT shipboard infrastructure,Silversea Cruises.

“We believe this gives us a competitiveedge in the cruise marketplace, and wewill work with MTN over the comingmonths to roll out the Wi-Fi service acrossthe other ships in our fleet.”

With the completion of SilverseaCruises’ upgrades, MTN says that it now provides Wi-Fi networks and inter-net cafés on more than 165 cruise ships worldwide.

Wi-Fi onboard for Silversea Cruises

www.cobham.com/seatelwww.uplogix.comwww.intelliantech.comwww.mtnsat.com

Sea Tel has announced a new reselleragreement with Uplogix, a provider of remote network management thathelps to extend the uptime of VSAT sys-tems. This new deal is an extension ofexisting integration work done betweenthe two technologies.

Intellian has hired Paul Comyns asvice president of global marketing. Priorto joining Intellian, Mr Comyns served inmarketing roles for PYI, Navico(Simrad and B&G) and Robertson.He is based in Seattle, Washington.

MTN reports that it has signed anauthorised reseller agreement withKorean marine electronics companyMESCO Limited, to provide sales,service, and technical support for MTNproducts and services.

www.furuno.co.jp

www.eutelsat.com

www.speedcast.com

Furuno has announced the launch of itsnew VSAT antenna, the VSAT KU-100, inpartnership with SpeedCast Limited andEutelsat Communications.

The 1 metre Ku-band antenna willoperate on SpeedCast and Eutelsat’s glob-al satellite network. SpeedCast andEutelsat's 15 Ku-band satellite beams willform the coverage network for the FurunoSafeComNet service, which it will be offer-ing with the antenna.

This network includes capabilities for Automatic Beam Switching (ABS) for connectivity across the multiple

satellite footprints. “We are very excited about this new

service delivered in partnership withSpeedCast and Eutelsat," said MuneyukiKoike, managing director and divisionalvice general manager, Furuno.

"This partnership represents an impor-tant step forward in expanding our maritime portfolio to include VSAT and a global satellite network based on Ku-band service."

"With over 60 years of global experiencein the professional maritime electronicsmarket, Furuno has expansive industryknowledge, which we will continue todevelop and offer the most sophisticatedand reliable products and services solu-tions in the maritime industry.”

Furuno launches VSAT antenna

The Silver Spirit now has Wi-Fi onboard.Photo: Silversea Cruises

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SOFTWARE NEWS


www.marinesoftware.co.uk

Two British Antarctic Survey (BSA)research vessels, the James Clark Ross andthe Ernest Shackleton, have installed theMarine Project Manager (MPJ) softwaresystem from UK based Marine Software.

The agreement between the two com-panies also calls for the production ofMaster specifications for each vessel,based on the last five years' annual refitsand dry dockings, allowing the MPJ to beused immediately for 2010 annual refits.

The Master Refit Specifications pro-duced for the system are used as the back-bone for each new refit specification.

Training on the software was providedby Marine Software at the BAS head officein Cambridge, for crew from both vesselsas well as office based technical staff.

Each vessel has been installed with twoseparate versions of the MPJ - theSuperintendent version and the Vesselversion.

Onboard each vessel the

Superintendent's MPJ will be controlledby the senior officers, where they willcompile the Annual Refit specification andadminister the system when the shipenters the shipyard for refit.

The Vessel’s MPJ is a smaller version of this system and allows any crew member to create any type of refit job – bethey defects, modifications, or 'nice tohave' jobs.

These jobs can then be imported intothe ship’s Superintendent version andincluded in the current refit specification ifdeemed necessary by the senior officers.

The marine technical office inCambridge imports the completed refitspecification from each ship into theSuperintendent version in the office, sospecifications can be sent out to variousshipyards and other sub-contractors fortendering analysis, either as a printedcopy or electronically.

A free MPJ Contractor version, avail-able for download from Marine Software,can be implemented to allow BAS con-

BAS vessels implement project management software

The James Clark Ross is one of two vessels to have implemented the new software system

tractors to import the issued projects and complete the quote electronically.This is then returned back to BAS elec-tronically for import into the MPJSuperintendent version.

Once all tenders have been received, anevaluation of all tender costs can be car-

ried out. Finally, when the chosen ship-yard and sub-contractors tenders havebeen accepted, the specification is trans-ferred from the Superintendent version inthe office back to the vessel, where the refitcan be controlled when the ship arrives atthe shipyard.

Electronic documents get P&I cover approvalwww.essdocs.com

Electronic Shipping Solutions (ESS), aprovider of electronic shipping docu-ments, reports that the InternationalGroup of P&I Clubs has confirmed thatESS CargoDocs electronic bills of ladinghave been approved for the purposes ofstandard P&I cover.

In its recent circulars, the 13 Clubs inthe International Group (IG) advised allmembers that standard P&I risks associat-ed with the carriage of cargo under aneB/L (electronic bill of lading) issuedusing ESS’ CargoDocs Services, under ver-sion 2009.3 of the ESS-Databridge Servicesand Users Agreement (DSUA), fall withinmembers’ standard terms of cover.

Until the 2010/11 Policy Year, P&IClubs excluded liabilities and losses aris-ing from the use of any electronic tradingsystem, to the extent that 'eRisks' wouldnot have arisen under a paper trading sys-tem (the Paperless Trading Exclusion).

After reviewing the legal frameworkassociated with ESS’ CargoDocs Services,the IG decided that standard P&I coverarising in respect of the carriage of cargousing documentation transacted in theESS Exchange under the relevant versionof the DSUA would not be subject to thePaperless Trading Exclusion.

As a result, members of the 13 IG P&IClubs using CargoDocs are assured thatthey have cover for standard P&I riskswhen doing so, subject to the terms of that

cover and of the DSUA. ESS says that this development could

be crucial to the wider adoption of elec-tronic bills of lading, which it has beenoffering since the start of 2010.

"This creates the conditions for signifi-cant growth and take-up of electronic billsof lading and gives the shipping industrythe opportunity to move ahead with aproven technology which is already in useby some of the world’s biggest maritimetrading companies," notes AlexGoulandris, chief executive officer of ESS.

The IG decision came after a review ofthe ESS legal framework agreement, withthe Group reportedly satisfied that version2009.3 of the DSUA meets the IG conditionsfor use of electronic trading systems.

Current signatories of the DSUA,which forms the basis of any live use ofESS’ CargoDocs services, includeExxonMobil, BP Trading, BroströmTankers, BP Shipping, DONG Energy, APMoller-Maersk, Morgan Stanley,Mabanaft, INEOS, Shell-STASCO, TeekayTankers, AET, Saybolt, Inspectorate andDenholm-Barwil.

It is important to note that, under theterms of their cover, individual P&IMembers may be required to notify theirrelevant Associations before usingCargoDocs Services.

It is recommended that users checktheir Club Rules to ensure that any formalrequirements are satisfied prior to usingelectronic documents.

Applied Weather Technology(AWT) has opened new offices inSingapore and Tokyo to service the Asia-Pacific region. This comes on the back ofanother recent announcement that sales ofits flagship BVS system increased by morethan 25 per cent during the first ninemonths of 2010.

ABS Nautical Systems has addedfour senior executives to its team. Thomas

www.abs-ns.comwww.awtworldwide.com

Blenk has been appointed vice presidentof global operations; Brad Achorn is nowregional vice president (Piraeus); DarrenUnger is director of global account man-agement; and Alvaro Pozo has been pro-moted to regional director for SouthAmerica.

www.shipadmin.com

Norwegian company Shipadmin hasreleased new versions of its software sys-tems, with Captains Secretary 2.1 and thecorresponding FleetManager 2.1 nowcommercially available.

The company says that the software hasbeen upgraded in close cooperation withusers, and has new added features toimprove documentation and reportingprocesses.

The Captains Secretary 2.1 systemincludes improvements in managingDaily Figures (such as logging of con-sumption and running hours for engines,thrusters, fuel, and oil types), NOx calcu-lation (including the Norwegian NOx tax),and restriction on user access dependenton personal permissions.

The new version also includes a module for the generation of custom-made reports, and for the creation of an embarkation history for ports and terminals.

The FleetManager 2.1 package for theshore office includes improved incidentreporting, as well as access to informationcreated within the new version of theCaptains Secretary product.

“We realise that having your documen-tation and reports in order and being ableto have hands on-knowledge of your ves-sels’ status – at any given time – is a greatand time consuming challenge today,”said Per Magnus Grøsvik, general manag-er, Shipadmin.

“Shipadmin aims to make what couldbecome a plunge into a brief affair – andthe features added, or upgraded, in thisversion have all been made as a result ofour close cooperation with our clients.This is the only way to work for us atShipadmin.”

Shipadmin clients will receive theupgraded versions of the system free ofcharge, a group which will includeOceanic Vega, an X-bowed seismicresearch vessel which has recently signed up to install the Captains Secretarysystem.

The vessel is the fourth vessel owned ormanaged by Eidesvik to implementShipadmin software.

“Eidesvik has confirmed that we havethe solutions they need in their daily oper-ation of their most complex vessels,” saidMr Grøsvik.

“I am proud to work with a profession-al and innovative company like Eidesvik.”

Shipadmin upgrades software systems

The Oceanic Vega is set to install the Shipadmin system

p16-23:p15-25.qxd 05/11/2010 13:32 Page 1

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CES questionnaire to its own specificneeds and the requirements of its safetymanagement system.

Separate to this contract, Seagull hasalso announced plans to augment its com-puter based training packages with newmodules detailing the responsibilities ofshipboard officers, focusing on compliance,ahead of the anticipated enforcement of theInternational Labour Organization’sMaritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006).

The company has already begun theroll-out of a number of related modules,and will continue to introduce furthermodules in 2011.

SOFTWARE NEWS


www.shipserv.com

Tolani Shipping of India has signed up tojoin ShipServ's maritime e-marketplace,TradeNet.

Headquartered in Mumbai and withassociate operations in Singapore,ShipServ says that Tolani is the firstdomestic Indian shipping company to joinits electronic trading platform.

Tolani will use the service to sourcespares and supplies for its expanding fleet ofbulk carriers. The company will take deliv-ery of three new Kamsarmaxes by early 2012to serve alongside its six supramax and fivepanamax globally trading vessels.

C.V. Rao, director of Tolani Shipping,said the company’s decision to joinTradeNet reflects its innovative approachto its operations.

“Tolani has always moved andchanged with the times and we havesteadily augmented our fleet size andcapacity to keep pace with changing tradepatterns while at the same time aggres-sively bringing down the average age ofour fleet,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on the mainte-nance of our fleet and our commitment tothe highest standard of safety and envi-ronmental protection. Our operatingrecord bears testimony to this and webelieve using ShipServ can help maintainthat enviable reputation.”

Tolani will implement the e-commercesystem in partnership with SBNTechnologics (SBNT), which has deployedits Ship//Mate fleet management andpurchasing software for the Tolani fleet.

Integration between TradeNet and theShip//Mate’s Stores and ProcurementSystems module in SBNT's product willenable Tolani’s shipboard personnel toissue requisitions to shoreside offices andRequest for Quotations (RFQ) andPurchase Orders (PO) to suppliers.

“We are delighted to welcome TolaniShipping to the ShipServ community,”commented Paul Ostergaard, CEO,ShipServ.

“Tolani is a company that has alwaysfocussed on quality operations andworked to combine great efficiency with ayoung, safe fleet. We look forward to help-ing them become a fully fledged memberof ShipServ and find more opportunitiesto create value.”

Indian shipowner joinse-commerce platform

www.awtworldwide.com

Applied Weather Technology (AWT) haslaunched its GlobalView fleet manage-ment system, combining the company’sship routing services and software with Google Earth technology, with theaim of making data easier to access andunderstand.

The GlobalView system was was devel-oped using Google’s API technology,which adds a layer on top of Google Earthso that fleet managers can easily manipu-late their data.

Using the software fleet managers cansee in an instant, all in one place, informa-tion that they previously had to gatherfrom many sources.

Vessels appear on the globe as colour-coded icons that can be customised to pro-vide fleet managers with alerts regardingship performance, fuel consump-

tion/carbon emissions, weather condi-tions, ETAs or other factors. A click on thevessel icon gives a summary of the currentvoyage and sea state.

This information can help companies toimprove vessel safety, reduce fuel costs,avoid areas of recent pirate activity, andoptimise voyage efficiency.

“We believe GlobalView to be the firstfleet management system to utilise GoogleEarth technology – this brings a significantinnovation to ship routing technology,”said Skip Vaccarello, president and CEOof AWT.

“What’s innovative about GlobalViewis that it delivers the data fleet managersneed in an extraordinarily visual, easy touse and dynamic way. With GoogleEarth, GlobalView makes it much easierfor fleet managers to protect vessels andcrew and identify more opportunities to reduce fuel consumption and curb

Voyage optimisation introduces Google Earth

Users of the Global View system can see details of a particular ship, or zoom out for an overview of an entire fleet

carbon emissions.”AWT estimates its routing services and

BonVoyage (BVS) marine voyage optimi-sation software save the shipping industryapproximately 365,000 metric tons (MT) offuel annually.

This translates to potential cost savingsof more than $166 million per year and areduction of 1million metric tonnes inCO2 emissions, the equivalent of remov-ing 258,000 cars from the road.

AWT also notes that it is in discussionswith other third party maritime softwareproviders to investigate the possibility ofintegrating other types of data with theinterface.

This could include, for example, alertson areas like condition monitoring orupcoming electronic chart licence expira-tions, which the on shore office could bemade aware of while tracking other datawithin the system.

www.seagull.no

Seagull reports that Millenia Maritime, atanker operator with a fleet of 10 vessels, isto implement the Seagull Training Systemfor use across its entire fleet of ships and inits offices.

The Seagull Training System (STS) canconsist either of a laptop or a desktop computer preloaded with the software, orcan be accessed online. It includes aSeagull Training Administrator (STA),which is used to manage all trainingrecords and reports.

The STA also offers access to an onboard

training library of Computer BasedTraining (CBT) titles. It is customised toinclude the specific company’s personneland training requirements, as well as offer-ing software features for competence man-agement and knowledge assessment.

Millenia Maritime will also be imple-menting Seagull’s Crew EvaluationSystem (CES) in its offices in Greece andthe Philippines, a computer based knowl-edge evaluation tool that consists of alarge database of questions which can beused to assess the background knowledgeof crew members.

Millenia Maritime will customise the

Millenia Maritime to implement CBT

www.tpt.com

Navios Maritime Holdings is to imple-ment Triple Point’s Freight RiskManagement software solution, to man-age its derivative trading.

Triple Point recently acquired Softmar, aprovider of software solutions for commer-cial chartering and vessel operations, whichadded shipping to Triple Point’s commodi-ty trading and risk management systems.

“In an increasingly volatile marketplace,cost containment and risk management aremajor priorities for vessel owners and opera-tors,” said Michael Larsen, managing director,

chartering and vessel operations, Triple Point. “Triple Point provides its customers

with a comprehensive solution suite forcommercial vessel operations and freightrisk management that reduces exposure toadverse trends and volatility and helpscontrol shipping and fuel costs. We’repleased to welcome a customer of Navios’calibre to our shipping portfolio.”

Navios principally operates handymaxand panamax bulk carriers, deployingowned, chartered, and lease vessels, andoffers help in vessel, cargo, and fuel hedg-ing strategies to business partners whoown or operate vessels.

www.psworld.co.uk

Plain Sailing Communications haslaunched VIM Compact, a software pack-age which it claims can reduce data filesizes such as photographs, scanned docu-ments and PDFs by up to 95 per cent,without loss of quality.

VIM Compact was specifically creat-ed for the maritime industry, and thecompany hopes that it will help shipoperators to generate cost reductionsand secure improvements in fleet opera-tion efficiency without having to changeto satcom systems, airtime providers

or e-mail services.The new product has a built in archiv-

ing capability for audit purposes, asearch facility for the retrieval of storedfiles, and is available off-the-shelf.

“This unique product provides a much needed opportunity for maritime industry airtime users toachieve remarkable cost savings or acombination of savings with improvedoperation efficiency using a productpriced to achieve very attractive initialinvestment payback,” said MalcolmHart, director of Plain SailingCommunications.

Data compression is Plain SailingTriple Point for Navios

p16-23:p15-25.qxd 05/11/2010 13:32 Page 3

p16-23:p15-25.qxd 05/11/2010 13:32 Page 4

SOFTWARE NEWS


www.gl-group.com

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has launched adatabase service called GL Cargo, whichwill allow users to access all onboardequipment requirements under theupcoming SOLAS II-2/19 'Carriage ofDangerous Goods' amendment.

The new amendment comes into forceon 1 January 2011, and covers onboardequipment requirements when transport-ing chemicals and other dangerous goodsby sea.

GL Cargo contains all provisions of theamendment, as well as the revised stan-dard format for the Document ofCompliance for the Carriage of DangerousGoods (MSC.1/Circ.1266).

It covers all dangerous goods in pack-aged form carried by multi-purpose ves-sels, container ships and Ro-Ro vessels,and all solid dangerous goods in bulkshipped by bulk carriers and multi-pur-pose vessels.

“With GL Cargo, a user can just tickoff the types of cargo space and goodsclasses, and then leave the remainingwork to our system which can automati-

cally generate a report on all require-ments about cargo holds and equip-ments, such as fire extinguishing system,water supplies, ventilation, detection sys-tem,” said Friedo Holtermann, marineengineer at GL.

“This tool makes it no longer drudgeryfor cargo planners to figure out what specific requirements they have to fulfilbecause a comprehensive report can beproduced no matter how many types of dangerous goods their vessels willtransport.”

The system can also be used to generateand print out the Document ofCompliance in the new standard format,as long as all relevant information aboutspace type and goods classes is uploadedto the database.

GL says it has been authorised by anumber of Flag State Administrations toprovide the new Document of Complianceafter conducting surveys and reviewingdocuments and drawings of ships.Existing documents for ships in servicewill remain valid until they need to be re-issued on the occasion of change of flag orclass renewal.

GL launches dangerous goods database

www.spectec.net

Intership Navigation has agreed the firstpurchase of the AMOS Shipdex Suite soft-ware package from SpecTec, used for theproduction, management, use and valida-tion of technical information developed inaccordance with the Shipdex Protocol.

The integrated software tools, leverag-ing technology developed by SpecTecpartner Corena, allow for management ofdata in accordance with Shipdex, a proto-col especially designed for the shippingcommunity to implement the S1000Dspecification for the production and man-agement of technical publications.

The existing S1000D specification has

been widely used in the defence and civilaviation communities for a number ofyears, with Shipdex a ‘marinised’ versionof that system.

Intership, one of the founding membersof Shipdex, has previously announced itsintention to seek to have technical docu-mentation for its newbuild programmedelivered in Shipdex format, to have thisdocumentation available for online brows-ing and searching, both in the office andon board the vessels.

“SpecTec and Corena are the naturalvendors of choice because of their tight col-laboration and their demonstrated commit-ment to Shipdex,” said Pawel Bury, head ofthe IT department at Intership.

First Shipdex software deal agreed

www.coex.no

Norwegian maritime software companyNovo Consult has changed its name, andwill now be trading under the title COEX.

The company has been providing soft-ware services to the merchant maritimemarket since 2002, and says that thischange in brand is part of an effort toappeal to a wider international audience.

“While the change of name to COEXdoes not entail any changes in relation toour existing customers, from now onCOEX will focus more on global market-

Novo Consult becomes COEX

www.abs-ns.comwww.shipserv.com

ABS Nautical Systems and ShipServ haveannounced a co-operation initiative whichwill see the two companies work togethermore closely on marketing and softwareintegration.

The companies will undertake jointmarketing of their two systems to sharedclients in the marine and offshore indus-tries, while also working on a number ofenhancements in upcoming softwarereleases to make ordering ship suppliesvia ShipServ's TradeNet even easier forABS Nautical Systems users.

Companies such as OSG, Crowley,Teekay Shipping and Bernhard SchulteGroup are already users of both the ABSNS5 software package and TradeNet.

Some of the new developments envi-sioned by the parties include the development of specific tools by ABS

Nautical Systems to manage RFQ andPurchase Order file attachments, andintegration of the ShipServ transactionmonitor which allows purchasers to see a dashboard view of the status of thetransaction.

Other future plans include the exten-sion of ShipServ's TradeRank system toenable ABS NS5 users to submit com-ments and feedback on sellers.

“Both ABS Nautical Systems andShipServ think that this co-operation cancreate a lot of value for our commonclients,” said Fernando Lehrer, director ofproduct development for ABS NauticalSystems.

“This integration improves visibilityand transparency increases overall efficiency of the purchasing process. We want to support the needs of ourcommon clients and for that we have to continue evolving and enhancingfunctionality.”

ABS and ShipServ strengthen ties

www.sismarine.comwww.mirtac.nl

Rederij Kornet has signed a contract toimplement the Star IPS software packagefrom Star Information Systems (SIS)aboard four new vessels.

Roll-out of the system will be managedby Dutch consultancy MirTac, which has worked on a number of recent SISimplementations.

Kornet has already implemented theStar IPS system on nine vessels and in itsoffices, including maintenance, spares,

Rederij Kornet to roll out SIS software

ing of our standard software,” said RuneLyngaas, product manager, COEX.

“Our new business strategy is toaddress a wider international market andseek new business partners for worldwidedistribution of our standard products.”

“Our customer feedback leads us tobelieve that many more international ship-ping companies are now ready to benefitfrom using our software.”

The existing software products provid-ed by the company are currently in use onapproximately 1,000 ships, operated by avariety of different shipping companies.

For the more information, visit www.thedigitalship.com

Upcoming Digital Ship Events

www.mgmtsysconsult.com

Management Systems Consulting (MSC)has completed an integration project forNeptune Orient Lines, integrating thecompany's ABS Nautical Systems NS5software modules with its SAP system.

The company says that integration wasdone at a detailed financial level, includ-ing data on purchase orders (PO), PO revi-sions, goods receipts and invoice receipts.

MSC notes that this interface was alsorequired to be able to track commitments,auto-generate accruals and manage cashflow for payables.

During the design of the interface morethan forty usage cases were identified andhandled in the application logic, to assist

in the transition of data from NS5 to SAP. A feedback mechanism was also built

into the system, to manage the flow andsequencing of data between each of theintegrated applications.

In other news, MSC also reports that ithas released the latest version of itsreporting warehouse (version 1.0.54.10).

This new version includes a number ofchanges requested by the company'sclients, as well as additional data neededfor projects currently being undertaken bycompanies already using the system.

MSC Reporting is a reporting systemused with the NS5 fleet management soft-ware package, and the company says itcurrently has approximately two dozenclients utilising the system.

Neptune completes SAP-NS5 integration

purchasing, document management andsafety management modules.

“We have optimised our fleet and shipmanagement,” said Gertjan Kornet, tech-nical manager, Rederij Kornet.

“We comply with ISM and all regula-tions, now and in the future. We find lessdown times and costly repair operations.We have a clear overview of all outstand-ing maintenance issues, spare parts andeven due certificates.”

“This not only leads to transparencybut also to enthusiastic users onboard andat the office.”

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CC hevron is gradually rolling out the Nimbus Control BPM software application

around the company, following its suc-cessful deployment in Chevron’s ship-ping division.

The Nimbus Control BPM softwareapplication is used to help people man-age their business processes – but it doesit in a different way to most otherprocess analysis or process automationsoftware tools.

Rather than try to automate every-thing (i.e. give staff a sequence of screensto enter data, like when you book a planeticket), the software aims to give the user the information they need to dotheir jobs.

In that sense you could look at it likean intelligent operations manual, or a‘GPS for your business’ – allowing staffto more easily and quickly followapproved procedures to accomplish theirwork tasks.

Jim Boots, senior business processmanagement advisor at Chevron, andthe man responsible for facilitating the adoption of the Nimbus softwarewithin the company, believes that theapproach Chevron has followed is betterthan trying to organise a company’sprocesses by some impossible “centralWizard of Oz”.

“In Chevron, most people aren’t goingto do the same thing every day,” he said.

“They come to their desk, turn ontheir computer, and then access the con-tent which is meaningful to what theyneed to do.”

Mr Boots estimates that only 20 percent of business processes within a com-pany like Chevron are actually automat-able. 80 per cent of the processes have‘manual’ steps, where people go betweenphone calls, e-mail and software systemsto get something done.

The Nimbus Control is used to helpstaff understand these process flows –providing ready access to the right infor-mation, work instructions and systemsassociated with any step.

For example, if someone working in ashipping company needs to send atanker to the Arctic and they haven’tdone that for 6 months, the software actsas the operations manual, to tell themwhat list of steps they need to follow tomake sure the vessel is appropriate foruse and contracted under the right termsand conditions.

The system is designed to help peopledo what they need to do in practice, soit will offer more than just a trainingmanual.

“You have to give the capability to the

people. You put something in theirhands so they can begin to own theseprocesses. That’s the real key behindwhat Nimbus does,” Mr Boots says.

“It’s about combining the proceduralsteps and making sure the right version

of the needed information is at people’sfingertips.”

“I’ve looked at a number of businessprocess software tools, (and) other prod-ucts are focussed on capture, analysisand automation. They are focussed onthe automatable parts of processes. Butthat is not at all what Nimbus is trying to do.”

The Nimbus software system is usedin a variety of different industries, withover 130,000 people using it across somecompanies.

“People can log in and say ‘how do Ido something?’ Whatever it happens tobe, we present them with the standardapproved way of doing it,” explainsClark Swain, senior vice president, NorthAmerica with Nimbus.

Shipping experienceMr Boots says that his number one reason for adopting Nimbus Control isthat it is “really focussed on empoweringend users”.

“Once I got going with that – I realised

how many good things we could do withthis – in our environment,” he said.

Chevron Shipping, the company’stanker operating division, was the firstpart of the company to use the Nimbussoftware system.

When the technology was introducedthe company was chartering vessels fromoffices in Singapore, London and the US,and was occasionally finding itself intricky commercial situations as a result,leading to additional liabilities such asvessel arrivals and cargo readiness notbeing perfectly co-ordinated.

After adopting the software ChevronShipping noticed an improvement in theway it was able to manage these issues –an improvement which caught the eye ofMr Boots who recognised the benefitssuch change could deliver on a companywide scale.

“The shipping company issuesweren’t huge issues, but together theyadded up to a lot of dollars,” Mr Bootsrecalls.

“So they said ‘we’ve got to get ourheads around this’. Somehow or anoth-er, it was a little bit of a serendipitousconnection, Chevron Shipping got con-nected to Nimbus and started using theControl software – and I happened tofind out about it.”

“I said, ‘Wow this is really good, thishas enterprise potential.’ I set up aninfrastructure to support the software,then I started showing it to people tobuild interest and more people startedusing it.”

Mr Boots notes that even these earlyexperiences demonstrated an improve-ment on the existing processes that thecompany had in place.

“At the time, Nimbus was significant-ly better than what we were using (tomanage business processes) - which wasVisio and PowerPoint,” he said. “Peopleoften call Nimbus ‘Visio on steroids’.”

Process complexityThe fundamental objectives of compa-nies in specific sectors are usually prettymuch the same, but they all have differ-ent ways of achieving it, particularly incompanies which have been throughmany acquisitions.

In a large company like Chevron,which counts tanker operations as justone of a wide variety of organisationalunits, the complexities of managing thishost of different processes mean that caremust be taken to ensure tasks are carriedout as accurately as possible.

In this environment automationbecomes a critical issue – the more com-plex the process, the more difficult it will

be to remove people from the equation.“Consumer banking for example, or

insurance, is at the low end of complexi-ty,” said Mr Boots. “That’s why fewerand fewer people are involved in bank-ing. It is very automatable.”

“The airline industry is complicatedbut not as complicated as our business.With airlines it’s a relatively small set ofprocedures, but it’s more complicatedthan banking.”

“Our industry is out there at the otherextreme - highly complex, global supplychain, physical products in very differentenvironments. And there can be a heavyprice to pay, if things go wrong.”

The Deepwater Horizon case is a goodexample to use here, as it has becomefamiliar to people all over the world.

The personnel involved were notdoing a task which they perform thesame way every day, or even everymonth, so it would not be practical toreduce it to a series of online forms say-ing ‘this is your next step’.

But just from reading the investiga-tion reports, you get a sense that it wasnot clear who was responsible for whichdecisions or processes, what choiceswere within acceptable limits for thecompany, and when specific decisionswere taken.

If the processes had been properlydocumented, understood and followed,it would have been helpful to keepeverybody on track – and that’s where abusiness process management tool earnsits keep, because the processes are morerobustly managed and you can trust that they are up-to-date and subject toregular audit.

What the software does, you couldsay, is provide a level of support andguidance. But since 80 per cent of worktasks in most businesses are manual, oronly semi-automated, the fact is that people always have free will. You can-not reduce everything to the simplicityand certainty of form filling and buttonclicking.

Within Chevron, the content peoplecreate with a tool like Nimbus Controlrespects this reality.

For example, when a decision needs tobe made, the software can suggest to theuser, ‘now you have to evaluate thesefactors and use some judgement’, ratherthan try to tell them what the answer is.

“The software might say, ‘here’s anunusual procedure – the right thing to dohere is to have a conversation with anexpert – a real one’,” Mr Boots explains.

“Some pieces of those procedurescould be automated in the sense that,unless you acknowledge a certain step

SOFTWARE


Rather than automating everything, thegoal of the software is to assist employeeswith work tasks. Photo: Richard Greenhill

and Hugo Elias

Tanker operation sparks widespread BPM rollout at Chevron

Chevron is rolling out Business Process Management (BPM) software across the company – after Chevron’s shipping division had a good experience with the technology, writes Karl Jeffery

p16-23:p15-25.qxd 05/11/2010 13:32 Page 7

has taken place, you can’t go to the next step.”

Methods and standardsBPM is not just a matter of documentingyour processes – the ‘M’ stands forManagement after all. You need to beconfident that processes are approved,up-to-date and regularly reviewed.

In highly regulatedindustries, like tanker ship-ping, you’re going to needto overlay the compliancerequirements on-top of theprocess, and use that todrive compliance audits.

You may need to showwhere business controls andsafety checks apply to theprocess, and show that thecontrols are regularly testedand certified. There’s moreto this than initially meetsthe eye.

One of the clever thingsthat the Nimbus Controlsystem has allowedChevron to do is offer per-sonalised delivery of infor-mation to users, so contentcan be easy to access andunderstand for ordinarystaff who don’t need to get involved in the morecomplex aspects of theapplication, like audits andcompliance.

This information is alsoaccessible when on themove, meaning thatChevron employees don’tneed to be at their PCs towork with the software andaccess the data they arelooking for.

“The software can givethat information graphical-ly, real time, on a handhelddevice if that’s necessary,which is important if you’vegot a mobile workforce,”said Mr Boots.

Any company with sev-eral business units has tofigure out how much it willdictate the way things aredone from head office andask all employees to do itthat way, or give employeesin different divisions thelatitude to do things theirown way.

But sooner or later in acompany’s growth therecomes a point when, if youwant to improve efficiency,safety, quality and customerservice, it pays to have anagreed method for how var-ious tasks should be done.

Once those methods areadopted by the workforceyou’ve got a chance of start-ing to improve perform-ance. And that can be veryempowering for employees,as their opinions aboutwhat should be changedsuddenly really matter.

Let’s face it, if everyone

works differently there’s no point inhead office listening to improvementideas. What works for one person will beinappropriate to another.

But once there’s an established bestpractice, ideas for improving that still further really matter, and if the improvement works, the effect can be multiplied thousands of times by

other colleagues.“All companies are faced with these

challenges,” said Mr Boots, “and soft-ware isn’t ever the total answer.”

“At the end of the day it’s peoplewhich count, and the way in which they adopt processes and want to beinvolved in improving how the companyoperates.”

“Providing our employees with a con-sistent place to look for process and pro-cedure guidance, and keeping the con-tent easy to understand, has reallyhelped in this quest. And since the soft-ware helps us collaborate together toimprove the process still further it is real-ly paying dividends in our quest foroperational excellence.”


Digital Ship

DS

www.radiohollandgroup.com

RADIO HOLLAND CONNECT: AIRTIME ANYWHERE

FOR ALL YOUR C NNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS

WE C NNECT AT SEA

p16-23:p15-25.qxd 05/11/2010 13:32 Page 8


ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS

www.kelvinhughes.com

The 107m Austal-built catamaran Jean DeLa Valette, which will shortly enter servicefor Maltese operator Virtu Ferries, has beenoutfitted with an integrated bridge packagewith systems from Kelvin Hughes.

These include MantaDigital Radar andECDIS, with both conventional mag-netron and solid state SharpEye S-bandRadar sensors.

The equipment was supplied by KelvinHughes’ Australian representative, AMIMarine International.

www.veripos.com

Veripos has been awarded a five-year con-tract by Odyssey Marine Exploration ofTampa, Florida for the supply of position-ing services aboard its newly-renovateddeep-ocean exploration vessel, MVDorado Discovery.

The 98m-long vessel is due to begin aseries of mineral exploration and recoverysurveys in the South Pacific, working offthe coast of Papua New Guinea and Tonga.

Under the contract, Veripos will pro-vide MV Dorado Discovery with a combi-nation of its global Ultra Precise PointPositioning (PPP) service for decimetre-level accuracies, together with LD2-G2integrated mobile receivers.

Associated software, including the VerifyQC system for real-time monitoring andcontrol and a tidal estimation module calledQC Tides, is also part of the agreed package.

The contract will be managed fromVeripos Americas’ regional office inHouston, Texas.

"This new contract award marks a fur-ther important stage in Veripos’ growth inthe Americas region and our continuingcollaboration with Odyssey MarineExploration, which apart from its special-ist offshore activities, is the recognisedleader in the field of deep-ocean ship-wreck exploration around the world,”commented Stephen Browne, regionalmanager at Veripos Americas.

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

Know where you’re going

MarineSTAR assists manoeuvring in restricted waters and confined port areas. Quay distance calculation aids berthing of large vessels.

M in

The MarineSTAR Manoeuvring System provides high accuracy position, course and speed - both in the forward direction and athwartships.

MarineSTAR can be integrated within ships bridge systems to provide stable accurate, position course and speed data. This is especially valuable to ships using electronic charting.

▪

▪▪

The Jean De La Valette bridge will have integrated ECDIS and radar

Catamaran gets integrated bridge from Kelvin Hughes

www.emersonprocess.com

The MT Tintomara, a 44,999 dwt producttanker operated by Laurin Maritime, hasinstalled a Micro Motion Viscomaster vis-cosity meter by Emerson ProcessManagement, to manage its fuel usage.

The meter will measure the viscosity,density and temperature of the heavy fueloil (HFO) that supplies the vessel's mainand auxiliary engines.

The new system replaces an originalmechanical sensor, which needed regularcleaning, maintenance and recalibration thatwill not be required with the new equipment.

To meet the requirements of new emis-sions regulations, the fuel for the vessel’sengines also has to be changed from HFOto gasoil (depending on where the vesselis operating). These frequent changes infuel density were proving challenging forthe previous sensor systems.

Laurin Maritime installs fuel monitoring system“The mechanical installation was

straightforward and was completed by con-necting the Viscomaster meter to the exist-ing control unit − no other equipment need-ed to be replaced,” said Henrik Olsson,chief engineer onboard the MT Tintomara.

The Micro Motion Viscomaster range ofself-contained, head-mounted transmittersuses vibrating fork technology to measuredensity and viscosity, and is approved byLloyd's Register for marine environments.

“All HSC fast ferries that are now beingbuilt in Australia feature Kelvin Hughes'Radars; an accolade which speaks for itself,”said AMI managing director, Jim Fraser.

“We have a long-standing relationshipwith Austal and have also recently won anorder to supply SharpEye solid-state S-band radars for two fast ferry catamaransbeing built by the yard for Caribbean oper-ator L’Express des Iles.”

The Jean De La Valette is the largesthigh speed catamaran built at Austal’sHenderson facility and is its 24th commer-cial delivery to the Mediterranean region.

The vessel will operate on Virtu Ferries’inter-island service between Malta andItaly, and is designed to carry 800 passen-gers and 156 cars (or 45 cars and 342 trucklane metres) at an operational speed of upto 40 knots.

Accurate positioningfor Odyssey

p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:47 Page 1

By incorporating Sattel’s hardware andsoftware into its visibility and control plat-form for terminal operation, Identecexpects to be able to expand its marine andintermodal portfolio to include RFID,GPS, RTLS, sensor technologies, and soft-ware applications for both powered andnon powered assets.

“Strengthening our position in thismarket has been part of our overall strate-gic growth strategy,” said GerhardSchedler, president and CEO of Identec.

www.dcnsgroup.com

The European Commission is to providefunding to the I2C project, led by technol-ogy company DCNS and supported by20 European partners, aimed at monitor-ing the behaviour of vessels inMediterranean waters.

The I2C European research & technolo-gy demonstration (RTD) project will lastfour years, and will start by using a demon-stration system set up by DCNS and itspartners on the SESDA coastal platform atSaint Mandrier and at two French opera-tions centres for the Mediterranean.

The aim is to determine the feasibilityof deploying a regional maritime surveil-lance and offender detection system that would be able to detect – in real time,under all weather conditions and over a maritime domain extending up to 400 km from the coast – abnormal behav-iour by both cooperating and non-coop-

erating vessels. The types of behaviour warranting

attention would include abnormally highor low speeds, standing still on the highseas, ships alongside each other and sud-den changes of heading.

The system is expected to analyse ships’ tracks and activities in real time,query databases and issue warnings on thebasis of agreed guidelines and in concertwith the relevant operational authorities.

An extensive sensor network will pro-vide information to I2C, which will thenbe correlated with information fromother sources.

The partners listed as participants inthe I2C project include: Onera, FurunoFinland, Rockwell Collins, IRIT, Ajeco,JRC, Kongsberg, Kongsberg NorcontrolSystems, JRC, Sofresud, Intuilab,Zeppelin, Clear Priority, Armines,Airshipvision, Ecomer, Meteosim, SES-Astra, Eric Von Hooydonk.

EC funding for ship monitoring project Identec acquires Sattel


www.identecsolutions.com

Identec Solutions has acquired the assetsof Satellite Telemetry Australia (Sattel),from container terminal operating groupDP World.

Sattel provides DGPS (DifferentialGlobal Positioning System) based track-ing and telemetry systems to the con-tainer terminal industry, with installa-tions in Asia, Australasia, Europe andthe USA.

Digital Ship

Todd Chart Agency hasrelaunched under a new brand, now trad-ing under the name Todd. The companyhas also launched a new commercial web-site, at www.intelligentnavigation.com.

Todd has also recently partnered withECDIS Ltd to offer ECDIS trainingcourses to all of its customers, either atECDIS Ltd’s facility in the UK or at anylocation globally, to suit individual vesselrequirements. Both standard and bespokecourses will be made available.

Comar Systems has introduced itsnew Class A CSA-300 AIS transponder,which outputs AIS data in standardNMEA format so that information can beoverlaid or shared with other devices onthe bridge. The unit is the first Class Atransponder from Comar Systems.

Comark has announced the availabil-ity of its MDU23 23-inch UXGA LED back-lit display, with optional touchscreen. Theunit can be set at up to 400 NITS at fullbrightness, has been tested in accordancewith IEC 60945, and is ECDIS compliant.

Blue Sky Network, a provider ofGPS tracking and communication services,has become a service partner of Iridium’sBrazilian subsidiary, Iridium Serviçios deSatelites. As an Iridium service partner,Blue Sky Network can now provide itssatellite-based GPS tracking and remotecommunication solutions directly to com-panies based in that country.

e3 reports that its previously seasonaloffice in Antigua is to re-open for businesson November 1, and will run full timethroughout the year from then on.

Kelvin Hughes has appointedFabio Fiorucci S.r.l. as a new agent inFano, Italy. Fabio Fiorucci will offer thecomplete range of Kelvin Hughes' prod-ucts and systems under the agreement.

Chris Feibusch has joined ChemringMarine as sales manager, with responsi-bility for the UK and Ireland, SouthernEurope and the Far East. Mr Feibusch haspreviously worked with companies suchas Holt-Allen, Lewmar, HalyardMarine Exhausts, CJR Propulsionand Barrow International.

Interschalt Maritime Systemshas opened its own service centre inRotterdam, from which it says it will makeapproximately 400 service, maintenanceand inspection calls each year directly atEurope’s largest deepwater seaport.

www.intelligentnavigation.comwww.ecdis.orgwww.kelvinhughes.comwww.blueskynetwork.comwww.iridium.comwww.e3s.comwww.chemringmarine.comwww.interschalt.dewww.comarkcorp.com

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Find out more at www.veson.com Boston +1.617.723.2727 Athens +30.22210.89146 Rotterdam +31.6.112.88.99.1 Singapore +65.6225.4881

Letter to the editorDear Sir,

Discussing the possible misuse ofECDIS (Digital Ship October 2010, page37), Mr Ryan Skinner taunts hydro-graphic offices (HOs) with the follow-ing assertion:

"OK, last year's wreck won't showup on ENC updates from hydrograph-ic offices for another two or threeyears yet anyway, but this is progress,damnit. Don't question it."

I strongly object to this statementwhich does not reflect existing regula-tions about navigational warnings norcurrent HO practice.

As any mariner should know, HOsstrive to reflect new dangers to navi-gation, including wrecks, on officialnautical charts, be they paper charts orENCs, as fast as possible, throughweekly notices to mariners and associ-ated ER profiles to update ENC collec-tion.

Of course, non official productsused on ECS are not always kept up todate by private producers.

If Mr Skinner has any counterexample, he should notify it to the rel-evant HO. Mariners should also beaware of their responsibility to informHOs of any discrepancy betweenobserved and charted features.

HO's guides for mariners, such asthe UKHO ‘Mariner's Handbook’ orthe French HO (SHOM) ‘Guide dunavigateur’, provide details of theinformation they need to send.

The relevant instructions andreporting forms are also available on HO's web sites (see for example:UKHO - shortlinks.co.uk/2db8;SHOM - shortlinks.co.uk/2db9).

Yours sincerely,

Gilles BesseroChair of the Inter-Regional

Coordination Committeeof the International Hydrographic

[email protected]

Comark's new display is ECDIS compliant

p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:47 Page 2


The Wärtsilä Intelligent CombustionMonitoring system provides a means formeasuring the pressures in each cylinder dur-ing the entire combustion process, continuous-ly, in parallel, and under all load conditions.

By monitoring the exact position of thecrankshaft, and in combination with mathe-matical modelling of the engine, this pro-vides real-time data for diagnostic analysis.

The company contraststhis with conventional cylin-der pressure measurementsystems, such as portablepressure indicators, or on-linesystems that measure thecombustion pressure cylinderby cylinder in a scanningsequence, which it says areinfluenced by movements ofthe fuel rack, rpm variations,and sea conditions.

Wärtsilä says that its sys-tem has the capacity to collectthe combustion pressures andangle values for each cylinder,in parallel and simultaneous-ly, stroke by stroke. Thecrankshaft deflection is calcu-lated on a continuous basis, sothat the information given isaccurate regardless of engineload conditions.

The IntelligentCombustion Monitoring sys-tem also integrates with theCylmate system from ABB,for which ABB and Wärtsiläsigned a co-operation anddistribution agreement earli-er this year. Further develop-ment of the system's technol-ogy will be carried out joint-ly by the two companies.

In addition to this two-stroke diesel engine versionof the technology, Wärtsiläsays that it intends to extendits family of condition moni-toring system further in 2011with the introduction of anIntelligent CombustionControl system for its elec-tronically controlled two-stroke RT-flex engines.

That system has beendesigned to utilise the meas-ured data in the engine's con-trol system, and automatical-ly adjust the compressionand firing pressures withinthe engine's performanceand NOx regulation limits.

"This is an importantproduct introduction thatoffers significant benefits totwo-stroke engine operators,both in the area of cost sav-ings and in extending the life-cycle of the equipment," saidPeter Hug, product managerfor Wärtsilä two-strokeengine service solutions.

"Furthermore, by ensur-ing that the engine is work-ing according to its certifi-cate and optimal perform-ance curves, CO2 emissionsare reduced, which is anincreasingly important con-sideration today."

ed parameters can be achieved. Furthermore, the condition information

also helps to make sure that maintenance iscarried out at the right time, thereby avoid-ing off-hire costs and improving theengine's reliability and overall performance.


ing vessel engine performance andimproving awareness of the condition ofcomponents in the combustion chamber.

Wärtsilä says that, by operating at opti-mal firing pressures, fuel cost savings ofup to two per cent compared to deteriorat-

www.wartsila.com

Wärtsilä has introduced its IntelligentCombustion Monitoring system for two-stroke diesel engines, providing informa-tion that assists ship operators in optimis-

Engine performance monitoring from Wärtsilä

LEADER IN MOBILE BROADBAND

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

www.kvh.com/digitalship

KVH Europe A/S • Kokkedal Industripark 2B • 2980 Kokkedal • Denmark

Tel: +45 45 160 180 • Fax: +45 45 160 181 • E-mail: [email protected]

©2010 KVH Industries, Inc. KVH, TracPhone, and the unique light-colored dome with dark contrasting baseplate are registered trademarks of KVH Industries, Inc. 10_KE_V7miniVSAT_Comm_DigitalShip“What Broadband at sea was meant to be” and “mini-VSAT Broadband” are service marks of KVH Industries, Inc.

ArcLight is a registered trademark of ViaSat, Inc.; all other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Patents Pending.

An end-to-end communications solution with a compact 60 cm antenna and a fully integrated control unit and modem.

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

Fast, low-cost Internet at sea – Rely on broadband Internet with speeds as fast as 2 Mbps down and 512 Kbps up while saving 85% or more vs. other solutions.

Crystal-clear telephone calls – Make calls whenever and wherever you wantusing either of the two lines of integrated voice service optimised for maritime customers or KVH’s crew calling solution.

Easy to install and setup –ViaSat’s exclusive ArcLight® spread spectrumtechnology enables a small 60 cm antenna with dramatically superior performance, easy installation and activation in as little as 1 day!

Seamless global coverage – mini-VSAT Broadband is a rapidly expanding Ku-band global network with totally automatic satellite switching and seamless roaming between regions.

What broadband at sea was meant to beSM – TracPhone® V7.

“We were particularly impressed with the TracPhone V7’s small size and affordable airtime. We are excited to have a new solution for day-to-day shipboard satellite communications that is both affordable and easy to install alongside our existing Inmarsat and GSM systems. This helps to keep our business operations efficient, and allows the crew to use the services to stay in touch with their loved ones. This is especially important, because in our industry retaining quality crew and officers is essential.”

- Runar Gaarder, ICT Manager for Mowinckel Ship Management

Global Expansion Continues!

Africa & Indian Oceanare now live!Coming soon:

Brazil

mini-®

B R O A D B A N DSM

p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:47 Page 3

Digital Ship


www.kongsberg.com

Kongsberg's Maritime Simulation &Training department has developed a newGreen Ship Engine Room Simulator (ERS)model, based on a Wärtsilä 12RT-flex 82Clow-speed common-rail engine.

The system is built for a Panamax con-tainer ship of 4,800 TEU, with reefercapacity of 800.

The scenario for the simulated shipmodel is a modern fuel efficient / low-emission 'green' container ship using com-mercially available technical solutions.

The simulated ship has a high normaloperating speed of 26 knots and the propul-sion machinery is adapted for all ambienttemperature conditions, ranging fromArctic (-40C) to tropic (45C), allowing forthe introduction of new trading routes.

The new ERS model offers training

based on the above conditions, andincludes a Sankey diagram display whichKongsberg says makes it easier to visu-alise the energy efficiency of the engineroom plant.

"Although many Kongsberg MaritimeERS models offer Green Ship functionali-ty, the RT-flex model features the mostcomprehensive fuel efficiency and emis-sion reduction functionality that we havedeveloped so far," explained Leif PenttiHalvorsen, product manager for engineroom and cargo handling simulators,Kongsberg Maritime.

"Our increased focus on Green Shipsimulation is a result of higher interestfrom environmentally conscious owners,who will be using more efficient engineslike the Wärtsilä 12RT-flex in the future."

Instead of the usual mechanically-con-trolled fuel injection pumps and exhaust

valve drives of Wärtsilä RTA engines, theRT-flex82C has an electronically-con-trolled common-rail system, meaning thatthe engine room operation differs fromthat of other ships and requires specifictraining.

www.nautissim.com

Servicio Integral de Prácticos S.A. (SIPSA),of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has becomethe first Maritime and Riverine Researchand Training Centre to build a FullMission Bridge Simulator runningNAUTIS maritime simulation software.

SIPSA has built a simulated bridge witha 270-degree field-of-view, using nineLCD TV screens. The simulator includesintegrated maritime training software,and has been built to train maritime stu-dents and professionals in a variety of shiphandling and navigation scenarios.

The system will also be used for train-ing in specific maritime and consultingtasks required for operation at terminalsin some modern ports. SIPSA says that it iscurrently applying for DNV Class A certi-fication for the simulator.

“NAUTIS was our first choice for mar-itime simulation training,” said SIPSAproject manager, Alberto Secchi.

“It allows for realistic simulation ofsailing manoeuvres, docking, mooring tobuoys, use of ropes and tugs, all sorts offailures and events, and different hydrometeorological and visibility conditions,daytime with good and bad visibility, andnight-time.”

Green ship simulator from Kongsberg

Argentine trainingcentre installs

NAUTIS simulator

www.transas.com

The Libyan Ports and Maritime TransportAuthority (PMTA) has signed a "multi-million Euro" vessel traffic managementsystem contract with Transas, includingthe supply and installation of a nationalscale Coastal Surveillance System.

The system will provide total coverageof the whole Libyan coast from Tunisia toEgypt, measuring approximately 2,000km, as well as covering areas of responsi-bility of the 15 main ports in Libya.

The project includes a combination of15 local vessel traffic systems (VTS), incor-porated under management of twoNational Control Centres in Tripoli andBenghazi, which perform vessel trafficand coastal surveillance services. In addi-

tion, eight remote sites will also form partof the monitoring network.

Transas’ recently released Navi-Harbour 4.3 software system will form thecore of the system, helping to manage con-tinuous surveillance of territorial waters,safety of navigation, reduction of illegalimmigration and protection of the marineenvironment.

The new infrastructure will also help toreinforce the implementation of port oper-ations management processes in compli-ance with Part B of the ISPS Code.

“It is an honour for Transas to havebeen awarded such a prestigious contractand our partnership with the PMTA willdevelop over many years to come,” com-mented Christopher Loizou, managingdirector of Transas Mediterranean.

The simulator's display is designed to helpin visualising the energy efficiency of

the engine room

Libya agrees VTMS deal

Christopher Loizou, Transas, and Capt Ramadan Mohamed Boumadyan, head of the Libyan Ports & Maritime Transport Authority, sign the new agreement

www.exactearth.com

COM DEV International subsidiaryexactEarth has added a new strategicinvestor, HISDESAT ServiciosEstratégicos, a Madrid-based satelliteoperator and service provider that sellsdata to government customers.

The Spanish company has taken a 27per cent equity interest in exactEarth witha cash investment of CDN$15 million,which represents an implied CDN$55.5million valuation of the exactEarth busi-ness. COM DEV retains ownership of theother 73 per cent of exactEarth.

At the end of the most recent fiscal quar-ter exactEarth was valued at approximatelyCDN$16 million on COM DEV’s consoli-dated balance sheet, with COM DEV hav-ing committed to funding CDN$35 millionof exactEarth’s capital and operatingexpenses, of which approximately CDN$24million has been provided to date.

exactEarth says that the cash invest-ment by HISDESAT will be used to sup-port exactEarth’s business operations andthe deployment of additional space andground infrastructure.

HISDESAT will represent exactEarth asa reseller in a market territories where ithas an established market presence fol-

lowing the deal, and it is also expectedthat HISDESAT will operate a second datacentre in Europe on behalf of exactEarth .

“We are excited to have access toHISDESAT’s data services expertise andglobal market reach,” said Peter Mabson,president of exactEarth.

“These strengths are complementarywith COM DEV’s strengths in satellite tech-nology and are very well aligned with ourneeds at exactEarth as we roll out AIS dataservices into the international marketplace.”

“HISDESAT’s investment follows close-ly on the heels of our successful servicelaunch last month and confirms our com-mitment and ability to deliver a premiumquality and highly reliable space-based AISdata service to the global market.”

Satellite AIS company sells stake

p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:47 Page 4


www.furuno.co.jp

Furuno reports that its INS TrainingCentre has become the first to introducethe DNV SeaSkill-certified 'IMO ModelCourse 1.32 Operational use and under-standing of Integrated Bridge Systems(IBS), including Integrated NavigationSystems (INS)' training course.

The training course is generic and runsfor 5 days, combining theory and practicalexercises and providing the navigatorwith experience of the operation of IBSand INS.

Areas covered include how the systemworks, the rules and regulations govern-ing IBS/INS operation, how to use andbenefit from it in the daily navigation ofthe vessel, and how to assess the perform-ance and the information provided by theIBS/INS.

"The navigation systems are becomingmore and more sophisticated and providea wider range of information to the user,"said Ken Helle Jensen, training manager atthe Furuno INS Training Centre.

"Many tasks that were handled manu-ally in the past are now automaticallyprocessed, and other systems like powermanagement, engine automation, etc, areall integrated. It is a new era in navigation,and the navigators have to get acquainted

with this new technology.""Recent grounding accidents indicate

that the introduction of IBS/INS andECDIS creates a challenge to the skillsand capabilities of the operators. The


Integrated bridge training from Furuno

Furuno's training centre aims to provide experience of operation with integratednavigation systems

www.imso.org

An LRIT Services Agreement has beensigned between IMSO and theArgentinean Coastguard Prefectura NavalArgentina, on behalf of the National LRITData Centre of the Argentine Republic.

Admiral Oscar Adolfo Arce, PrefectoNacional Naval and Comandant of theArgentine Coastguard, expressed thecommitment of Argentina to the work ofthe International Mobile SatelliteOrganization (IMSO), in respect to mar-itime safety and the implementation ofLRIT services.

After signing the Services Agreement,the National LRIT Data Centre ofArgentina will now shortly enter intooperation, assisting the Prefectura Naval

in maritime traffic control and search andrescue in the vast area of responsibility forArgentina in the Atlantic Ocean and theAntarctic.

Captain Esteban Pacha-Vicente, IMSODirector General, welcomed Argentina’sinterest in LRIT and commitment to safetyof life at sea following the agreement, andsaid he will look forward to working veryclosely with the National LRIT DataCentre of Argentina.

A total of 47 LRIT Services Agreementsand contracts have been signed by IMSOwith LRIT Data Centres and the interimInternational LRIT Data Exchange (IDE). Theorganisation also notes that further LRITServices Agreements are in an advancedstage of negotiation, and are expected tobe signed ahead of scheduled audits.

LRIT agreement for Argentina

www.rutter.ca

Rutter Technologies has announcedorders for six Integrated Oil SpillResponse and Management Systems,expected to be worth US$2 million.

These orders follow on from the recentcertification of the technology by theNorwegian Clean Seas Association(NOFO), with trials of the system havingconcluded in June.

The Integrated Oil Spill Response andManagement System provides operatorswith real-time information about the vol-ume and thickest areas of an oil slick, inorder to maximise recovery efforts.

It combines Rutter's Sigma S6 radarprocessor and display with the AptomarSECurus system. This integration givesthe operator the ability make immediatedecisions on oil slick detection bothonboard vessels and onshore.

Three systems have been purchased byEdison Chouest Offshore, to be deployedon three vessels operating in Brazil in sup-port of Petrobras.

A fourth system has been ordered byRederi AB TransAtlantic and will bedeployed off Norway on a vessel in supportof Statoil operations. In addition to theseorders, the Rutter/Aptomar integrated sys-tem will also be leased to the Danish shippingcompany Esvagt, for two vessels supportingStatoil operations off the coast of Egypt.

$2m oil tech orders

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short familiarisation training providedby the manufacturer is not alwaysenough if the crew does not have priorexperience in operating integrated navi-gation systems."

p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:49 Page 5

p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:47 Page 6

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CC ritical competencies are meant toidentify certain operationalactions that, if done incorrectly,

would have disastrous consequences –loss of life, destruction of equipment, orharm to the environment.

When applied to the operational use ofECDIS, a number of basic competenciesbecome critical in the context of naviga-tion. Considering the newly definedECDIS competence as the use of ECDIS tomaintain the safety of navigation, this con-text is appropriate and necessary.

The fundamental outcome, howeverchallenging to accept, is that a properlytrained watch officer should be able tosafely and consistently rely on ECDIS as akey navigational aid.

Another challenge arises in applyingeffective methods for training and assessingskills in ECDIS-based navigation, namely,that the training should be consistently con-ducted in the context of navigation.

The many crucial skills of ECDIS usecan be clustered into a manageable num-ber of task groups. The fundamentalrequirement is that a grounding, collisionor allision, as well as a near miss, shouldbe avoidable with efficient and pro-activeECDIS-based navigation.

The ECDIS qualification should recog-nise the tasks that are critical to such safenavigation.

Perhaps the most significant challengefacing instructional design for ECDIS useis the recognition that the mastery of nav-igational functionality of the device doesnot equate to skilful and safe navigationwith ECDIS.

Because ECDIS is an integrative deviceby its structure and purpose and place-ment in integrated bridge systems, the useof it and its use in the various acts of nav-igation cannot be separated for very long.

The consequence of training on ECDISoutside of its navigational context is todevelop skills that depend upon not hav-ing any other navigational distractions.This may be the most undesirable out-

come imaginable for training in the use ofECDIS.

STCW requirementsRegrettably, this particular approach,common to part-task training everywhere,has taken hold in most instances of ECDIScertified training worldwide.

The STCW Manila Amendments, how-ever, now define the fundamental compe-tence in ECDIS as a navigation function atboth levels: Maintain the safety of naviga-tion through the use of ECDIS.

There are two significant changes withregards to ECDIS in the ManilaAmendments to the STCW Code.

One is that the Officer of the Watch atboth management and operational levels,serving aboard vessels larger and smallerthan 500 IGT fitted with ECDIS, must becertified in the operational use of ECDIS.

The other is in the definition of compe-tence in ECDIS, as being its use to main-tain the safety of navigation.

This definition includes: knowledge ofthe capability and limitations of ECDIS;proficiency in operation, interpretation,and analysis of information obtained fromECDIS; management of operational proce-dures, system files and data; and thoroughknowledge of and ability to use ECDIS.

As with many other STCW navigation-al competencies, this desired outcome ofECDIS use must be demonstrated as asolo act.

Many general aspects of navigationmust be evaluated when ECDIS compe-tence is kept in its integrated context, aswell as the use of specific ECDIS functionsat the right time and place. Indirectly, thebehaviour that is being assessed is thetrainee’s ability to divide attention evenlyamongst all navigational aids and sys-tems, not least being the visual scene.

Taking the STCW criteria for naviga-tion at the operational level, evaluatingECDIS competence requires the trainee todemonstrate that they are: monitoringappropriate information; interpreting that

information correctly; controlling the ves-sel’s speed and autopilot; and utilisingeffective communications.

Likewise, STCW criteria for navigationat the management level requires thetrainee to show (in the same evaluation)that they are: making and using opera-tional procedures; and making navigationsafe by minimising risk.

The intent and specific criteria of theamended STCW Code on ECDIS is plainto see. Any Officer in Charge of aNavigational Watch (OIC) must be able tomonitor information on ECDIS in a man-ner that contributes to safe navigation,

while any Chief Mate or Master must beable to also establish, apply and monitoroperational procedures for using ECDIS.

Where these skills are acquired andassessed using approved ECDIS simulatortraining, or its equivalent, the simulatorand the associated ECDIS course ofinstruction must be able to produce a nav-igational environment where unsafeevents will occur when ECDIS informa-tion is incorrectly monitored and whenECDIS operating procedures are inade-quately applied.

In other words, it is the unsafe naviga-tional events in a given scenario, where

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p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:48 Page 8


ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

preventable by proper operation ofECDIS, which should determine the base-line competency.

Interwoven with this is the opportunityto practice and apply the very many spe-cific ECDIS functions that add up to prop-er operation, and which will help avoiddistractions resulting from unfamiliaritywith ECDIS.

The methods for demonstrating thiscompetence require either ECDIS simula-tor training or its equivalent in underwayexperience.

It is fair to state that ECDIS simulatortraining that does not meet the "underwaystandard" cannot possibly satisfy the letteror intent of the revised STCW Code, sotraining should reflect this.

Critical competenciesCritical competencies are meant to identi-fy certain operational actions that, if doneincorrectly, would have disastrous conse-quences – loss of life, destruction of equip-ment, or harm to the environment.

When applied to the operational use ofECDIS, a number of basic and advancedproficiencies become critical competenciesin the context of navigation.

These would include: � viewing the most appropriate chart � having chart updates properly applied � chart presentation shows hazards in

vessel's proximity � display is appropriately detailed, yet

uncluttered and scaled � navigational and area alarms are

appropriately set � validated position source � properly configured interface with

Track Control autopilot � validated route for monitoring, includ-

ing modifications � monitoring traffic when AIS or ARPA

sensors are attached � inclusion of accurate user-created

object layers � inclusion of manual chart corrections

where auto updates are incomplete � installation of licenses and permits for

appropriate chart data � accurate configuration of source sensors � accurate configuration of vessel's

parameters � accurate configuration of Common

Consistent Reference Point � proper network configuration of

Master and Backup This list is by no means exhaustive. But itshould be readily apparent that fallingshort in any of the above proficienciescould readily begin, or contribute to, anerror chain with disastrous results – manypublished accident reports have identifiedcontributing ECDIS factors.

Evaluating ECDIS use through eachcasualty investigation case would help toestablish critical competencies in ECDIS,one by one.

There is another, more proactiveapproach to considering ECDIS competen-cy. That is to recognise how ECDIS can beused in support of many crucial and tradi-tional bridge functions.

In commercial transportation, thesefunctions include tasks like visual moni-toring, Piloting, dealing with traffic, andvoyage planning – among many others.

The analysis of bridge functions in theinvestigation of casualties is well estab-

lished, and predates the advent of ECDIS.But, especially since ECDIS can play anintegrative role in nearly all navigationalfunctions, these same functions can beused to define how ECDIS should beapplied.

Grouping ECDIS uses into these typicalbridge functions offers significant advan-tages. It encourages the development ofbridge procedures with regards to ECDISuse, centralises the role of ECDIS in practi-cal navigation (rather than marginalisingit), encourages the prioritising and group-ing of proficiencies into critical tasks, andenables the defining of critical ECDIS com-petencies, suitable for training and forqualification objectives.

Accordingly, the three critical ECDIScompetencies may be defined as follows: � Maintaining situational awareness

while using ECDIS, including confir-mation of primary position sensor accuracy by alternate means

� Safe monitoring of displayed informa-tion, and adjustment to conditions, including the efficient use of alarm parameters

� Use of ECDIS functions involving the integration with other sensors, including radar, AIS, and Track Control autopilot

Task groups and goalsSince these are somewhat broad in scope,there will be greater practicality in findinga middle ground between these three andthe many specific ECDIS proficiencies asthey become applied to the typical bridgefunctions identified above.

The first consideration is to recognisethat there is a fundamental divisionbetween tasks that focus directly onECDIS use, and those that focus on exter-nals that are vital to ECDIS navigation.

The creation of Task Groups providesorganisation and flexibility for scoringunderway proficiencies in ECDIS. These aremeant to isolate significant skill sets directlyrelated to effective ECDIS navigation.

The groups that focus on ECDIS are:using critical interfaces on ECDIS; proce-dural setups; relevant info; all positionoptions; and making adjustments.

A variety of training goals can beachieved that address the three funda-mental critical ECDIS competencies (situa-tional awareness, safe monitoring, andsystem integration). This can be effectivelyaccomplished through a combination oftraining methods.

The training goals themselves consist ofmastering a large number of specific profi-ciencies in the context of practical naviga-tion. In order to help emphasise the all-importance of that context, the proficien-cies should be demonstrated by the traineein the Task Groups.

Their repeated rehearsal makes themfamiliar as training goals, and lends themreadily to assessment.

An additional rather indirect traininggoal involves overcoming an occasionallypersistent attitude that an ECDIS cannotbe relied upon for safe navigation.

In a little more than one year, thephase-in period begins for the requiredcarriage of ECDIS. Additionally, in thesame time frame, the phase-in periodbegins for the STCW required training inthe use of ECDIS.

But most importantly, whenever anECDIS is not used where it could other-wise support the navigation at hand, themastery of skills is not achieved, and theunreliability of the ECDIS and its lack ofvalue to navigation becomes incremental-ly self-fulfilling.

This latter condition can be referred toas the ‘Problem of Partial Use’. It meansthat unfamiliarity with an ECDIS installa-tion and/or procedures may lead to dis-tracting problem solving attempts at inop-portune times, or to a disuse of the unitaltogether, both of which are detrimentalto the safety of navigation.

Demonstration andpractice

Throughout a certified training course inECDIS, practical navigation with ECDISshould include (but should not be limitedto) three areas.

The first is use of the ECDIS unit itself.This should include the selection of setupchoices for specific conditions, recognisingthat bridge team members may be view-ing the ECDIS for widely differing pur-poses and that setups should therefore beaccommodating, as well as the perform-ance of visual scanning techniquesapplied to ECDIS pages/screens.

The second is use of instruments inte-grated with the ECDIS (centralisation ofinformation). A trainee must be able tocross check (trust but verify) displayedinformation by all other available means,and to verify the settings and functions ofsensors connected to ECDIS.

The third is avoidance of the ‘Problemof Partial Use’, discussed above. A traineeneeds to know what can and cannot beaccomplished before the need arises, andknow that limited or restricted use resultsin unverified and unintended settings.

They must be able to perform on ECDISanything done on a paper chart, as well asthings that cannot be otherwise done aseffectively or efficiently.

There is a fundamental differencebetween an instructor-led demonstrationand practice of ECDIS functionalities, andthe unassisted application of ECDIS whilefaced with navigational decision making.These are separate learning experiences.

The following description of an optimalECDIS training environment proposesthat these be conducted separately.

An integrated navigation lab (INL) con-figured with at least 6, and no more than16, isolated ownships provides a semi-iso-lated bridge environment for stand-upsolo watchstanding (unassisted applica-tion of ECDIS while faced with naviga-tional decision making).

Additionally, a classroom (open lab)configured with up to 18 workstationswith sit-down workstations for coaching(demonstration and practice of ECDISfunctionalities) is advised.

Both labs ideally will have the samefully integrated simulation software pack-age installed, with each lab designed torun any combination of interacting own-ships, depending on the exercise design.

There will be little doubt that the last-ing learning experience for each traineetakes place in the isolated ownships.

The preparation in the open lab makesthis possible. The integration in the INLmeans there is always a visual scene for

the underway context. The multiple ownships allow for a wide

variety of scenarios, from single ownshipexercises run simultaneously in parallel, toa single exercise with all ownships inter-acting as well as with target vessels fromthe instructor.

Most coaching on ECDIS would be con-ducted in the classrooms (open lab). Thissetting is well suited for instructor-leddemonstrations of functionality, for traineepractice, and for reviewing exercises.

Each trainee sits at a dual-display desk-top configuration. All of the same conningcapabilities are present as in the INL,including full visualisation.

In this environment, familiarisationwith tasks and functionalities are accom-plished in a group manner in the contextof navigation with underway conditions.This ensures that all trainees are develop-ing the skills required for navigation withECDIS.

However, the optimal training in thelabs is in solo visual watchstanding withECDIS, while using paper chart backup,and all other navigational aids.

As an example configuration of an inte-grated navigation lab, each ownship con-sists of the visual scene on a 42” display,conning including autopilot with trackcontrol and other navigation instruments,ECDIS and radar, VHF, and chart table.Sound is also integrated.

Each ownship is in a 9 ft x 5 ft cubicle,where the conning officer stands. Space ineach cubicle is sufficient for a team of two.

As in the open lab, the context of navi-gation with underway conditions ensuresthat all trainees have the opportunity todevelop the required skills.

Role of the instructorThere is considerable benefit when theinstructor's coaching and intervention isprogressively replaced in the solo naviga-tion environment by unobtrusive observa-tion, leading finally to silent grading.

Commentary on individual uses ofECDIS in navigation is most effectivewhen conducted in the exercise debrief inthe open lab.

In order for an instructor to score agiven trainee’s application of such generalas well as specific skills, some method ofobservation must be developed.

This is very effectively done usingremote control software (software that candisplay the screen of another computer),such that the instructor’s mouse pointer isnot active on the trainee’s display.

At an instructor’s station equippedwith an additional monitor or two, a win-dow into each trainee’s ECDIS can beopened. This allows the sequential moni-toring of the trainees’ ECDIS use withoutany form of intrusion.

Additionally, the instructor shouldobserve automatically recorded events(depending on the simulator’s functionali-ty), such as each trainee’s dangerousapproaches to other vessels, use of autopi-lot, navigation lights, fog signals, depthsounder, AIS messaging, etc.

The trainees should also be required tokeep a rough log, which includes‘Standing Orders’ to be incorporated intoECDIS use as ensuring ‘conformance tooperational procedures’ (STCW Table A-II/1), such as minimum CPA, speed

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Digital Shiprequirements, backup plot interval,reminders to check on tides and currents,and to observe COLREGS, and to keep avigilant visual lookout.

The log can include entries for recordingthe alternative fix information, sensor fixquality, and other details that would aug-ment the completeness and workload ofpaper chart plotting as the backup system.

Measuringcompetency

The significance of the train-ing process in masteringECDIS is that navigationalsafety remains the centraloutcome, and can thereforestand as a baseline measureof ECDIS competency.

Above we discussed thethree fundamental criticalECDIS competencies. Thesecan be emphasised in vari-ous ways with flexible train-ing methods when applied inthe ten Task Groups.

The sub-division of eachTask Group can more specif-ically identify the aspect ofpractical navigation that canbe achieved with just a fewproficiencies on ECDIS, orcritical sensors connected tothe ECDIS.

As also noted above,through the consistent appli-cation of a navigational con-text for the ECDIS training,the repeated rehearsal ofTask Groups makes themfamiliar as training goals,and lends them readily toassessment.

For a specific approach toscoring ECDIS proficiencies,a scoring system has beencreated based on the group-ing of tasks introducedabove in the section on criti-cal ECDIS competencies.

Instructions are to give ascore of 3 if performed well on all occasions, 2 if onsome occasions, or 1 if not on enough occasions. It willbe left if not applicable inthis case.

Scoring 0 on a taskmarked with an * (such asmaintaining a safe CPA at alltimes, in Task Group 8) rep-resents a Critical Fault. Inthat instance, the traineeshould retake the evaluationbecause it is always plausiblethat better use of ECDISwould have mitigated thedangers.

An important considera-tion used in this scoringscheme is to avoid a penaltyfor un-scored tasks, unlessthe entire Task Group is un-scored.

The scoring could be keptsimple with the use of inte-gers, or decimal values couldbe used for finer differentia-tion. Consistency in eithercase is essential.

The values recorded in the score sheetare applied in the evaluation tally (pic-tured on pg 31), with weighted averagesfor each Task Group.

At the end of this whole process,demonstrating safe and effective use ofECDIS demands foremost the demonstra-tion of safe navigation.

The assessment of ECDIS use therefore

requires a detailed analysis of ECDISfunctions applied in the context of coastaland confined navigation in visual shipsimulation.

This is best accomplished through solonavigation exercises where an instructorcan observe each trainee’s navigationusing ECDIS in a non-disruptive yetdetailed manner. DS

This article has been adapted from acomprehensive white paper prepared byCmdr Hempstead that includes furtherdetails on ECDIS training methods andbest practices. To download a copy visit:www.thedigitalship.com/powerpoints/Competency_in_ECDIS_navigation.pdf

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p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:48 Page 10


ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

Computer based systems inevitably become obsolete – navigation systems are no different, and care must be taken to make sure they are continuously updated, writes Dr Andy Norris

Changing attitudes

TT he traditional view of marinesuperintendents concerning theprocurement of navigation and

communications equipment was uncom-plicated. Systems were ordered and fittedto the ship, initially as part of the newbuild and then used at sea for maybe 15years or so, before being replaced.

In general, a service engineer was onlycalled to rectify failures, except for thosefew units that needed planned mainte-nance, such as the turning gear of a radar.

This simple fit-and-forget procurementmodel is now just about defunct. Mostsystems now become obsolescent in rather shorter timescales and there is agrowing number of systems that are basedon highly complex software, which needmaintenance.

Obsolescence arises from equipmentbecoming irreparable from a lack of avail-able spares, or from being inappropriate torepair when compared with the option offitting a replacement unit compliant withthe latest IMO performance standards.

For instance, a GPS receiver fittedbefore about 2003 lacks key safety featuresintroduced to improve its integrity, andsome early AIS MKDs were not upgrade-able to deal appropriately with Class-Bdata.

Any failure in older safety-relatedequipment should therefore initiate aninformed decision as to whether theequipment should be repaired or replaced.

Ironically, the improved reliability thatnew technology generally brings does notadd to the effective life-span of the equip-ment – it becomes obsolescent well beforethe hardware ‘wears out’.

Computer technologyThe processing and display equipment ofmajor navigation equipment, such asradar, ECDIS and IBS, relies mainly on rel-atively standard PC-based technology,although special precautions are taken toensure that the equipment can meet themarine environment, particularly theshock and vibration levels that can beencountered at sea.

From our own personal experience weknow that desk and laptop computer sys-tems tend to need replacing every five orsix years or so, and that a new system ofequivalent price is far more capable thanthe one being replaced.

It probably hasn’t failed – it just won’trun the latest available software in aneffective manner.

If it does develop a fault after a fewyears, repair costs can look very expensivewhen considering its continued restrictedperformance compared to a new model.

We are also aware of the need to keepsoftware updated to the latest version,both to improve its functionality and toiron out faults. We are particularly awarethat even when the software comes from

a highly reputable source there can still be glitches.

Unsurprisingly, all these issues are alsohighly relevant to shipborne computer-based navigation systems. They particu-larly challenge the old ‘fit-and-forget’ atti-tudes to equipment procurement.

ECDISECDIS epitomises a software based navi-gation system that is certainly not a fit-and-forget product.

For instance, it has to be able to correct-ly operate with ENC data prepared tostandards agreed by the InternationalHydrographic Organization.

Changes can be made to these stan-dards, which necessitate updates to ECDISsoftware. An example just a few years agowas when IMO required electronic andpaper charts to be able to showParticularly Sensitive Sea Areas andArchipelagic Sea Lanes.

In fact, because of the traditional fit-and-forget legacy of navigation equip-ment and the lack of mandatory require-ments for the support of updates whenECDIS was originally fitted to ships, it ispossible that some older systems may stillnot be capable of properly displayingthese new symbols.

Resulting from the difficulties thatwere experienced with this change to theIHO standards, IMO issued SN.1/Circ.266in late 2007, stating that ‘manufacturersshould provide a mechanism to ensuresoftware maintenance arrangements areadequate’.

The Circular urged administrations toinform ship owners and operators aboutthe importance of software maintenanceand for adequate measures to be imple-mented.

These sentiments were subsequentlyembodied as requirements to be tested attype approval in the most recent versionof the type approval standards, IEC 61174,published in September 2008.

UpdatesThis means that all ECDIS equipment typeapproved to the latest standards mustsupport updates. The method of updatehas to be included within the operator’smanual and be accessible on the equip-ment itself.

In addition, the manufacturer needs toensure that information concerning soft-ware versions is readily available, such asthrough a website.

The implication is that updating is notnecessarily a service engineer’s task, justas is the case with the update of softwareon personal computers.

Due to the safety-related nature ofECDIS, it is not a task that should be con-sidered lightly and ship operators need toconsider suitable procedures to ensure it isimplemented effectively and safely.

The IMO requirements to allow theinstallation of software updates wereprompted by the need to allow IHO datastandards to evolve. However, like allother software based systems ECDIS hasalways had the provision for updates to be applied, even if the detail was hiddento users.

Maybe some legislators believed that atype approved ECDIS would be entirelybug free and that updates would not be necessary.

However, the type approval process isaimed at eliminating the possibility offaulty operation in safety significant areas.The process is not designed to reveal allthe possible minor issues that may haveescaped detection during the manufactur-er’s own testing of the product.

In fact, type approval does check thatthe software was developed using a codeof practice under formal quality control,but because of the complexity of ECDISsoftware more erudite faults still tend toremain undetected.

Inevitably, once in use on many shipsand under many different circumstancesand methods of use, any remaining faultsin the software emerge, initiating softwareupdate cycles. Also, with extended use,illogicalities in operation can become evi-dent, requiring updates to simplify the useof the equipment.

It is not just a matter of the manufac-turer issuing numerous software updateswithout any controls. The type approvalauthority needs to be kept informed andmay require some aspects to be formallyre-inspected to maintain its certification.

Keeping abreastOnce the industry has in place reliableprocedures for implementing updates forpredominantly software based systems,

surely it makes sense that any futureupdates by IMO to the equipment’s per-formance standards are also implementedby a software upgrade.

ECDIS is a particularly critical system –it is not a normal navigational aid, such asradar or GNSS. Its continued functionalityto the latest standards is absolutely essen-tial, just in the way that the availabilityand use of fully updated paper charts hasalways been considered to be essential.

In fact, IMO SN.1/Circ.266 effectivelyalready implies this in its statement – ‘It isimportant for the safety of navigation thatthe application software within the ECDISworks fully in accordance with thePerformance Standards and is capable ofdisplaying all the relevant digital informa-tion contained within the ElectronicNavigational Chart’.

In particular, it emphasises that ‘ECDISthat is not updated for the latest version ofIHO Standards may not meet the chartcarriage requirements as set out in SOLASregulation V/19.2.1.4.’

The concept of continued compliance toall standards has validity and is certainlydesirable, but it does have complications,which need to be resolved.

What happens if a software upgraderequires more powerful hardware to run iteffectively than that already installed?Does it mean that a new ECDIS has to beprocured or could the outdated internalhardware be replaced?

The former is highly onerous and there-fore is probably not easily enforceable, butthe latter raises all sorts of questions con-cerning the maintenance of type approval.

However, the type approval issues,although complex, are probably not insur-mountable and, in principle, provide thebasis of a cost effective solution, consider-ably extending the useful life of an ECDIS.

A real example that will be met over thenext few years is the introduction of thenew IHO data standard S-101, which isplanned to replace S-57.

It will require a major revision to exist-ing ECDIS software but it could certainlyresult in some systems not being suffi-ciently powerful to be able to run theupgrade in an appropriate manner.

There are important issues to beresolved here, not least 'who pays?'Perhaps the time is becoming ripe for sys-tems such as ECDIS to be leased, ratherthan bought outright, so that all updatescome as part of the package, withoutincurring unplanned costs.

This will be explored further in a futurearticle.

As software and hardware advancescontinue, today's computer systems may

not be so effective tomorrow

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]

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p24-36:p26-32.qxd 05/11/2010 13:48 Page 12

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DIGITAL SHIP MAGAZINE (NOVEMBER 2010)