DIGITAL SHIP MAGAZINE(OCTOBER 2011)

RR eederei Claus-Peter Offen hasagreed a deal with Stratos forthe provision of Inmarsat

FleetBroadband airtime services for itsentire fleet of 122 commercial vessels.

Reederei Claus-Peter Offen (CPOffen), based in Hamburg, is one of theworld’s largest suppliers of moderncommercial ships, including the 122container vessels, tankers and bulkers.

On the CP Offen fleet, Stratos willintegrate FleetBroadband withAmosConnect – its maritime commu-nications application – to manage allinteroffice communications.

The integrated offering also

includes AmosConnect with StratosChatCards, used for crew welfare serv-ices including calling and private e-mail at flat global rates, and with a sep-arate account for each crewmember.

“Moving to FleetBroadband fromStratos ensures our vessels can bene-fit from the most advanced businessand crew applications, while meetingthe growing demand for bandwidth,in a highly cost-effective manner,”said Ascan Roosen, head of CPOffen’s IT department.

“Stratos is providing excellent serv-ice and is acting as a true partner in thisimportant technology conversion.”

As part of its FleetBroadbandupgrade programme CP Offen is alsohelping Thrane & Thrane to pass themilestone of having installed 20,000SAILOR FleetBroadband antennas,which the Danish company has nowachieved in less than four years sinceInmarsat launched the service inNovember 2007.

The 20,000th antenna will beinstalled on one of CP Offen's vesselsby European Satellite Link (ESL). TheGerman shipowner started to replaceits old Inmarsat-B systems in 2010and says it has already experiencedthe operational benefits of improvingthe connection between the vesselsand office.

These experiences prompted CPOffen to extend its use of the systemand equip each vessel with twoSAILOR 500 FleetBroadband antennas.

“Thrane & Thrane designedSAILOR FleetBroadband for the mar-itime environment and shipownersrecognise the reliability that thisbrings with it, hence it becoming theclear market leader,” said HenrikChristensen, CEO, ESL GmbH.

“The work to upgrade ReedereiClaus-Peter Offen's vessel communi-cation systems is well underway andwe are proud of the fact that the20,000th SAILOR FleetBroadband ter-minal is part of this project.”

“Combining the high quality and

IN THIS ISSUE

October 2011

electronics and navigation

software

satcomsSCF tanker maintainscontact during NSRvoyage – 4

Aalesund Data unveils maritime band-width optimiser – 8

400-600MB per vesselwith hybrid satcoms –Hapag Lloyd – 10

SungDong Shipbuildingto implement AVEVA – 14

TSB software for Busan informationmanagement project – 16Moving to a modern softwaresystem – DS NORDEN – 18 Getting value for money from CBTinvestments – Allseas Marine – 20

122-vessel satcom dealfor Reederei CP Offen

Preparing for ECDIS – is on-shiptraining the solution? – 30

Lifting the veil on eNavigation – 32Training for complexity – Dr Andy Norris – 34

German shipping company Reederei Claus-Peter Offen has agreed a 122-vessel dealwith Stratos for FleetBroadband services, part of a programme which will also see

the company install the 20,000th SAILOR FleetBroadband antenna

continued on page 2

The entire CP Offen fleet will operate with FleetBroadband

© 2

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“One Unique Interface” - Pietro Amorusi, Chief Information Officer, d'Amico Società di Navigazione S.p.A.

From its headquarters in Rome, d’Amico Società di Navigazione S.p.A. operates more than 40 cargo ships in a worldwide trade. The ships are equipped with a combination of Inmarsat Fleet, FleetBroadband and VSAT systems.

“We faced numerous challenges managing our ships due to the diversified communication structure. Dualog Connection Suite is a single and unique interfacing tool.” says Pietro Amorusi, CIO of d’Amico. “The new solution has directly improved our efficiency and, it saves us money.”

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

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SATCOMS

Digital Ship October 2011 page 2

Vol 12 No 2

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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

proven track record of the SAILOR 500FleetBroadband with the solution wehave developed together with ReedereiClaus-Peter Offen has proven veryadvantageous for the shipowner and weare proud to receive a contract extensionbased on this.”

The take up rate for the SAILORFleetBroadband systems has been impres-sive, with Thrane having only announcedthat it had shipped the 10,000th SAILORFleetBroadband terminal in May 2010, just16 months before this latest milestone.

“In addition to shipping SAILORFleetBroadband number 20,000 inSeptember, we also made an agreementwith Inmarsat to develop terminals for Global Xpress, which shows that our continued efforts to bring new solutions to support the safety and effi-ciency of ship operations is workingwell,” notes Walther Thygesen, CEO,Thrane & Thrane.

“Along with our 30th anniversary cele-brations happening right now, it’s safe tosay that the mood in Thrane & Thrane isvery positive.”

Global XpressThrane's confirmation as the latest GlobalXpress partner means that it will becomethe second manufacturer approved byInmarsat to provide antennas for use withthe forthcoming Ka-band service.

The companies said that a new range ofThrane & Thrane SAILOR terminals willbe available for operation on the servicewhen it goes live in 2013. Thrane also toldDigital Ship that it is working on anupgrade path for its recently launchedSAILOR 900 Ku-band antenna system,though no release date for this system hasyet been announced.

Thrane joins Sea Tel as an approvedGlobal Xpress antenna manufacturer, withthat first antenna agreement having beenannounced in March 2011.

“We are delighted to have reached thisagreement with Thrane & Thrane as itmeans our maritime customers will havea wider choice of terminals for our super-fast broadband network,” said FrankColes, senior director - maritime, GlobalXpress.

“SAILOR terminals have proven themost popular for all recent Inmarsat mar-itime services and this makes us confidentthat Thrane & Thrane’s partnership will bea very positive asset as we gear up for thelaunch of Global Xpress.”

Inmarsat also notes that having thesetwo antenna types available will meanthat Thrane & Thrane is uniquely posi-

tioned in its ability to offer L-band/Ka-band combination packages.

“The higher data speeds and compactterminals mark Global Xpress as animportant development in the world ofmaritime communications,” says CasperJensen, vice-president, maritime businessunit, Thrane & Thrane.

“We are keen to use the knowledge andexperience we have acquired as a long-standing Inmarsat manufacturer to ensurethe new SAILOR terminals capture thepromised speed, reliability and flexibilityof the forthcoming new service.”

Flat fees and Ka-bandupgrades

In related news, Stratos has alsoannounced the commercial availability ofits Inmarsat FleetBroadband Flat Fee serv-ice plans, known as FBB Flat Fee, offering10 GB and 15 GB per-vessel data connec-tivity options over FleetBroadband 500 fora flat monthly price.

The prices for these services have notbeen disclosed, though Stratos has saidthat if a vessel exceeds the plan’s monthlydata allocation the price will not increase,but data speeds will be reduced.

The plans also include what Stratoscalls “highly competitive rates” for voicecalls.

Contract periods range from two tofour years, and Stratos claims that thefour-year contract period represents "themost competitive FleetBroadband com-mercial offering on the market today."

Stratos also offers the option of a three-

month, paid trial period, during whichcustomers can upgrade or downgradetheir FBB Flat Fee data allocation or con-tract duration.

The plans have already been deployedby Stratos for a number of its existing customers, as well as by NavarinoTelecom, for shipmanagement companiesGrieg Shipping Group, OSM ShipManagement and Ugland MarineServices, among others.

FBB Flat Fee also represents one ofStratos' programmes that will provideshipping companies with a pathway toInmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band service.

Customers contracting for FBB Flat Feeplans from Stratos can upgrade to GlobalXpress without penalty when that serviceis commercially available in 2013.

“Many of the world’s leading shippingcompanies are demanding higher volumesof data – with the dependability of L-bandsatellite communications – to support crit-ical applications,” said Joe Apa, Stratosvice president, global maritime.

“They also want to choose from a rangeof price plans that meet their specificrequirements. We are meeting thosedemands with simple, affordable planssuch as FBB Flat Fee, in addition to ourmanaged global broadband serviceXpressLink.”

“Our wide range of broadband solu-tions proves that we are ideally suited tohelp expand our customers’ communica-tions capabilities as we prepare for theavailability of Inmarsat’s Global Xpressservices.”

Printed by The Manson Group Ltd

Reynolds House, 8 Porters' WoodValley Road Industrial Estate

St Albans, Hertz AL3 6PZU.K.

DS

Thrane is working on an upgrade path for its SAILOR 900 Ku-band VSAT antenna, which would allow the systems to be converted to Ka-band

www.stratosglobal.com

Stratos reports that it has become the firstInmarsat Distribution Partner to activateInmarsat’s new FleetBroadband LargeMoney Bundle for single-vessel operatorsand fleets with fewer than 10 vessels.

The new Large Money Bundles offer afixed monthly rate package which includesmonthly data-connectivity plans up to5GB.

The Large Money Bundle in question

was activated by Stratos Channel Partnere3 Systems (e3) for a private sailing yachtbuilt by Royal Huisman in Holland.

“These new plans are generating a highlevel of interest among the yachting com-munity," said e3 managing director, RogerHorner. “They offer predictable costs,regional and global coverage, flexibleusage and payment programmes, as wellas the added value of The StratosAdvantage services.”

“We activated the plan onboard the

yacht within days of its launch. Theyacht’s captain now is examining StratosDashboard online monitoring tools andStratos Trench firewall to ensure the high-est possible broadband performance, secu-rity and cost control.”

“These plans are a perfect solution forsailing yachts, yachts with itineraries out-side traditional VSAT footprints andyachts with space and weight restrictionson which it is difficult to install a 1m VSATantenna.”

FB packages expand to single-vessel operators

p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:34 Page 2

Superior and proven technology

One brand - SAILOR® covers all your maritime broadband and satellite TV needsTop-tier partner network - Local availability and professional installationTruly global service network - Unmatched global service and support

For more information on SAILOR solutions go to www.thrane.com.

SAILOR® BROADBAND & ENTERTAINMENTWE HAVE YOU COVERED

VSAT - FleetBroadband - Satellite TV

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p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:34 Page 3

SATCOMS NEWS


Ocean Signal has announced thatits SafeSea V100 GMDSS hand-held radiohas been granted type approval by the USFederal Communications Commission(FCC) for conforming to the relevantrequirements for a portable survival crafttwo-way VHF radiotelephone, allowingits use on US registered vessels.

Stratos has opened what it callsGlobal Installation & Service Centers (GISCenters) in four major maritime regions -Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Singapore andLouisiana. Staffed with Stratos FieldEngineers, they can draw upon a networkof Stratos Installation Partners to provide

installation, onboard maintenance andongoing support for Stratos products.

Thrane & Thrane has recently cel-ebrated 30 years in business, having beenformed on 29th September 1981 by broth-ers Lars and Per Thrane in Lars' basement.The company has grown from having 5employees in August 1982 to having morethan 600 based around the world today.

The Suezmax tanker Vladimir Tikhonov,owned by SCF Group (Sovcomflot), hasrecently completed a transit along theNorthern Sea Route (NSR), the high-lati-tude route from Europe to Asia through theArctic, managing to maintain communica-tions links with the company's officesthroughout the voyage.

The 160,000 dwt vessel, carrying a com-mercial cargo of over 120,000 tonnes of gascondensate, used Russian GLONASS(Global Navigational Satellite System)technology for positioning (similar toGPS), as well as Iridium services for satel-lite communications.

Using these systems the tanker sentrepeatedly updated monitoring data backto shore, including technical parameterson position, course, speed, distance cov-ered and weather conditions.

Vladimir Tikhonov’s passage followeda new deep-water route to the north of theNew Siberian Islands archipelago. Thetotal NSR transit was almost 2,200 nauticalmiles, from Cape Desire (New EarthIsland) in the Kara Sea to Cape Dezhnev inthe Bering Strait. It was accomplished bythe tanker in less than 7.5 days.

The expected time saving from the

port of departure to the port of discharge,compared to the traditional routethrough the Suez Channel, amounts tosome seven days.

Preparations for the voyage and stud-ies of the navigation and hydrographic

www.navarino.gr

Navarino reports that its INFINITY mar-itime satcom bandwidth management andoptimisation system has now passed themilestone of 150 installations.

The company says that, at the currentrate of take up, it is on course to reach 600installations by the second quarter of 2012.

INFINITY was initially designed toincrease the efficiency of InmarsatFleetBroadband packages, but recentupdates have now also made it fully com-patible with other IP-based systems likeVSAT or Iridium OpenPort.

The system is comprised of a ruggedi-zed standard onboard computer withINFINITY software and a web portal fromwhich administrators on shore can man-age their vessels’ satcoms and networks.

The service offers compression, a webaccelerator, proxy caching onboard, imagereduction, ad blocking, traffic filtering andautomatic file synchronisation.

INFINITY installed on 150 vesselsIn addition, a number of administra-

tive tools are included for traffic measure-ment (providing graphs, statistics andlogs of all events), split billing, vesselpositioning, connectivity status reportingand voyage histories.

Navarino notes that most of the vesselsthat have installed INFINITY to date havecombined it with the very large allowance(VLA) or shared corporate allowance plan(SCAP) FleetBroadband packages of morethan 1GB, prompting the company toincorporate INFINITY as part of itsFleetBroadband packages.

“Without doubt, INFINITY has been themain reason that Navarino has met suchgreat success in the FB large allowance pack-ages,” said Konstantinos Katsoulis, vice pres-ident of sales and marketing at Navarino.

“INFINITY is the ideal tool for ship-ping companies to increase the efficiencyof their satcoms, to offer more crew wel-fare options to the crew and to reducetheir monthly cost.”

support en route, as well as environmentalsafety measures, were carried out in closecooperation with a number of organisa-tions, including the Russian Ministry ofTransport, Federal Agency of Maritimeand River Transport, and Federal State

SCF tanker maintains contact during NSR voyage Unitary Enterprise Atomflot.

For SCF Group this is the second transitvoyage from the Atlantic to the PacificOcean along the Northern Sea Route.

In August 2010, this route was success-fully completed by the 100,000 dwtAframax class tanker SCF Baltica, whichwas the largest ship ever to complete theNSR route through the Arctic before theVladimir Tikhonov.

“The successful navigation of a large-capacity Suezmax class vessel along theNorthern Sea Route is the result of com-plex and systematic work by SCF Group,which participates in large scale energy-projects on Russia’s continental shelf,”said Sovcomflot president and CEO,Sergey Frank.

“Our focus is on the further develop-ment of economically viable and sustain-able routes for hydrocarbons transporta-tion, serving the evolving needs of majoroil and gas companies.”

“By opening up a new, commerciallyviable, route across the Northern Sea, SCFGroup is effectively providing a ‘floatingsea bridge’, linking the high potential off-shore fields of Russia to major internation-al energy markets.”

Vladimir Tikhonov maintained communications throughout its passage through the Northern Sea Route

www.oceansignal.comwww.stratosglobal.comwww.thrane.com

www.and-group.net

www.inmarsat.com

AND Group has been appointed as a dis-tribution partner for Inmarsat’sFleetBroadband service.

AND Group can now distribute the fullrange of FleetBroadband services, fromFB150 through to FB500, as well asInmarsat’s satellite phone services, whichinclude FleetPhone for the marine envi-ronment and the global handheld satellitephone IsatPhone Pro.

“We have achieved some significantcustomer wins with FleetBroadband,across the whole family of services,” saidIan Robinson, CEO of AND Group.

“This is good news for us and ourcustomers. Being appointed as anInmarsat distribution partner will enable AND Group to build on our success, offer our customers better services and long-term value, and growour business.”

“We already have offices in the UK,Greece, Singapore and Brazil and will belooking to extend our network to offer theservices on a global basis.”

With the appointment of AND Groupthere are now 14 FleetBroadband distribu-tors, which sell both direct and through anetwork of service providers.

“We are delighted to welcome AND Group as a FleetBroadband distributor,” said Perry Melton, COO of Inmarsat.

“AND Group has built a solid maritime business and a strong reputa-tion for knowing what maritime cus-tomers need.”

“We are excited about the potential for AND Group to tap into two key areasof growth for FleetBroadband: migratingtheir customers who are inadequatelyserved by their current satellite commu-nications services, and securing new customers and exploring new parts ofthe market.”

AND Group becomes FB distribution partner

Ocean Signal GMDSS radio– approved in the US Per and Lars Thrane started the company in 1981

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SATCOMS NEWS

www.globalstar.com

Globalstar has had to deal with someunwelcome challenges over the last monthas it was faced with a launch setback in itsbid to introduce its second generationsatellite network, as well as a warningfrom the NASDAQ with regard to its stock listing.

The delay of the company's upcominglaunch of six second-generation satel-lites, planned for mid-October, cameafter Russian Space Agency officialsnotified Globalstar that it needed toundertake complete inspections of allSoyuz 2.1a launch vehicles, includingthree to be used for launches to theInternational Space Station as well as theGlobalstar satellites, following a recentlaunch failure.

Globalstar has since been informed thatthe launch can take place in earlyDecember, once the Russian Space Agencyhas completed its inspections of thelaunch vehicles in question and given theall-clear.

This December launch, if it goes ahead,will be the latest in a series of launches forGlobalstar’s new network conducted byArianespace, after the first two successfullaunches in October of 2010 and July of 2011.

News of this delay was followed by theannouncement that Globalstar hasreceived a notice from the NASDAQinforming the company that, for 30 con-secutive business days, the bid price ofGlobalstar common stock had closedbelow the minimum $1.00 per sharerequirement for continued inclusion.

Under the terms of the noticeGlobalstar will be provided a grace period of 180 calendar days, or untilMarch 12, 2012, to regain compliance byreturning to close at $1.00 per share ormore for a minimum of 10 consecutivebusiness days.

The company had previously, in thesecond half of 2009, received a similarnotice from NASDAQ, and on that occa-sion successfully moved back into compli-ance well before the 180-day deadline.

Trouble forGlobalstarwww.marlink.com

www.seatel.com

Marlink and Sea Tel have announced thecontinued joint provision of satellite com-munications support to Project Kaisei for athird expedition.

Project Kaisei, set-up by OceanVoyages Institute of California in 2008,seeks viable solutions to the growingproblems associated with marine debris inthe North Pacific Gyre, which can then bedeveloped for all oceans of the world.

Under the agreement, Marlink andSeatel have donated VSAT antenna equip-ment and airtime to Project Kaisei provid-ing Ku-band coverage with the aim offacilitating voice and broadband internetin the remote areas that Project Kaisei willbe operating in.

The satellite communication servicesare anticipated to provide the Project with

real-time weather updates, blogging andemailing options, photographs and videoand support a broad range of applications.

“This problem is happening in all theworld's oceans, so we are dedicated tofinding solutions to this urgent issue,”

Marlink and Sea Tel continue support for Project Kaisei

comments Mary T. Crowley, president ofthe Ocean Voyages Institute and co-founder of Project Kaisei.

“Continued support from our partnerssuch as Marlink and Sea Tel is instrumen-tal in helping to achieve this.”

Project Kaisei is aiming to clean up the oceans

www.harris.com

Farstad Shipping, a supplier of offshoresupply vessels that operate in the NorthSea, Brazil, Australia and Indian Pacificregions, is to install VSAT communica-tions on its fleet of 53 vessels.

Harris CapRock will deploy the end-to-end VSAT communications via a TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA) net-work, to be used for corporate network-ing, internet access, crew calling solu-tions and e-mail service, as part of a

5-year contract. The turnkey solution includes equip-

ment and installation, service and 24/7 support from Harris CapRock’shelp desk.

"We need a reliable information andcommunication technology infrastructureonboard our vessels to support our valuesand meet our crew and clients’ needs,"said Helge Warholm, corporate purchas-ing manager, Farstad Shipping.

"Harris CapRock’s SeaAccess serviceenables us to extend our corporate appli-

53-vessel VSAT deal for Farstad Shippingcations to the vessels and provide criticalmaintenance, operations and administra-tive services. As a result, the vessels oper-ate more efficiently and in turn it reducesour operational costs."

"We’ve been very satisfied with the reli-ability of the SeaAccess service and HarrisCapRock’s global reach for installationsand maintenance. We had five pilot ves-sels leveraging the SeaAccess service andit met our needs for service availabilityand quick installs as the pilot vessels weredispersed around the globe."

www.marlink.com

Marlink has signed an agreement withWilson Ship Management, one of thelargest shipping operators in theEuropean short sea segment, to provide 80of its ships with FleetBroadband.

The 36 month contract will see airtimebeing provided under an Inmarsat SCAP(shared corporate allowance package).The full service package also includeshardware from Thrane and Thrane.

Other Marlink Value Added Servicessuch as Vizada Traffic Manager and DataManager will be provided, with a special-ly designed Data Manager fleet log-in hav-ing also been created for Wilson in orderto keep the management of fleetwide sys-tem settings as easy as possible.

"This is an important contract forMarlink, as Wilson Ship Management is amajor operator in this sector with over 110ships in its fleet," commented MarlinkCEO, Tore Morten Olsen.

Wilson to install FB on 80 vessels"Being able to offer, install and service

the complete package has meant that wecan deliver and have their communicationsystems in full operation in the shortesttime possible. This extremely importantfactor was taken into consideration whenthe management team at Wilson madetheir decision."

"While this order is for 36 months weare confident in our service and willensure that this is a long term relationshipin the future."

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SATCOMS NEWS


IBO v3.3 can be used with VSAT, Iridium or Inmarsat systems

www.caclase.co.uk

UK marine electronics distributor C AClase has announced the launch of theKVH TracVision HD11 satellite TV systemfor the commercial market.

The HD11 aims to allow vessels to trav-el the world and switch between satelliteTV services without the need for hard-ware and software updates when enteringnew regions.

The company says that the HD11 is thefirst marine satellite TV system to offer adigitally programmable multi-beamUniversal World LNB that is compatible

with all direct-to-home satellite TV servic-es and HDTV programming, along with alibrary of 100 available satellites.

The 1m antenna provides unlimited HDand DVR support and utilises KVH’s TriADmulti-band antenna design for simultane-ous tracking of Ka- and Ku-band satellites.

It also features an Internet Protocol-enabled Antenna Control Unit (IPACU)and uses a four-axis (three-axis plus skew)stabilised smart antenna system withrobotic direct drive.

Additional features include RF7 satel-lite identification, integrated DVB-S2 com-patibility and dual tuners, making the sys-

tem capable of updating itself when serv-ice providers make changes to their satel-lite parameters.

"The HD11 really is a phenomenalproduct which has been developed inresponse to demand from the commercialshipping market," said Andy Banting,commercial marine sales at C A Clase.

"Every commercial vessel has uniqueneeds and the HD11 has numeroussophisticated features, and makes use ofthe latest technology available to meetthese needs."

C A Clase is offering the antenna pricedat £19,915.83 plus tax.

www.aledata.no

Norwegian IT company Aalesund DataAS has introduced its latest iTrustBandwidth Optimizer (IBO), with IBOv3.3 representing the third generation ofthe company's vessel communicationsmanagement system.

The hardware-based solution can beused to control usage of multiple satellitecommunications services onboard a ship,be they VSAT, Inmarsat, Iridium or anyother system, incorporating failover capa-bilities and automatically selecting thefastest available connection.

The IBO can also operate with shore-based wireless communications, such asICE, GSM, and GPRS.

To differentiate between operationaland personal communications the systemprovides multiple LAN connections, with

routing, offering subnet capabilities thatallow the administrator to split the onboardnetwork into multiple separate subnets.

Aalesund says that this could, forexample, mean that a separate crew-net-work, bridge-network, medical-networkor any other type could be incorporated.In such a case crew would have no accessto the bridge-network, to ensure securityand help in prioritising traffic.

Built-in web caching is also included, toimprove the web browsing experiencewhile minimising data transfer.

The company suggests that the technol-ogy can produce a 300 per cent perceivedgain in network speed when browsing,with filtering systems also available withinthe unit to allow specific web sites to beblocked out should the company require it.

In addition to this, firewall, antivirusand VPN capabilities are all available on

the IBO system.Aalesund says that the cost of the IBO

unit is in the range of US$1,700-4,700,depending on the number of featuresincluded and on the number of units purchased.

The first production-ready IBO, IBO

v1.1, was launched in 2009, and the compa-ny says that later models have since beeninstalled on approximately 50 vessels.

A trial period testing the latest genera-tion IBO has now been completed, and thefirst production units have already beendelivered to the first vessels in Norway.

C A Clase introduces KVH marine TV system

Aalesund Data unveils maritime bandwidth optimiser

The KVH HD11 antenna is designed todeal with various television signals across

different regions

www.marlink.com

www.thrane.com

Marlink and Thrane & Thrane have cometo an agreement for the introduction of thenew Thrane & Thrane SAILOR 900 VSATantenna, whereby Marlink will add the newKu-band antenna to its VSAT portfolio.

SAILOR 900 VSAT is a four-axis sta-bilised Ku-band VSAT antenna, which thecompany says can be integrated with allleading VSAT modem units. The AntennaControl Unit (ACU) features multipleLAN and diagnostics ports, as well as

Built-in Test Equipment (BITE).Thrane notes that during the develop-

ment and testing of the SAILOR 900 its in-house engineers were supported byMarlink with advice for the Ku-bandantenna design, on how to meet therequirements of its maritime customers.

As part of this process Thrane built anantenna testing and simulation facility atits headquarters featuring a multi-axishydraulic motion testing and simulationplatform that uses real-life vessel motionand conditions, to test the reliability of theSAILOR 900 VSAT whilst it is connected

to a live satellite. “As one of the leading maritime sat-

coms service providers, Marlink’s inputduring the development of the SAILOR900 VSAT was invaluable,” said CasperJensen, VP maritime business unit, Thrane& Thrane.

“SAILOR 900 VSAT will of course beoffered through our entire global partnernetwork, but we are delighted to continueour long relationship with Marlink and co-operate closely as we gear up to bringan innovative new product to the VSATspace.”

SAILOR 900 added to Marlink VSAT portfoliowww.globewireless.com

Globe Wireless has announced that it hascompleted the 100th installation of itsVSAT solution, having first startedinstalling the technology in May 2008.

The Globe Wireless VSAT system offersintegrated onboard systems control, LANsegregation, VoIP, GSM, and VPN services.

It also includes the company’s Globe i250hardware package, designed with built indata compression, web optimisation, fire-wall and a FleetBroadband 250 as a backup.

The FleetBroadband will be used to pro-vide users with continued communicationsin case of VSAT blockage or down time,allowing engineers to use the i250’s ‘backdoor’ feature to troubleshoot the system.

“Globe Wireless has continued toexpand the number of people in our dedi-cated VSAT group in the last six months aswe increase the number of VSAT installa-tions,” said Brad Rogers, Globe WirelessVSAT manager.

“The team provides 24/7 live support,and customised solutions to meet specificcustomer needs on QoS, as well as net-work configurations. We look forward tocontinuing the installations and expansionof our VSAT service with our dedicatedsupport and installation team.”

Globe installs 100th VSAT

www.onehorizongroup.com

www.singtel.com

One Horizon Group has announced thatits wholly-owned subsidiary, HorizonGlobex, has signed an agreement to pro-vide its Horizon platform to SingaporeTelecommunications Limited (SingTel).

Horizon provides optimised communi-cations over the internet based on the com-pany's SmartPacket technology, whichoffers voice over internet protocol (VoIP)at bandwidths of only 2kbps.

The package also includes a range of

other data applications, including com-pressed e-mail, optimised web browsingand instant messaging, with pre-paid andpost paid billing options.

Under this strategic partnership,SingTel's satellite division is to sell theHorizon solution as part of its offering tothe maritime market.

"Horizon will provide maritime cus-tomers with a whole new level of efficien-cy in their satellite communications," saysMark White, CEO of One Horizon Group,"and total control of their data consump-tion so they are much better placed to

manage their fleet communications costs.""This is vital to improving crew welfare

and retention by enabling them to provideemployees access to low-cost telephonyand internet services."

"This is an important milestone for ourcompany, as the decision to adopt Horizonby one of the world's leading telcos is apowerful endorsement of this game-changing solution. We now have theopportunity to significantly increase thenumber of new customers who can benefitfrom this step-change in maritime commu-nications."

Horizon and SingTel in partnership deal

p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:35 Page 8

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p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:35 Page 9

Hapag Lloyd has begun a project to exchange the satellite communications systems installed across its entire ownedcontainer fleet, moving to a hybrid L-band/Ku-band system. Martin Gnass, Hapag Lloyd, says the company is expecting

to need 400-600 MB per vessel per month by 2013 and told Digital Ship why he chose this solution

400-600 MB per vessel with hybrid satcoms


SATCOMS

HH amburg based shipping compa-ny, Hapag Lloyd, operates morethan 135 ships, approximately

fifty of which are to be equipped withStratos’ FBBPlus service as part of a sat-com project initiated in 2011 and set to becompleted over the course of the next two years.

Under an agreement concluded inFebruary 2011, the Inmarsat-owned satel-lite communication provider will supplyits FBBPlus solution – combining L-bandFleetBroadband with Ku-band VSAT – toall of Hapag Lloyd’s owned vessels, thusuniting the entire fleet under a uniformcommunication technology that HapagLloyd has described as “state-of-the-art.”

So far, six of the nearly fifty vessels tobe fitted have exchanged their old com-munication technology for FBBPlus aspart of a roll-out that will continuethroughout 2011 and 2012. By the end ofnext year Hapag Lloyd intends to haveboth existing vessels and a number of the already commissioned newbuildsequipped with the service.

Hapag Lloyd began reassessing itssatellite communication system during2009. The company soon decided that itsexisting assortment of limited bandwidthcommunication systems was ill suited tokeep up with its plans for future servicesand operations.

Aware of the expansive scope of theproject, as well as the investment thatwould be required, Hapag Lloyd beganworking on an implementation strategyduring 2010 which would take intoaccount the various different availableoptions, offerings and suppliers.

Although the company had been work-ing with Stratos previously and had beenpleased in its experience with the solu-tions, it openly invited other providers totender for the contract. However, nonewere able to trump Stratos’ offering, andthe FBBPlus contract was agreed.

“We did very extensive market evalu-ation, opening up a market tender,” saysMartin Gnass, managing director IT atHapag Lloyd. “And we are very confi-dent that we have found the best partner.This has so far been confirmed through-out the project.”

The onboard implementation of thenew hardware is being conducted jointlyby Hapag Lloyd and Stratos, and follows athree-step approach.

The first step is the performance of asite-survey of the vessel in port, which gen-erally takes a few days. This is followed bya second stage where the details of theinstallation are prepared, and then a thirdstep involving mounting and commission-ing the antenna with installation of all thecomponents, cables and connections.

Typically, the entire installation is car-ried out when the vessel is in port, thoughin some cases it has been possible to contin-

ue the journey and finish the implementa-tion while underway, which saves the com-pany waiting time as well as port dues.

Hapag Lloyd says the experience withthis approach has been satisfying and that,so far, the implementation is going accord-ing to plan.

“Our preliminary assumptions haveturned out to be reliable,” said Mr Gnass.“The system is stable and we have not hadany negative surprises.”

“The seamless integration of the newsystem has only been possible because ofthe good preparations from Hapag to havethe ships ready and the good cooperationof our partner, Stratos.”

Real-time communicationAccording to Mr Gnass there were severalreasons behind Hapag Lloyd’s fleetwideimplementation of a new satellite commu-nication system. Foremost amongst thesedriving factors were operational, technicaland legal considerations, areas that werenow requiring higher bandwidth than hadbeen previously available on the vesselswith the existing systems.

Hapag Lloyd, as a global liner shippingcompany, offers services covering all con-tinents so on the operative side it was con-sidered key that the new satellite commu-nication system would provide world-wide coverage.

A further key operational considerationwas the ongoing expansion of voice anddata traffic for ship-to-shore communica-tion, for which, the company realised,much higher bandwidth would be needed.

Remote management and maintenanceis also something which, although it hasbeen performed by Hapag Lloyd for thelast couple of years, has been limited bythe restricted bandwidth available via theprevious satellite communication systems.

Since the company not only usesremote access for the engine but increas-ingly controls IT applications and systemsonboard remotely, as well as updating

electronic charts over the satellite, it wasclear that the existing systems were inneed of replacement.

“We also want to integrate the shipsbetter into our own Hapag Lloyd network,which means that ship-to-shore communi-cation will grow more and more impor-tant,” explains Mr Gnass.

“In addition, a growing number ofapplications on our vessels require real-time connection to our shore organisation,such as remote maintenance of the engineand monitoring of IT systems onboard.”

“Another possibility is real-time datasynchronisation for documentation, aswell as for the fleet management.”

These examples are indicative of MrGnass’ belief that the number of applica-tions needing remote management willsignificantly grow in the future.

Finally, on top of these operationalaspects of its decision, Hapag Lloyd alsofelt it was necessary to exchange its com-munication technology in order to complywith legal requirements imposed by inter-national bodies such as the InternationalMaritime Organisation (IMO).

“We have to ensure that we complywith the IMO regulations, for exampleregarding external communication,” saysMr Gnass.

“Under the new system we have moresophisticated redundancy channels andare able to offer two independent commu-nication lines and concurrent transmissionof data as well as voice.”

“All these requirements have cometogether in our decision to implementFBBPlus. We would not have been able tokeep up with the existing satellite commu-nication systems on our vessels as theywill be outdated in a few years.”

Usage patternsAccording to Mr Gnass, the implementa-tion of the new systems has already had aneffect on satcom traffic, even though it hasso far only been deployed on six vessels.

Overall, Hapag Lloyd anticipates thatits bandwidth consumption will growabout 30 per cent per year with the newtechnology. The key driving factor for thisincrease will be additional applicationsenabled by the systems that the companyhas not extensively utilised so far.

Prominent amongst these are thingssuch as file transfers, online softwareupdates, maintenance, documentexchange and electronic chart distribution,all of which require more bandwidth andmore data traffic.

With all of this in mind, by 2013 HapagLloyd expects to reach an average trafficlevel of 400-600 MB per vessel per month.

Even at that level there will still beusage monitoring under the new system,despite the fact that Stratos’ solutioncomes for a flat-fee. According to MrGnass, the main reason for this is thedesire to keep track of how the consump-tion of the bandwidth is evolving overtime, in a real-life environment.

“There are still certain rules and restric-tions in place with regards to web con-tent,” explains Mr Gnass. “For examplewe do not allow video streaming.”

Satisfying growingdemand

Hapag Lloyd says that the improvementsit hoped for have so far been achieved, andhighlights that with the implementation ofthe new technology the foundation hasbeen laid to introduce more applicationsand solutions, especially for ship-to-shorecommunication and fleet managementsystems.

“We are stepping into a domain ofship-to-shore communication that is newand has not been there so far. This will begrowing ever more important,” explainsMr Gnass.

“The fact that we have broadband andreal-time communication from the vesselsvia voice and remote management and thesupply of electronic charts are the maindrivers (of growing data traffic). Based onthis technology we will be able to improvethe service level of our vessel operations.”

Hapag Lloyd says it has alreadyrealised savings on time and cost and islooking forward to increasing efficiencyonce all vessels have been deployed withFBBPlus.

“Some of our applications, so far,required onboard technical support sinceremote maintenance possibilities werelimited,” says Mr Gnass.

“Under the new solution we are look-ing forward to improving that, and alsoreducing the travel costs and onboard vis-its. We have already been able to reducethe amount of man-hours spent on send-ing technicians out to the vessels.”

Overall, Hapag Lloyd envisages a pay-back period of less than two years.

Another additional benefit of the

Hapag Lloyd expects each of its vessels to be generating between 400MB and 600MB of satcom traffic by 2013

p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:35 Page 10


Digital ShipFBBPlus solution is seen in its providing apath to upgrade to Ka-band satellite com-munications services, once these becomeavailable in the market – an option thatHapag Lloyd is willing to take into con-sideration.

The implementation has also broughtadvantages for the crew, who have beenhighly appreciative of the new technology,which adds to the operational and com-mercial benefits for the company.

In the past there was a limited possibil-ity to make phone calls onboard, restrictedto the vessel’s stays in port and where thecosts would be charged to the crew mem-ber’s account.

“The implementation of FBBPlus willprovide more possibilities to increase crewwelfare in the future,” says Mr Gnass, “weare working on concepts and offerings inthis regard.”

Criteria of choiceUltimately, Hapag Lloyd believes that, inthese early phases, it has so far managedto conduct a relatively pain-free introduc-tion of the new technology, and is able tooffer some words of advice to shippingcompanies looking into exchanging theirown shipboard communication systems.

A first key factor to look out for, accord-ing to Mr Gnass, is the technical stability ofthe solution. Secondly, and no less impor-tant, is the coverage available, which inHapag Lloyd’s case needs to be global.

In addition, shipping companies areadvised to watch out for a proven track

record of successful implementations. MrGnass points out that the reliability of part-ners is very important in order to give yourinvestment a solid and steadfast base.

Finally, he acknowledges the necessityfor any organisation to look for a commer-cially attractive package.

Mr Gnass sums this up in these words:“You need a partner that is capable ofdelivering a solid solution for a long term,that requires competency, knowledge andexpertise. We found this with Stratos.”

‘The implementation of FBBPlus willprovide more possibilities to increase

crew welfare in the future’– Martin Gnass, Hapag Lloyd

www.iridium.com

Iridium has announced the launch of arange of new mobile satellite communica-tions services, which it says will be part ofa new ‘Iridium Force’ strategy.

Iridium Force aims to leverage the com-pany's satellite network to widen communi-cations availability beyond its satellite phoneand OpenPort businesses, to include prod-ucts and applications incorporating tech-nologies such as Wi-Fi and location tracking.

The company also says that it is openingand licensing its core technologies and itsnetwork for collaboration with a broader setof potential partners, to create new products.

What might be of particular interest tomaritime users are its new services thatwill allow Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones,tablets and laptops to connect anywhereon the Iridium global network.

Iridium AxcessPoint is a portable Wi-Fihotspot accessory that connects BlackBerryand Android devices to the Iridium net-work using an Iridium satellite phone.

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices,and Windows and Mac laptops, can alsouse the service but will need to downloada free Iridium AxcessPoint Mail & Webapplication.

The system is expected to be availablein fourth quarter of 2011 with a suggestedretail price of less than US$200.

Another service called IridiumAxcessPoint Connect has also been created,

to interface Iridium phones with laptops. This downloadable application is used

with the Iridium Direct Internet softwareconnectivity tool, and turns any Windowslaptop into a global Wi-Fi hotspot whenconnected to an Iridium satellite phone.

Iridium AxcessPoint Connect enablesWi-Fi compatible devices, such as smart-phones, to synchronise and respond to e-mail or use the internet over the Iridiumnetwork. Users can download IridiumAxcessPoint Connect and Direct Internetapplications free of charge.

Standard airtime charges apply for useof the Iridium network on both systems.

A new satellite phone, Iridium Extreme,has also been introduced under this newstrategy, and is the company's smallest andlightest handset model. The unit wasdesigned to US Department of DefenseMilitary Standard 810F, and as such is notnecessarily aimed at the maritime market.

However, Iridium says it is a highlydurable system and that it features thecompany's first dedicated, two-way emer-gency SOS button on a satellite phone, aswell as an online tracking portal, with fullyintegrated GPS and location-based service(LBS) capabilities. As such it could proveuseful in emergency situations at sea.

Iridium also notes that it is licensing thecore technology behind the phone to otherpartners to develop their own Iridium-based global voice and data communica-tion devices and solutions.

Iridium aims to use the Force

DS

Whether you have a fl eet of 5 or 500 vessels, CommBox is the solution for you!

For more information visit: www.kvh.com/commbox

KVH CommBox connects ships to fl eet headquarters so they can communicate securely, effi ciently, without interruption, and all with dramatic airtime savings!More than 1000 vessels worldwide use CommBox for:

KVH Norway AS

©2011 KVH Industries, Inc. KVH and CommBox are trademarks of KVH Industries, Inc. 11_KE_CommBox_1.2page_DigitalShip

Ultimate

p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:35 Page 11

MOL to install mini-VSAT


SATCOMS NEWS

www.minivsat.com

MOL LNG Transport Co, a subsidiary ofMitsui O.S.K. Lines, is to implementKVH's TracPhone V7 mini-VSAT satellitecommunications system on three of itsLNG tankers, following the completion ofa trial.

The service is being provided by SKYPerfect JSAT, a KVH partner, under theOceanBB brand name. SKY Perfect JSAT isworking with Japan Radio Co (JRC) toinstall and integrate the TracPhone V7antennas through a wholesale agreementwith KVH.

The mini-VSAT system was originallyinstalled for a trial on one of MOL LNGTransport Co's LNG tankers in May 2011,before MOL chose to adopt the system onthe additional vessels.

The company says it will use the serv-ice to access weather, current, tidal, andice information as part of its plan “tobecome the world leader in safe vesseloperation as well as voyage optimisation.”

“SKY Perfect JSAT, along with itsOceanBB branded service, will betremendously important as the Japanesemarket for mini-VSAT Broadbandexpands,” said Brent Bruun, KVH's sen-ior vice president of global sales andbusiness development.

“We expect that many major commer-cial fleets such as Mitsui O.S.K. Lineswill adopt the solution, and outstandingcustomer support from our local partnerwill be crucial for maintaining thatgrowth.”

“KVH's combination of affordable com-mercial-grade service, outstanding globalsupport, and compact hardware providedby excellent wholesalers such as JapanRadio Co, offer the perfect solution fordiverse fleets, including Mitsui O.S.K.Lines. We look forward to bringing this

best-of-breed solution to a much wideraudience in Japanese waters.”

News of this new contract comes at atime when KVH is also rolling out a rangeof enhancements to the global spreadspectrum network used to provide itsmini-VSAT Broadband service, whichwill double the maximum uplink speedsavailable and offer improvements in net-work reliability.

KVH says that network users will alsobenefit from the use of new adaptivereturn link technology, which enables thecompany's TracPhone V7 and V3 systemsto adjust system operations automaticallyto suit changing conditions, includingadverse weather.

The enhancements are already being rolled out across the mini-VSATBroadband network, which comprises 10Ku-band satellites and 14 transponderslinked via hubs around the world.

“This latest global upgrade makes the KVH mini-VSAT Broadband servicethe fastest and most reliable VSAT serv-ice in the maritime industry, with datarates of 2 Mbps shore to ship and 1 Mbpsship to shore,” explains Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH's chief executiveofficer.

“Coupled with our recent completionof our global coverage and the introduc-tion of our new TracPhone V3 with itssmall, 14.5-inch diameter antenna, KVHnow offers maritime satellite service withthe small, low cost hardware and globalcoverage of Inmarsat and the speed andeconomy of maritime VSAT.”

“We feel our mini-VSAT Broadbandnetwork delivers the benefits of Inmarsat'sGlobal Xpress service several years soonerthan their projected completion date whileoffering service that is 4 times faster and1/10th the cost of Inmarsat's fastestFleetBroadband service.”

KVH has also announced that, withthe addition of the final section ofplanned coverage for its mini-VSATBroadband maritime satellite communi-cations network, the service is now avail-able to mariners in South Americanwaters.

The mini-VSAT Broadband systemuses ViaSat ArcLight spread spectrumtechnology to provide connectivity, aswell as offering Voice over IP (VoIP) tele-phone lines.

KVH says it now delivers more than100 terabytes of data per year, facilitatingmore than 1.5 million phone calls, and

maintains an average network uptime of99.5 per cent.

Approximately 1,500 ships are installedwith the service.

“This marks the completion of a pow-erful, affordable alternative to older, slow-er, and less-reliable services that wereonce the only option for mariners,” saysMr Bruun.

“We set out to offer a dramaticallynew approach to maritime satcom, whichis now a reality that mariners around the globe can enjoy, thanks to seamlessmini-VSAT Broadband service whereverthey travel.”

MOL began a trial of the mini-VSAT system onboard one of its LNG tankers in May 2011 before agreeing the new contract

www.intelliantech.com

www.comtechefdata.com

Comtech EF Data Corporation andIntellian Technologies have announcedthat they have successfully integrated theIntellian v-Series of antennas and theROSS Open Antenna Management(ROAM) protocol, which will allow usersof Intellian VSAT antenna systems toleverage the Comtech technology whenroaming across multiple satellite beams.

The ROAM protocol offers a commonmanagement interface for Comtech’sRoaming Oceanic Satellite Server (ROSS) andthird-party Antenna Control Units (ACUs)by providing a generic set of commands,information, interfaces and status queries.

ROSS is an integrated location serverthat works in conjunction with Comtech’sVipersat Management System and enablesremote modems to interface with sta-bilised, auto-tracking antennas, maintain-ing connectivity as vessels move throughfootprints of different satellites.

Vessel position data, satellite signal and

management status are monitored to deter-mine when satellite handoff is necessary.

ROSS can support many types ofACUs, which Comtech says allows theROAM protocol to reduce complexity byproviding basic parameters required toglobally roam across multiple satellitebeams and provides uniformity in imple-mentation of third-party antenna manu-facturers’ interfaces.

This will now include Intellian's v-Series antennas, which are built on anopen platform design that works in con-junction with any SCPC or TDMA net-work and offers built-in GPS and auto-skew angle control, used to acquire thesatellite signal as efficiently as possible.

"The interoperability of the ROAM pro-tocol and the ROSS automation with theIntellian v-Series antennas will enablemaritime operators to have maximumbandwidth efficiencies and roaming capa-bilities for their satellite-based communi-cations at sea," said Daniel Enns, seniorvice president strategic marketing andbusiness development for Comtech.

www.uscg.mil

The United States Coast Guard (USCG)has highlighted the fact that a hugenumber of received distress alerts donot contain position information or aregistered identity, considerably ham-pering search and rescue efforts.

The USCG’s new marine radio net-work Rescue 21 is currently becomingoperational throughout the US, an initiative that will deliver instant dis-tress alerts from commonly used DSC-capable VHF marine radios to rescue centres.

As Rescue 21 comes online, the Coast Guard has however pointed outthat currently, in most cases, it cannoteffectively respond to a DSC distressalert, as approximately 90 per cent of VHF DSC distress alerts contain no position information, and approxi-mately 60 per cent contain no registeredidentity.

In such cases search and rescueefforts have to be suspended as no

communication with the distressed vessel can be established, no furtherinformation or means of contacting thevessel can be obtained from othersources, or no position information isknown.

The USCG is therefore calling onusers of these radios to follow a series ofsuggested steps necessary to providerescuers with relevant information.

USCG says: “First obtain a MaritimeMobile Installation Identity (MMSI) andenter it into your radio. Ensure anyinformation originally provided isupdated as changes occur.”

“Then interconnect your radio to aGPS receiver using a two-wire NMEA0183 interface on all DSC-equippedmarine radios and on most GPSreceivers. Instructions should be pro-vided in the radio and GPS operatorsmanual.”

USCG says that further informationon this subject is provided, and will be routinely updated, athttp://goo.gl/OJt3o.

Comtech and Intellian announce integration DSC alerts missing vital information - USCG

p1-12:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 10:35 Page 12

www.videotel.com

Videotel Marine International haslaunched its online Videotel AcademyMLC 2006 tutor-assisted distance learningcourse.

The programme, incorporating com-puter based training (CBT), offers realtime online tutoring and follows a structured learning programme lasting 12 weeks.

Videotel says that the course can beused in the training of those responsiblefor implementing and ensuring compli-ance with the standards of the ILOMaritime Labour Convention.

The tutor for the course is DavidDearsley, who has over 45 years of experience in the shipping industry.Participants of the course will be encour-aged to engage in online discussions withhim and fellow delegates to pool experi-ence and knowledge.

“The ILO Maritime Labour Conventionis probably the single most importantinternational regulation affecting manningand labour affairs that has been seen formany generations,” says Nigel Cleave,CEO Videotel.

“We feel that the extensive trainingneeded should be conducted in real timeby a senior course tutor with significantexperience in the field. However the rangeof roles and responsibilities held by courseparticipants also demands that the train-

ing be flexible and available on demand.”“Participants really benefit from the

ability to communicate ‘face to face’ withtheir course tutor and receive mentoringand academic support in real time.”

In related news, Videotel has alsoannounced the launch of an update to itstraining programme, ‘Coping withStowaways - Edition 2’, revisiting the sub-ject and mixing new interview footagereflecting revised management and securi-ty information.

‘Coping with Stowaways’ identifies thedangers that master and crew can facewhen dealing with stowaways and offersadvice on how to raise security levels toensure the problem is avoided.

It focuses on the need for vigilance toprevent stowaways gaining access to theship and the procedures to be adopted ifstowaways do succeed in boarding.

The course is aimed at all crew on allships, but particularly officers concernedwith ensuring the security of the vessel. Itis available as a DVD with supportingbooklet and as an interactive CD-ROM.

“In recent years we have seen anupsurge in stowaway incidents and anincrease in the levels of violence encoun-tered by crews dealing with the problem,”says Mr Cleave.

“This updated programme identifiesthe best practices to prevent stowawaysgetting on board and the procedures fordealing with them.”

www.spectec.net

Sentek Marine & Trading Pte Ltd has reached an agreement with SpecTecto design and develop a new electronicsystem to administer its asset and fleetmanagement.

SpecTec says that Sentek Marine, abunker tanker owning company fromSingapore, is looking for an end-to-end solu-tion to assist in the operation of its vessels.

Sentek Marine currently owns andoperates approximately 15 tankers of various capacities, ranging from 200dwt

to 6,200dwt.In particular the company is looking to

keep itself in line with industry trendstowards increased benchmarking of safetyand efficiency performance against bestpractices, and will use the new technolo-gies to upgrade its existing systems.

In that regard Sentek Marine is invest-ing in the full suite of modules fromSpecTec’s AMOS2 package for eight dou-ble hulled vessels.

SpecTec says that it now has approxi-mately 60 per cent of global shipping com-panies using its AMOS software system.

www.marlink.com

...trust the world’s preferred supplier of satellite communications

High speed connectivity – access data applications at speeds of up to 1 Mbps

Regional, multi-regional and global coverage

Fixed monthly pricing for unlimited usage

Simultaneous voice and data services

When the world is your workplace...

For full information contact Marlink or visit www.marlink.comWorldwide (24/7) Tel +32 70 233 220 Fax +32 2 332 33 27U S A Tel +1 800 868 5735 Fax +1 713 946 0403 (Houston business hours)

[email protected]

OSLO • LONDON • HAMBURG • BRUSSELS • ATHENS • DUBAI • MUMBAI • SINGAPORE • TOKYO • WASHINGTON DC • HOUSTON


SOFTWARE NEWS Digital ShipVideotel launches real time tutoring CBT course

Sentek will deploy AMOS to help manage its fleet

Sentek Marine & Trading to install AMOS

p13-21:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 11:11 Page 1

www.srosolutions.net

DP World Southampton, operating thesecond-largest container terminal in theUK, has recently completed an upgrade ofits Maximo Asset Management softwaresystem, from SRO Solutions.

The port had been using V6 of Maximoto deal with its maintenance schedulingfor a number of years, but wanted toupgrade to V7 to increase flexibility inhow it handles its data, as David Bowers,engineering planning and quality manag-er at DP World, explained.

“We needed to improve our DR capa-bility as our system was dependent on asingle server,” he said. “This, coupledwith the additional functionality of V7,were the key drivers behind ourupgrade.”

One problem the company faced incompleting this upgrade was the potentialdays of downtime that might be requiredin switching systems, something that

www.autoship.com

Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC)reports that it has supplied its navalarchitecture and ship production soft-ware to Estaleiro IIha (EISA) of Rio deJaneiro, Brazil.

EISA has chosen ‘The AutoSHIPWORKS Package’, used to manage proj-ects all the way from from hull lines rightthrough to nested parts.

This package consists of Autoship (hulldesign), Autopower (resistance & powerprediction), Autohydro (hydrostatics & sta-bility), Autoplate (shell expansion),Autostructure (internal structural design)and Production Manager (nesting & partsmanagement).

Training on the Autoship System will becompleted at the EISA facility by Autoshipstaff within a two-week period, with theaim of completing implementation of thesystem in the shortest possible timeframe.

SOFTWARE NEWS


www.aveva.com

SungDong Shipbuilding & MarineEngineering Co. Ltd. has extended its con-tract for the use of the AVEVA Marinevessel construction software system, todrive the design of commercial vessels.

AVEVA Marine is a set of integratedapplications created specifically for theprocesses of the engineering and design ofship and offshore structures, design man-agement, and the generation of produc-tion information.

The new licences will be used through-out SungDong’s four shipyards in Koreafor the design and production of vesselswhich include bulk carriers, container car-riers and various oil and gas platforms.

SungDong’s legacy data will be pre-served following the installation, withback-up provided by AVEVA’s onsiteengineering support team based in Busan.

“AVEVA is the natural choice for inter-national companies engaged in shipbuild-ing and offshore projects such as those atSungDong,” said SungDong, in a statement.

“Throughout our company’s growth,the design and production support of

commercial vessels has been built aroundAVEVA solutions. Our increase inAVEVA Marine licenses will play a keyrole in the on-going success of SungDongas we expand our business and constantlyimprove the efficiency of our operations.”

In related news, AVEVA has alsoannounced the version 12.1 release of itsAVEVA Marine solution, which, the com-pany claims, offers enhanced reportingoptions, improved productivity andextended language support features.

The 12.1 release features a new userinterface, which enables sharing acrossmany modules as well as with other com-pany’s products.

Users are able to create report tem-plates via a wizard and can insert imagesand charts; they can also use the standardmodel library to re-use designs from exist-ing built-in complex components.

AVEVA has also added extended dataexchange capabilities.

The company says there is now greaterflexibility when working within anIntegrated Engineering & Design environ-ment due to the automatic creation ofsymbolic-type marine drawings from the

tinued in use as before, still capturingchanges that could be transferred to theupgraded server as required.

The total transfer period for DP Worldwas 6-8 weeks.

“Now that the production and stagingsystems are on identical hardware it givesus a lot of flexibility,” said Mr Bowers.

“We can test, patch and carry outdevelopment work on live data withouthaving to worry if something goes wrong.This has greatly increased our DR capabil-ity and enabled us to surpass the require-ments of our internal audit.”

“Normally an upgrade is a fraughtaffair with tight timescales and rushing tominimise downtime by working underpressure in out-of-office hours. With theSDU all this was removed.”

“We were able to plan and accommo-date testing and training around the nor-mal working day on live data as we knewthe original system was continuing tooperate as normal.”

SungDong Shipbuilding to implement AVEVA

The SungDong shipyard will use AVEVA software to manage data for its construction operations

Brazilian shipyard touse Autoship

model database, as well as general 2Ddrafting functions.

Further new products, available in thisrelease, include AVEVA Design Reuse,AVEVA Surface Manager and AVEVASpace Management.

“The AVEVA Marine technologymakes possible the fully integrated, con-

current development of engineering and3D design data,” says StéphaneNeuvéglise, head of business management- marine systems, AVEVA.

“This allows naval architects, engineersand designers working together on a marinedesign project to deliver savings of up to 30per cent compared to alternative solutions.”

would be unacceptable for a busy port.To overcome these problems SRO

developed what it calls the SRO DynamicUpgrader (SDU), which enables Maximoupgrades without requiring any down-time, while also allowing for testing.

SRO says that, using the SDU, there isnever a need to turn off an online serverand the upgrade process itself is only car-ried out once.

The system works by firstly installing atool on the live server to capture all datachanges. Then the Maximo database iscopied to a new server, leaving the origi-nal version to carry on working while allchanges to it are logged.

“When the process started it caused usno disruption at all,” noted Mr Bowers.“No inconvenience to the users andimportantly no downtime.”

The entire process was completed with-in one week, with testing and training con-tinuing for a number of weeks afterwards.In the meantime the original system con-

DP World Southampton completes software upgrade

Fleet Management Solutions��Maintenance & Inventory

� Docking Management

� Voyage E-log

� Procurement

� Crew Management

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SOFTWARE NEWS

www.abs-ns.com

ABS Nautical Systems has announced theredesign and release of its fleet manage-ment software, with the company sayingthat it has made "substantial improve-ments" to this next generation version, tobe called NS5 Enterprise.

NS5 Enterprise will allow all users toaccess relevant data from the overall busi-ness landscape at any time.

For example, owners and senior man-agement may wish to retrieve the latestreal-time information on the status of theirfleets, while shipboard and other shore-side users can reference this same data butin a way that relates to their own particu-lar job functions.

Dashboards with customised views toexamine Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) are part of the upgraded softwareversion, including fleet-wide data formaintenance, supply chain, safety andpersonnel records.

ABS Nautical Systems says that thiswill provide users with the latest busi-ness intelligence data on the companyand offer the ability to drill down intovessel specifics.

“Data that senior management normal-ly request from managers regarding thestatus of their fleet is directly available tothem anytime, anywhere,” said FernandoLehrer, vice president of product develop-ment at ABS Nautical Systems.

“In addition, crew can see how their jobfunctions tie into the overall success of thecompany. These are significant steps to

improving communication on all fronts.” ABS Nautical Systems also notes that

NS5 Enterprise was designed in partnershipwith a global usability research firm with theaim of focusing on improving user experi-ence. Direct feedback from ABS NauticalSystems’ clients was elicited to informchanges in numerous critical software per-formance elements, such as user experi-ence, navigation, speed and reporting.

Additionally, advancements have beenmade to the software's system perform-ance, in particular as it relates to searchingand retrieving large quantities of data.Users will now have the ability to loaddata or run reports, regardless of size, inapproximately one-tenth of the time it pre-viously took.

A 'Live' version of NS5 Enterprise willalso be available, using a business data-base hosted on a dedicated server that canbe accessed by logging in with a user IDand password.

ABS Nautical Systems hopes that thisoption will eliminate the need for remoteoffice licences and installations, reducingIT infrastructure costs.

“We are very pleased to announce therelease of NS5 Enterprise, especially as wemove forward in making our productsmore simplified for its users,” said KarenHughey, president and COO of ABSNautical Systems.

“More than ever, we are offeringincreased value, better intelligence andstronger communication to establish NS5Enterprise as the must-have tool for theglobal maritime industry.”

www.marinsoftware.co.uk

UK based Marine Software has announcedthe recent supply of its MPM - MarinePlanned Maintenance, MSK – MarineStorekeeper and the MPS – MarinePurchasing system to Brooklyn Shipping.

The software will be installed on thenewbuild vessel Loch Erisort, as well as inBrooklyn’s Aberdeen Office.

Built in the Tebma Shipyard, India, this

Wartsila VS 470 MPOVMk III design ves-sel is initially intended for Far East opera-tions working within the ROV and renew-able markets, but will primarily operateworldwide after that.

Brooklyn Shipping also took deliveryof the MPJ – Marine Project Manager software package under the deal, to prepare refit specifications, manage ten-ders and control all costs during futurerefit periods.

www.tsb.co.kr

Korea-based Total Soft Bank (TSB), a soft-ware provider for the port and maritimelogistics industry, has announced that it isto be involved in the creation of BPA-NET,a major information sharing projectunderway at Busan Port.

The BPA-NET project is being run byBusan Port Authority (BPA) and support-ed by the Korean government and itsrelated authorities, including the Ministryof Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

A number of other Korean companiesare also joining the project as consortiummembers.

The project aims to introduce new tech-nologies to help deal with increases incontainer cargo volume and subsequentincreases in traffic along the logistics sup-ply chain.

BPA notes that Busan Port is alreadythe world's fifth busiest container port,shipping 14,000,000 TEUs, and as such anyincrease in traffic will be keenly felt.

BPA-NET will act as a 'port communitysystem' that aims to increase the efficiencyof port operation by providing a widely-accessible information management appli-cation, incorporating a real time monitor-ing service for ships and cargoes and anintelligent statistics service.

BPA says that it will be investing 22 billion won (approximately US$20 mil-lion) into building BPA-NET over the next5 years.

TSB software for Busan info management project

ABS-NS launches latest generation of software

Marine Software installed by Brooklyn Shipping

Juha Heikinheimo has been appointedto the position of president of NapaGroup, taking over from Matti Salo, whoserved as president for eleven years. Mr

Salo will continue as president of theOnboard-Napa Ltd subsidiary. MrHeikinheimo previously served as presi-dent of STX Finland, and also as presidentof the Santasalo Group.

ClassNK has issued its first approvalfor a maritime training programme, to anECDIS course offered by NYKShipmanagement. This approval,which certifies that the course fulfils IMOstandards, follows ClassNK’s entry intothe training programme certification fieldas part of a broader expansion of the clas-sification society’s activities.

Regs4ships Limited, a digital mar-itime organisation based in Southampton,UK, has celebrated its ten-year anniversary.Since three of the directors founded thecompany in one of their homes, Regs4shipshas grown to employ 26 members of staff.

www.napa.fiwww.classnk.or.jpwww.regs4ships.com

Juha Heikinheimo, new president at Napa Group

www.shipserv.com

German shipping company NordicHamburg Shipmanagement has signed up to ShipServ's TradeNet e-commerceplatform.

Nordic Hamburg Shipmanagementwas founded in 2008 and today operates afleet of seven vessels, which will expandto 18 by the end of 2012. All 18 will even-tually be connected to TradeNet for sourc-ing ship supplies.

ShipServ will integrate with the fleet’sonboard BASS maintenance and purchas-ing software to link to Nordic Hamburg’ssuppliers.

This set-up was agreed as the result ofclose co-operation between BASSGermany, ShipServ and NordicHamburg’s purchasing department.

"The Nordic Hamburg Group has made

its reputation by being innovative in itsprojects and operations and we alsounderstand that shipping depends on relationships," said Henrik Jensen,managing director of Nordic HamburgShipmanagement.

"Implementing ShipServ on our vesselsmeans we can trade faster and more effi-ciently with our suppliers and when nec-essary work with new partners to achievethe best prices and service."

ShipServ says that Germany is now one of the fastest-growing markets for its service, which is already in use by 11 shipowners and operators, including AJ Shipmanagement, AlphaShipmanagement, Bernhard SchulteShipmanagement (Deutschland), CarstenRehder, ER Schiffahrt, Reederei F Laeisz, Shipcare Management and transMar-Supply.

Nordic signs to TradeNetBrooklyn Shipping’s vessel Loch Erisort will implement the new software package

TSB will act as software and relevantservice provider for this system, based onits PLUS (Port Logistics Unifying System)technology. PLUS is a web-based portmanagement information system that pro-vides on-line access to operational infor-mation to internal and external users viathe internet.

It is comprised of three sub programs –VCSplus (Vessel Clearance System),MSSplus (Marine Service System), andCMSplus (Cargo Management System),which enable users to exchange port infor-mation through a single window webapplication.

PLUS has already been implemented atother international ports like Johor PortBerhad in Malaysia, the Port ofGothenburg in Sweden, the Port ofMombassa in Kenya and Port SultanQaboos in Oman.

“We are sure that TSB is the right part-ner to design the BPA-NET for integratingand providing logistics information forBusan Port under the ubiquitous businessenvironment,” said Hee-Soo Park, directorof the Port IT TF Team at the BPA.

“Users can enjoy seamless informationexchange and availability of port informa-tion anytime, anywhere.”

“(The system will) provide anadvanced information exchange servicecoupled with existing fast and accuratecustomer service, as well as increasingvessel callings and attracting more cargotraffic.”

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DD anish shipping company Damp-skibsselskabet NORDEN A/S hasrecently agreed a deal to imple-

ment Veson Nautical’s Integrated MaritimeOperations System (IMOS) to manage its fleetof 210 dry cargo and product tanker vessels.

IMOS includes a set of ten core modulesfor fleet and operations management, withNORDEN deciding to install the Chartering,Operations, Financials, Demurrage,Trading, Pooling, Cargo Matching, andBunker Planning applications.

IMOS will also be used to assist in man-agement of operations of Norient ProductPool ApS, owned 50/50 by founding part-ners NORDEN and Interorient NavigationCompany of Cyprus.

Norient Product Pool manages approx-imately 75 product tankers from its headoffice in Denmark and its offices inSingapore, USA and Cyprus.

The new contract was agreed following atrial of the system by NORDEN, part of a‘gap analysis’ phase which examined thecompany’s business processes that were nottotally covered by the standard IMOS system.

The company was given access to a testsystem, which Veson provided as a ‘blank’set-up that could be used to mimicNORDEN’s own operations.

Users from each of the shipping com-pany’s departments were recruited to takepart, and workshops were set up. Then anumber of the company’s voyages andother business processes were simulatedto test the software.

This process continued for three of fourweeks, and this helped NORDEN to iden-tify the areas where it needed some specif-ic customisation. Veson Nautical is now inthe process of finalising those tweaks tothe system, and the companies to beginthe roll-out of the new applications at thebeginning of November.

One specific customisation involveskey functionalities from the company’sown operations system MOEPS (Master’sOperations Environmental PerformanceSystem), which was developed by NorientProduct Pool and has resulted in consider-able fuel savings due to better planning

of voyages.This needed to be ported into the new

IMOS system, and a version of MOEPShas recently been introduced inNORDEN’s Dry Cargo department.

NORDEN’s decision to move to this newset-up was borne out of the realisation thatit had reached a stage in its developmentwhere the applications it had been using fora number of years were simply no longer fitfor purpose, as Sture Freudenreich, director- head of IT at Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN A/S explains.

“We have a strategy of business growththat will, over the next years, mean that weare expanding our fleet of owned vessels,”he told us. “For that, we could see that ourexisting software system was not flexibleenough and not the best tool available tosupport the future business strategy.”

“It is an older system, which we’ve hadfor about seven years, but it’s about ten yearsold. Mostly it was performance of the systemthat was the biggest issue. In recent years wehave grown the business and the organisa-tion and we found that the system becamemore and more ‘heavy’ to work with.”

“We also wanted to challenge ourselvesand see if the processes we had were goodenough, or whether there were systems outthere that could give us better workflows,and cross-departmental workflows.”

Software functionsHaving decided to move forward with anoverhaul of its business processes, as wellas the applications used to support them,NORDEN proceeded to evaluate a num-ber of different software options. The com-pany finally settled on IMOS as the best fitfor its organisation, and not only for tech-nical reasons, as Mr Freudenreich notes.

“One of our key criteria was that wewanted a new and modern platform, withthe latest technical specifications, but whatwas also important was the kind of usersthey already had – what kind of customersdoes the company have already using thissoftware?” he said.

“Veson had quite a big portfolio butalso many were new, they got a lot of newcustomers over the past few years. Thefact that some of these were in Denmarkwas good too, as we were able to talk tothem about how they used the system.They were all quite positive.”

“We also went to the IMOS user confer-ence before we signed the contract, again totalk to a bigger selection of internationalcustomers. That was of great benefit to us.”

While NORDEN is looking at IMOS asa complete software package to integratevarious aspects of its operations, there area couple of modules which MrFreudenreich believes may be particularlyuseful in adding new capabilities thatwere previously unavailable.

“We could see how the whole suite ofmodules could create some benefits, but tomention one module that was new to us I

would say the Trading Module was some-thing that we could use to create an evenbetter overview of risk and exposure. Wedidn’t have that in our old system,” he said.

“There’s another function called CargoMatching, which is something we didn’thave before, that will be useful. So there werea few modules which are new for us and wethink will make it easier for us to operate.”

“We weren’t looking for these particu-lar functions at the start, we just wanted tointroduce a modern software platform.We had these things semi-covered beforeby our Business Intelligence systems, butit’s more useful for the users if that infor-mation is directly there inside the applica-tion, instead of in a separate product.”

ImplementationNORDEN has outlined an ambitious imple-mentation schedule for the new system,which Mr Freudenreich has described as a‘big bang’ rather than a slow, phased process.

“Our computer systems are centralisedin Denmark, so all our international officeswill connect via Citrix to our central sys-tems,” said Mr Freudenreich.

“The vessels will not be connected inthe same way, they won’t have the sameinterface, but they will use what Vesoncalls Veslink and our own developedMOEPS client to report data to our systemon shore. On the vessels where we have aninternet connection it will be a direct pushof data, and on the vessels without inter-net it will be sent by e-mail.”

“It will not be real-time data transfer; itwill be done manually with people typinginformation into a form and then sendingit by e-mail or via the application installedon the vessel. That would be done a fewtimes a day.”

This implementation process willinvolve an extensive amount of integra-tion work, as NORDEN moves from itsprevious software system to IMOS, whilealso putting processes in place to allowsurviving external applications to sharedata with the new package.

“The old system we are replacing is basedon the Microsoft Navision platform, with theshipping applications built on top of that,”said Mr Freudenreich. “That will be separat-ed in the future, the IMOS product is only tobe used for shipping and then we will buildup a totally new Navision platform for ourfinancial and accounting departments. Thesewill then have to be integrated.”

“We have chosen to use Microsoft CRMto be our data management base, forclients and customers. These will all haveto integrate with IMOS and share data,and they will also have to connect to DADesk and Q88 to pull data.”

“We will do quite a lot of it ourselves,especially in terms of the Microsoft CRMand Navision where we will use a standardsoftware called ‘Scribe’ to do the data inte-gration. The IT department consists of eightpeople now with different profiles. For the

Navision part we have brought in aNavision specialist that will work on this.”

Managing the transition between thedifferent versions of software systems willcreate its own difficulties, with MrFreudenreich noting that the companywill run this slightly differently of differ-ent vessels, depending on the type of voy-ages those ships undertake.

“We will probably have some overlapon the vessels, time where we will have torun in parallel on two systems while weintroduce the new software,” he told us.“We can’t make a clean ‘cut’ and just movestraight to the new system, we have anaction plan in place to manage this.”

“We will have a few of our longer voy-ages where they will have to run on twosystems, and give them time to winddown with one system as they start upwith the new one. This is mostly to makesure that we have all of the financial datain place in the new system as well.”

Aside from building these integrationmodules one of the biggest challenges thatNORDEN has identified in managing asuccessful implementation is making surethat the company employees, at sea andashore, are properly trained to take advan-tage of the new capabilities.

“You need to have that training as closeas possible to the ‘go-live’ date as you can,though that can be difficult when youhave 275 people, worldwide, that need tobe trained. We are looking now at how wecan facilitate that,” said Mr Freudenreich.

“We will do training in all of the worldwidelocations separately. Veson may be involvedin that, but we will manage most of it our-selves. We will have a set schedule of datesfor all of these things in the implementation.”

Future expansionThough still left with a lot of work to do insuccessfully introducing this new softwaresystem across the company, NORDEN isalready looking at the next phase of devel-opment of its infrastructure and expandingthe reach of its systems to mobile devices.

“We are using iPhones today, and withthe iPhone we are only able to push privatee-mails for each user,” said Mr Freudenreich.

“We want to also be able to give themaccess to our group business mail foldersas well. That’s not something that you canget out of the box so we will build it our-selves, to improve communications whilepeople are out of the office.”

“We will start with the communicationon the mobile devices, and after that wewill have to see if we can give them betteraccess to data for IMOS and whateverother business systems we have, via themobile device. That is something we willfocus on in the future.”

As it continues with these developmentsNORDEN will certainly be moving evercloser to its original goal – having a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure supporting a mod-ern and efficient shipping operation.

Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN is preparing to migrate its software infrastructure, moving from a set-up that was rapidly becoming obsolete to a modern maritime platform. Sture Freudenreich, Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN, told Digital Ship about this process

Moving to a modern software system

‘We are expanding our fleet, and ourexisting software was not flexible enough’– Sture Freudenreich, DS NORDEN A/S

DS


SOFTWARE

p13-21:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 11:09 Page 6

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SOFTWARE


TT raining is undoubtedly one of thebiggest issues in the maritimeindustry at present, with availability

of competent crew an additional headachefor shipping companies that are having todeal with a global economy facing a levelof turmoil unprecedented in decades.

Keeping the ships employed is obvious-ly the first priority – but the vessels won’tbe running for long without a competentcrew that can deliver the ship and its cargosafely and efficiently to its destination.

The growing demand for crews inrecent years has created a kind of Catch-22situation when it comes to training – moretraining is required to provide necessaryonboard competence, but the time avail-able is short as companies aim to get sea-farers back out to sea and operating theirships as soon as possible.

It is in this kind of environment that useof Computer Based Training (CBT) in themaritime industry has seen extensivegrowth in recent years. This technologycan be used to create greater flexibility intraining by allowing study to be done in avariety of different locations, and even onthe vessel itself.

One of the companies that has takenadvantage of these new services is Greekoperator Allseas Marine, which is current-ly managing 11 bulk carriers, seven con-tainerships, and pursuing a newbuildingprogramme including four bulk carriersand two containerships that will be deliv-ered in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Allseas introduced the Videotel OnDemand (VOD) computer based trainingsystem across its fleet in 2008, to assist inthe development of its seafarer pool con-sisting of more than 600 Filipino and morethan 60 Ukrainian crew.

The VOD system offers videos and CBTinteractive programs, with training pack-ages specified for operational areas.Results are recorded on the ship, and canbe exported to the company’s own man-agement systems as required.

For Allseas, implementing this technol-ogy was part of an overall company strat-egy focusing on maximising the contribu-tion that its employees, both at sea and onshore, can make to its operations.

In this regard, CBT is something thatthe company believes will create a signifi-cant return on investment, as GeorgeSkrimizeas, general manager, AllseasMarine, explains.

“Traditionally we have been a compa-ny that significantly values the contribu-tion of the human factor, both in companyperformance and in the implementation ofour business plan,” he told us.

“We strongly believe that without theappropriate human resources a companycannot be successful. Therefore our targethas been: a) to recruit skilled and quali-fied seafarers and shore staff and b) tocontinuously upgrade their skills through

an effective training programme.”As Mr Skrimizeas notes, while the com-

pany was keen to introduce new ways oftraining, it was also conscious of the coststhat were involved – and wanted to ensureit got value for money. As such, a thor-ough review of the available technologieswas conducted.

“In a rapidly changing and highlydemanding environment, as the shippingindustry is, training is an ongoing processand for this purpose you need tools thatcan make the difference,” he said.

“It is commonly accepted that a compa-ny can invest millions of dollars in train-ing programs that end up ineffective. Thatis why thorough market research for theappropriate tools, and management com-mitment for the correct implementation ofthe programs, are the critical parameters.”

“After this market research we con-cluded that using Videotel’s VOD defi-nitely adds value, and over the years wehave observed that it is not only us butalso the seafarers who have realised it.”

CBT usageAll of Allseas Marine’s vessels are runningthe VOD system onboard, with the systemhaving also been introduced at shore-based facilities to widen its availability.

“We have equipped the office and runtraining programs in Manila, where wehave set up our own office for recruitingcrew and we have a fully operationaltraining department,” said Mr Skrimizeas.

“Our headquarters in Athens has thesystem, but mainly for use by the shorestaff who visit the vessels.”

“In our company we use CBT on boardthe vessels and ashore for our shore staff,but also for our crew who are on vacation.Of course, the on board training is mostuseful because the seaman can immediate-ly apply what he learns.”

The training done at-sea uses materialsalready installed on the ship rather thanonline systems, though the results of thetraining completed on the vessel are trans-

mitted back to the shore offices.“We are using the Videotel FTA (fleet

training administrator), this function isquite useful because it gathers the resultsof the on board training and provides uswith the relevant reports, offering, in thisrespect, a reliable training needs analysis,”said Mr Skrimizeas.

“An FBB (FleetBroadband) is sufficientfor the satellite communication element ofthis. Definitely, for all organisations cost isan element that needs consideration butwe must not forget that training expendi-ture is not a cost, it is an investment.”

Mr Skrimizeas estimates that approxi-mately 30 per cent of the total training eachseafarer receives in his company is done byCBT, in comparison with more traditionalland-based methods, and the company hasbeen pleased with the way that the crews

have taken to the new technology.“Whenever there is something new, usu-

ally there is a reaction,” Mr Skrimizeas said. “The magic formula, which we always

apply, is that before you present anythingto your staff, to your seafarers, to initiatean internal campaign explaining the con-cept behind it, the method for its imple-mentation, the benefits for everyoneinvolved and finally make them feel activeparticipants in the change.”

“Only then will they commit them-selves, and the adverse reactions will belimited. Management’s commitment andstrong will, as well as the availability ofthe proper resources (like a specific plan,knowledgeable staff to implement theproject and provide the guidelines, equip-ment etc), are very important too.”

Mr Skrimizeas believes that securingthis support, rather than any technicalconsiderations, is the biggest challenge inintroducing CBT onboard.

Allseas’ approach was to do this bymaking sure that both the seagoing andshore staff were made aware that the com-pany was spending its money on them, onits people, and that they were a valuableresource in the eyes of the management.

“In this respect they understand thatthe company invests in them, which forthem, quite correctly, the interpretation is that the company cares for them,” saidMr Skrimizeas.

“This created better connections andincentivised further our people, which infact was the most unexpected benefit.”

Success factorsHaving had three years’ experience withCBT at Allseas, Mr Skrimizeas says thatthe technology is something that he wouldcertainly advise other companies to con-sider when looking to improve their train-ing capabilities.

“Definitely we feel that it has addedvalue, that is why we continue using it.Therefore I would strongly recommendit,” he told us.

“The first step, and the most importantfor me as I mentioned before, is for thecompany to treat the training process asan investment and not as an extra cost.Then you must work closely with all theparties involved – Videotel, seafarers,training department, shore staff.”

“If a company succeeds in getting itsstaff to commit themselves in this projectthen it will be 100 per cent effective.”

However, Mr Skrimizeas cautionsagainst relying on the CBT to solve allyour training problems, and points outthat it should form part of a more compre-hensive strategy that is continuouslyassessed and upgraded.

“CBT is a training method, a useful toolthat will offer results not as a stand-alonesolution but as a part of a well designedand properly implemented training plan,”he explained.

“Someone must administer the entireplan, assess the results, perform trainingneeds analysis based on the results and,when needed, redesign or enhance theplan. Moreover there must be a very spe-cific list of topics in place that each personreceives, and this list must be dynamic –otherwise interest will be lost.”

This is something that the company iscurrently applying to its ECDIS training,ahead of the phased implementation ofIMO’s mandatory requirement beginning in2012, where CBT will play a significant role.

“ECDIS is the future and if an organisa-tion wants to be effective in this area whenit will be 100 per cent compulsory, then ithas to start preparing its human resourcesfrom now,” said Mr Skrimizeas.

“We have included the ECDIS in ourCBT programs, enabling our seafarers tobecome acquainted with this function.”

In its ECDIS training, and across theboard in its seafarer development pro-grammes, Allseas will continue to lever-age the latest CBT technology to help itscrews become the best they can be – and toget the maximum value from its traininginvestments.

Greek shipping company Allseas Marine introduced computer based training across its fleet in 2008, and the company is now conducting about 30 per cent of all its training using the technology.

George Skrimizeas, Allseas Marine, told Digital Ship about how the company is getting value from its CBT investment

Value for money from CBT – Allseas Marine

Allseas Marine has implemented CBT across its entire fleet of vessels

DS

p13-21:p1-14.qxd 07/10/2011 11:09 Page 8

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www.maris.no

MARIS has announced the signing of itsfirst contract with Hong Kong MarinePolice (HKMPD). After an official tender-ing process, the company has been select-ed to supply 12 ECDIS Systems on board12 existing patrol boats operating inwaters around Hong Kong.

Under the agreement, MARIS will pro-vide its latest ECDIS Systems based on its10th Generation Smartline MK-10 ECDIS900, including the Intel Core-2 DUOprocessor and solid state drives. The sys-tems will replace a combination of existingECDIS and paper charts currently used bythe HKMPD.

The MK-10 ECDIS 900 is compliantwith the latest IEC 61174:2008 standardand offers online ordering of electroniccharts, and integral computer-based train-ing for crew.

It also features passage planning, radaroverlay, AIS, a Duplex link between AISand ECDIS, total tide intelligence, weatherforecast display, Navtex interface, access tothe Lloyds Fairplay data base, and optionalweather routing and conning displays.

MARIS’ agent, Hong Kong basedElekon Electrical Company, will under-take the installation work, which is due tobe completed before the end of 2011.

MARIS sees this as major strategicadvance in Asia, following the company’ssecuring of a tender to supply 32 ECDIS

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION NEWS


www.alewijnse.nl

Alewijnse Marine Systems has completedits 1,000th installation of AIS (automaticidentification system), on board an inlandvessel based in the Netherlands.

Alewijnse introduced its Explorer AISsystem at the start of 2011, the first in anew range of inland AIS products, andsays that it is the first Dutch company tooffer a specialised inland AIS system andis the largest single supplier in the region.

The units are currently being sold at a100 per cent discount due to a govern-ment grant of equal value that covers allEuropean commercial vessels operating

on Dutch inland waters until January2013.

Alewijnse is operating a system of stag-gered distribution to inland shippingoperators from its offices in Rotterdam,Nijmegen and Drachten.

The company also notes that it is cur-rently working with the NetherlandsNational Council for Inland Shipping(Rijkswaterstaat) on its ‘Corridor 895’ AIStest project.

This programme is evaluating the effec-tiveness of AIS on 895 inland vessels oper-ating on the Rhine corridor and betweenthe ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam andNijmegen.

Alewijnse installs 1,000th inland AIS Systems to Indian Coast Guard vesselsearlier in 2011.

“This latest contract is a particularlysignificant endorsement of MARIS ECDIStechnology, given that the initial tenderwas limited to Electronic Chart Servicesonly,” says Bhupesh Gandhi, director AsiaPacific, MARIS Asia.

In other news, Maris has also announcedthat it has entered into a co-operationagreement with Vestfold UniversityCollege, which is to offer MARIS ECDIS900product specific training.

Under the deal, which is designed toestablish closer co-operation on researchand development, the college will offerproduct-specific training for the MARISECDIS system, covering electronic chartsand updates.

Vestfold University College has sub-stantial research and development capa-bilities, with approximately 50 personsinvolved in PhD projects.

“This is a strategic and valued agree-ment. It shows the board's commitment tosupport the government's ‘steady course’initiative, and specifically its exhortationthat Norway should be a world-leadingmaritime nation,” said Duy-Tho Do, deanof the college’s Faculty of Technology andMaritime Sciences.

“The Norwegian maritime industry isto deliver the most innovative and envi-ronmentally friendly solutions for thefuture.”

MARIS signs with Hong Kong Marine Police

www.abs-ns.com

software service training consulting integration understanding

The trusted name in fleet management software for your 60,000 ton hardware.software for your 60,000 ton hardwar

The milestone installation was onboard the Dutch vessel Santana

p22-36:p15-25.qxd 07/10/2011 11:26 Page 1

had a chance to report it.”Combining this information with wind

and wave data, vessel-specific speeddown algorithms and its ClimatologicalShip Resistance (CSR) system, AWT canpredict when the vessel will arrive at port.

The vessel’s ETA is continuouslyupdated throughout the voyage as newweather or position data is received. Thesevessels are also included in a Daily FleetStatus Report that is sent via e-mail toupdate the shipping company on vesselprogress.

The new satellite AIS system can alsobe used with AWT’s GlobalView fleetmanagement system, which combines AISreports with AWT’s voyage tracking serv-ice and a viewing system which fleet man-agers can use to monitor the safety, ETAand performance of their vessels.

Africa Express Lines has been among theearly users of the service, and has beenpleased with the additional operational datait has been supplied with, according toAnthony Birch, marine assistant, operations.

“AWT’s Global AIS service greatly ben-efits us,” he said.

“When combined with GlobalView, notonly does it give us positioning of the entirefleet on-screen, but you get the addedbonus of overlaying the weather, clouds,visibility, waves, current speeds, etc, andthis list goes on. It is an invaluable source ofinformation in a neat little package.”

Björn Röhlich has been appointed asnew managing director of Hamburg-based MSG Marine Serve GmbH.Mr Röhlich was previously training man-ager with Transas, and also served as anofficer with the German Navy.

Kongsberg Maritime Mexicohas became fully operational, based at anew facility in the city of Veracruz. Thenew service hub will offer service and sup-port to DP vessels and merchant shipswith Kongsberg Maritime navigation,automation and control systems on board.

Another new KongsbergMaritime office in the port of Piraeus,Greece is now also operational. KongsbergMaritime Hellas has been established as acustomer support and sales office to meetthe procurement and service requirementsof Greek ship-owners and vessels sailingwith Kongsberg Maritime systems insouthern Europe.

Veripos has extended its operationsin China with the opening of a new officein Tianjin in association with TianjinYaXi Offshore Oilfield TechnicalServices Co Ltd. The Tianjin office isstaffed by Wang Yong Chun as Chinacountry manager and Hing Tong Khoonas technical manager.


www.awtworldwide.com

Applied Weather Technology (AWT) haslaunched a global AutomaticIdentification System (AIS) service, AWTGlobal AIS, which will incorporate satel-lite-based data to monitor vessels beyondcoastal regions.

Shipboard AIS transponders have ahorizontal range that is typically onlyabout 35 nautical miles (NM). However,the signal has a vertical range over 200NM, and recent advances have led to theinclusion of tracking units on polar orbit-ing satellites that can pick up these signals.

AWT will integrate this data from itsGlobal AIS service with the AWT TrackingService, inserting the vessel’s track intothe AWT Route Optimization System.

“With AWT Global AIS data, our cus-tomers can now get a more complete pic-ture of each voyage in a timely and cost-effective manner,” says Richard Brown,vice president of product management at AWT.

“Combining AIS data with other AWTservices lets fleet managers see when avessel is approaching high-risk areas suchas pirate attack regions, as well as detectwhen a vessel stops before the captain has

AWT incorporates satellite AIS data

www.marineserve.dewww.transas.comwww.km.kongsberg.comwww.veripos.com

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www.jrc.co.jp

Japan Radio Co (JRC) has delivered its15,000th Tornado radar, from the Mitakafactory in Tokyo, Japan.

Developed by JRC’s engineers, theTornado radar processor is found in thecompany’s JMA-5200 through to the JMA-9100 series of radars.

Since the first JMA-5300 Tornado radarwas shipped in 2004, JRC says it has deliv-ered an average of six units per day toreach this 15,000 milestone.

The specific capabilities of the proces-sor allow the radars to perform the com-plex tasks associated with JRC’s other in-house developed technologies,Constaview and Target EnhancementFunction (TEF).

Constaview allows full processing ofdata within milliseconds, to facilitate con-tinuous radar image rotation. TEF allowsfor target enhancement relative to the tar-get size, resulting in a proportionalenhancement where the relative enhance-ment of smaller targets is greater thanapplied to larger targets.

Tamiho Shinya, executive officer of the JRC marine division commented: “Weare thrilled to have delivered so manyradars around the world and even morepleased to see that so many of our cus-tomers are able to take full advantage ofour systems.”

NOAA speeds up chartproduction with newprocessing system

www.bmt.org

BMT Group, has announced that theSafePort research project has completedinitial sea trials of a prototype vessel man-agement system at Dublin port.

SafePort offers an advanced vessel traf-fic management system designed for con-strained ports, or waterways with hightraffic densities, with an integratedportable pilot unit.

BMT says the project, which is beingsupervised by the European GlobalNavigation Satellite Signal (GNSS)Agency, delivers accurate, secure and reli-able navigation and positioning informa-tion which in turn enables safer and moreefficient navigation and berthing.

Leading a consortium of nine organisa-tions from across Europe, BMT wasresponsible for the development of thepath planning capability which it hopeswill help to reduce time and fuel wastageand take the first tentative steps towardsthe autonomous ship.

BMT states that AIS position reportscan be misleading for various reasons,such as systematic errors, installationissues, time delays, or atmospheric condi-tions affecting the GNSS signal.

Vessels entering and leaving the portare therefore monitored using a portablepilot unit which uses the EuropeanGeostationary Navigation Overlay Service(EGNOS), both to provide highly accurateposition reports and also to indicate thepositional uncertainty.

The project also uses knowledge of thesatellite signals as an authentication sys-tem to provide assurance against attacksby hackers who may attempt to confuseshipping by faking GPS signals.

“SafePort reduces risk by helpingincrease the cooperation between Pilots,Vessels and the Vessel TrafficManagement Information system(VTS/VTMIS). Vessels participating in thesystem share their planned paths andschedules with the A-VTMIS system orrequest a path to be planned for them,”says Ben Hodgson, senior research scien-

BMT’s SafePort completes initial trial

www.adveto.com

ADVETO of Sweden has agreed an orderto supply ECDIS systems to Norwegiancompany Tide Sjø.

The deal will see six ADVETO ECDIS-4000 units supplied to Tide Sjø´s threenewbuild High Speed Craft (HSC) passen-ger catamarans through ADVETO's dis-tributor Westronic in Bergen.

Each newbuild HSC will be equippedwith dual-ECDIS, to allow them to sailpaperless.

The new order represents part of TideSjø´s ongoing upgrade programme whichaims to make sure that all of its HSC arecompliant with IMO resolutions requiringsuch vessels to be fitted with an ECDIS.

“Westronic started to work withADVETO’s ECDIS four years ago. I mustconclude that, according to my opinion,ADVETO has the best ECDIS on the marketfor the HSC vessels,” said Arild Mathiessen,

sales and project engineer at Westronic.“ECDIS-4000 from ADVETO has fea-

tures like multi routes, advanced predic-tors, alternative night presentation anddownload of Primar charts and chartupdates over the internet directly into theECDIS. This makes ADVETO ECDIS anideal system for HSC operation.”

In other news, ADVETO has alsorecently announced the signing of anagreement with Ghana Port Authority toprovide its Compact Vessel Traffic System(CVTS) software.

Under the contract, ADVETO will pro-vide six CVTS software licenses as part ofa complete AIS and surveillance system.

The delivery will be carried out by TrueHeading, Stockholm, and includes TrueHeading AIS hardware.

“We are proud that we have been cho-sen to deliver our CVTS technology to thishigh status delivery,” said Kent Sylvén,managing director of ADVETO.

ADVETO ECDIS for HSCs

The trial took place in Dublin Port

tist at BMT Group.“These are continually validated to

ensure that they comply with regulations,do not conflict with other vessels, are lowrisk and are achievable with currentmanoeuvring constraints and environ-mental conditions.”

“An enhanced portable pilot unitassists pilots in following these agreedpaths and time slots and provides an indi-cation of the risks associated withmanoeuvres and other vessels such ashighlighting that an uncontrolled vesselwill cross a section of the path ahead.”

www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov

A new navigational chart processing sys-tem developed by the US NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) has moved into initial limitedproduction, aiming to slim down the cur-rent map production process whileimproving performance.

“NOAA regularly updates over 1,000nautical charts, adding data and makingcorrections that are critical to a wide use ofapplications,” said Capt John Lowell,director of the Office of Coast Survey.

“To produce more navigation prod-ucts, faster, we have developed a singlesource production system that producesall NOAA chart products from one central database instead of the two production lines used since charting technologies first started changing in themid-1990s.”

The new system aims to speed up thedistribution of chart updates to users, cre-ate new opportunities for private industrydevelopment of customised products, andimprove data exchange capabilities formultiple maritime uses.

For instance, NOAA says that the sys-tem will be able to integrate with otherinformation sources, for ocean planningand other coastal uses.

In particular, with the efficiencies itexpects to leverage from the new system,NOAA Coast Survey expects to be able to produce more navigation products,with flexible access to more data, withouta corresponding increase in budget orpersonnel.

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey beganthe production improvement project inOctober 2004, in collaboration with US-based ManTech InternationalCorporation, and ESRI, a provider of GIStechnology based in California, with theaim of developing an integrated produc-tion system for NOAA chart production.

“Technological advancements arespurring a revolution in nautical charts,and navigators need flexibility andincreased access to data that marinersfrom the last century could only dreamabout,” Capt Lowell said.

“The system we developed withManTech and ESRI provides the platformfor a wide range of new applications forcommercial mariners, recreational boatersand, indeed, for coastal planners along thenation’s 95,000 miles of coastline.”

Despite the new system being intro-duced now, NOAA notes that the transi-tion of data covering all US waters willtake several years, progressing in sets ofcharts as geographically located in USCoast Guard Districts.

As the data is transitioned to the newsystem, chart users will see more con-gruity between paper charts that are nowproduced on one system, and electroniccharts produced on another. Under thenew system, cartographers will enter thesame data into a single system and thechanges will be sped along to all associat-ed products.ECDIS will be supplied to three newbuild high speed craft under the deal

Tornado radar hits 15,000

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www.esa.int/esaNA/galileo.html

The first Galileo navigation satellite hasarrived at a spaceport in French Guiana,ready to begin preparations for launch on20th October.

Packed within a protective, air-condi-tioned container, the satellite landed atCayenne Rochambeau Airport, havingdeparted from Thales Alenia Space Italy’sRome facility, where it was built. It wasthen loaded on a lorry for transport to theGuiana Space Centre, where it was movedinto the preparation facility.

The satellite is due to be launchedaboard a Soyuz ST-B vehicle on 20thOctober, together with a second Galileosatellite that is also scheduled to arrive inFrench Guiana shortly.

This will be the first launch of Russia’sSoyuz rocket from French Guiana, andwill take place from a new facility 13kmnorthwest of the Ariane 5 launch site.

Next year, a second pair of satellites willjoin the two mentioned above in orbits at23,222km altitude, proving the design ofthe Galileo system in advance of the other26 satellites scheduled to join them.

October’s launch will mark the firstSoyuz launch from a spaceport outside of Baikonur in Kazakhstan or Plesetsk in Russia.

French Guiana is closer to the equator,so each launch will benefit from theEarth’s spin, increasing the maximumpayload into geostationary transfer orbitfrom 1.7 tonnes to 3 tonnes.

These first four Galileo satellites, builtby a consortium led by EADS Astrium(which recently acquired Vizada), willform the operational nucleus of the fullGalileo satnav constellation.

They combine a sophisticated atomicclock – accurate to one second in three mil-lion years – with a transmitter to broadcastnavigation data worldwide.

equipment from Raytheon Anschutz com-prises two navigation radars, a gyrocom-pass, and an autopilot.

Alewijnse also installed a communica-tions package comprised of aFleetBroadband, a Sailor GMDSS A3, anAlewijnse AIS system and all accompa-nying sensors.

All the engineering, installation and com-missioning was undertaken by Alewijnsetechnicians at the yard in Gdansk, Poland.

In addition, the company delivered theengineering as well as the commissioningof a LROS certified ALMACS alarm sys-tem, and was also responsible for thecabling, bow thruster motor, frequencyconverter and shaft generator and theinterfacing of all cabling for the secondarysystems for the main engine, CPP installa-tion and steering gear.

"This project is a great example ofAlewijnse as partner for both navigationequipment and electrical installations,"said Michiel Louwerse, manager naviga-tion systems, Alewijnse.

"The delivered Raytheon Anschutzbridge system is a compact and completebridge system which is ideal for this typeof vessel."

www.comarkcorp.com

Comark Corporation reports that its newOpti-Bright Series LED-based, sunlightreadable LCDs with transflective filmenhancements are now available.

The Series features 0-100 per centadjustable brightness control for bothnight time and full sunlight viewingrequirements, and has a brightness ratingof 1,000 NITs, or 800 NITs brightnesswhen the touchscreen option is chosen.

The transflective film is used to illumi-nate the LCD, which the company says isparticularly useful for sunlight readablerequirements.

The units are also NEMA 4X rated forwet environments. All electronics are con-formal coated to protect against moistureand corrosion.

“Comark’s Opti-Brite LED LCDs havebeen designed and tested to provide ourcustomers with rugged and reliable solu-tions that meet the strict operatingrequirements found in a marine environ-ment,” said Steve Schott, president ofComark.

www.alewijnse.nl

Dutch company Alewijnse reports that ithas supplied a complete set of navigation,communications and electrical systems forthe multi-purpose general cargo vesselM/V Delamar.

Built and delivered by Marine Projects

Ltd Shipyard in Poland in cooperationwith the operator Briese Schiffahrt GmbH& Co KG, the 4,059 dwt vessel was deliv-ered to the new Swedish owner AtoB@CShipping AB in July.

The scope of the contract included theentire bridge system, including all naviga-tion and communications equipment. The

www.kelvinhughes.com

Kelvin Hughes has introduced its ECDIS4system, its fourth generation ECDIS andthe latest member of the MantaDigitalmultifunction workstation family whichcan function as an ECDIS, a radar or a con-ning display.

For crew training purposes ECDIS4 fea-tures built-in scenarios which can be usedby operators to familiarise themselveswith the system in route planning androute monitoring operational modes.

ECDIS4 is also available as a softwarepackage which allows full operation of

the MantaDigital system in all its modes, and can be run on any suitablelaptop computer for training or productfamiliarisation.

“We believe that this is the easiestECDIS to operate and with its standardthree-year warranty it offers the marketthe most cost-effective ECDIS solutionavailable,” said Bruce Santos, head of salesand marketing at Kelvin Hughes.

“When supplied as part of anECDISplus bundle – which includes chartdata, updates and training – chart updat-ing is reduced to a single mouse click.”

ECDIS4 is available with desk,

pedestal, flush and bridge wing mountingoptions and 20in and 26in screen sizes. Itcan display other manufacturers’ radar asan overlay and includes a full screen chartmode together with facilities to managechart data and updates.

In other news, Kelvin Hughes has alsorecently announced the deployment of itsSharpEye solid-state S-band (10cm) radarsfor two 47m fast ferry catamarans con-structed by Austal Ships in WesternAustralia for Caribbean operatorL’Express des Iles.

The solid-state radars form part ofKelvin Hughes’ integrated bridge pack-

ages for the new vessels. Other equipmentsupplied includes Kelvin Hughes MantaDigital 20-inch X-band (3cm) radars,ECDIS and VDR.

Kelvin Hughes had already suppliedradar and bridge packages for two earlier45m catamaran fast ferries built by Austalfor the same operator in 2005.

“We operate fast craft, sometimes indarkness. The majority of vessels weencounter are very small, so for the safetyof navigation it is important that we havethe best radar available for these condi-tions,” says Captain Onick Deravel,L’Express des Iles.

Four in-orbit Galileo satellites will be used for the design proving phase of the project

Galileo satellite prepares for launch

Delamar gets technology systems from Alewijnse

The contract covers navigation, communications and electrical systems

Kelvin Hughes introduces ECDIS4

Comark introducesnew displays

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www.km.kongsberg.com

Kongsberg has announced the signing ofan agreement with BAE and theAustralian Defence Force (ADF) to supplya custom engine room simulator for thetraining of engineers aboard RoyalAustralian Navy (RAN) Canberra ClassLanding Helicopter Dock (LHD) vessels.

The LHD Engineering System Trainer(LEST), scheduled for delivery in February2013, is designed to improve the trainingof LHD vessel engineering personnel. Itwill include full mission and desktop sim-ulation systems, with integrated e-Learning facilities.

The LEST is designed to simulate oper-ational control of all Marine Engineering(ME) systems and equipment installed onthe LHD, enabling training for the opera-tion of ME systems and equipment inremote, local, manual and emer-gency/casualty modes.

The system will focus on covering theoperation and system understanding of

the combined diesel and gas turbine(CODAGE) configuration on the vessels;with electrical transmission where an elec-tric motor is in the pod itself, connecteddirectly to the propeller without gears.

The full mission part will include con-trol room operator stations with softwaremimics and panels – featuringKongsberg’s BigView touch-screen soft-ware mimic – electrical switchboardmimic and panels, local control engine-room mimics and bridge control and steer-ing panels.

“The LEST system will enable MEsailors posted to an LHD the capability ofbeing assessed, certified and competent toperform their billeted job in the shortestpossible time,” says Mark Stuart Treen,sales and marketing manager, KongsbergMaritime.

“With basic and advanced remote oron-campus training it will significantlyreduce the training load placed on the ves-sels, and will be configured to meet theRAN’s expected student throughput.”

www.transasmarine.com

Transas has installed new simulators forthree clients, CMI Maritime Services and Michaelmar Shipping Services inManila, and the Naval Academy of theUruguay Navy.

CMI Maritime Services will install aNTPRO 5000 bridge simulator with twodesktop bridges at its Argo Navis trainingcentre in Manila.

The navigational simulators are intend-ed for training in watch keeping and oper-ations with ECDIS, such as radar/ARPAoperations, and familiarisation with all thedetails of electronic chart operation,including route planning and monitoringand the principles of displaying varioustypes of information.

An instructor station and a debriefingfacility provide instructors with tools forpreparation, editing, conducting, monitor-ing, playback and assessing the exercise.

Michaelmar Shipping Services will alsouse a Transas multi-purpose simulatorfacility to educate seafarers in Manila.

The facility will offer training on therequirements of the IMO STCW 78/95convention and Model Courses 7.01, 7.03,as well as a range of other tasks.

Under the agreement, Transas will sup-ply Navi-Trainer Professional 5000(NTPRO 5000) with a total horizontalvisualisation area of 180 degrees.

The system will include a multi-taskship handling simulator capable of repro-ducing situations on the bridge, includingmooring and manoeuvring in restrictedwaterways.

An instructor station and a debriefingfacility provide the instructor with toolsfor preparation, editing, conducting,monitoring, playback and assessing theexercise.

Finally, Transas USA has completed theinstallation of a simulator complex for theNaval Academy of the Uruguay Navy.

The facility comprises the navigationand manoeuvring simulator NTPRO 5000,GMDSS Communications simulator TGS5000 and Engine Room simulator ERS5000 SOLO.

The navigation simulator consists of aFull Mission Bridge with seven visualchannels on plasma displays, and con-soles equipped with radars, ECDIS,manoeuvring and steering consoles, aswell as a full GMDSS communicationsstation, interconnected to GMDSS simu-lator TGS 5000.

www.imtech.eu

Imtech has announced the acquisition ofCanadian marine company GroupeTechsol Marine, which will now provideImtech with a technological marine pro-duction site in Canada.

Groupe Techsol Marine has over 100employees, and annual revenues ofaround €20 million. Imtech says that theacquisition will be paid in cash, though noprice has been revealed.

Groupe Techsol Marine, based inQuebec, was established 15 years ago bythe current management and specialisesin marine technical solutions for vesselautomation, alarm, monitoring and con-trol, navigation and communication and electrical systems, including switch-board and console construction, as wellas energy-efficient electric propulsiontechnology.

The company is primarily active in themarket for government vessels, work-boats, tugs, ferries and special purpose

vessels like icebreakers and high-techresearch vessels.

"In accordance with our strategicgrowth plan, we aim to significantlystrengthen our marine activities. Througha combination of organic growth andacquisitions, Imtech aims to double therevenue of its marine division to approxi-mately 1 billion euro by 2015," said ImtechCEO, René van der Bruggen.

"In this context, Imtech intends to openmarine production and multi-servicessites in important new areas, where wewill be equipping newly-built ships andrefit projects with total technological solu-tions and at the same time offering cus-tomers first class service and maintenancesupport."

"Groupe Techsol Marine fits perfectlyin our strategic plans. Under Imtech'stechnological and financially strongwings, the new Imtech company is expect-ed to show continued healthy growth."

Groupe Techsol Marine's managementwill stay on after the acquisition.

www.vizada.com

Vizada has launched its SkyFile C Store &Push service, to offer customers new datareporting and polling options, includingVMS (Vessel Monitoring System), LRIT(Long Range Identification & Tracking)and FleetNet capabilities.

The system aims to assist shippingcompanies in adhering to internationalmaritime law with respect to tracking,such as International MaritimeOrganisation regulations which stipulatethat a vessel must send a position reportevery six hours, and that this report mustin turn be delivered to the data centre inless than 15 minutes (or seven minutes inEuropean countries).

SkyFile-C Store & Push runs over adedicated platform, developed by Vizadaat its teleport in Aussaguel, France, as partof a major upgrade to its Inmarsat-C infra-structure.

In addition to providing greater capaci-ty for data reporting traffic such as VMSand LRIT, the platform enables all datareports transmitted from vessels to be

stored in a database at the gateway. In case of network failure during trans-

mission, the reports can be protected andforwarded to data centres at a later stageonce the network issues have beenresolved.

Data reports can be delivered over anumber of different networks, includingFTP and IP, to cater for the varyingrequirements of the parties involved in thereporting process, such as data centres,shipping companies, flag states, and localregulators.

"As monitoring and reporting trafficincreases significantly, it is important formobile satellite providers to step up to thechallenge and ensure the most reliableand flexible service for both shippingcompanies and data centres," said Jean-Marc Duc, Inmarsat-C product managerat Vizada.

"The major investments we have madein our Inmarsat-C infrastructure over thepast few years are a proof of our strongcommitment to providing shipping com-panies’ end-users with the most reliableway of conforming to IMO regulations.”

Kongsberg supplies Australian Navy

Kongsberg will provide engine room simulation systems as part of the package

Transas installs simulators for three new clients

Tracking services introduced by Vizada

www.orbcomm.com

ORBCOMM has announced thatLuxSpace Sarl, an affiliate of OHB SystemAG, has completed construction and testing of the LuxSpace VesselSat1 AISsatellite.

The spacecraft was shipped to theIndian Space Research Organization's(ISRO) launch pad at Sriharikota in

Andhra Pradesh, off the Bay of the Bengal. The satellite is expected to have

launched by mid-October 2011.ORBCOMM holds the exclusive licence

for the AIS data collected by VesselSat1,which will provide additional coverage inthe equatorial region and supplementORBCOMM's constellation of 18 AIS-enabled next generation satellites current-ly under construction.

ORBCOMM AIS satellite ready for launch

Imtech buys Canadian company

p22-36:p15-25.qxd 07/10/2011 11:30 Page 7

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION


With ECDIS mandation to be phased in from next year, training the world’s seafarers on the equipment isgoing to put huge pressure on global training facilities. One way to relieve some of this pressure is through

the use of computer based training on-ship, as Jim Dibble and Steve Healy, Seagull AS, explain

ECDIS and on-ship training

IIMO introduced, in 2010, its schedulefor when different types of vesselshave to have ECDIS. From now until

2018 virtually all ships over 500 gross tonswill have to have the technology onboardand have crews that are ECDIS competent.

Up until now, when we’ve introducednew equipment, that equipment has beenan aid to existing procedures and tech-niques, like when ARPA radar was intro-duced. That didn’t replace something elsethat was in use, but now we’re introduc-ing ECDIS which is going to replace theconventional method of navigation.

We’re eventually going to end up withno paper charts, which we’ve been usingfor hundreds of years, to move to a whol-ly electronic means of navigation.

This is extremely significant – andwe’ve got to get the training right.

Time is of the essence – the 2010 Manilaamendments to STCW have introducednew requirements for ECDIS training,there’s a new IMO model course beingdeveloped, and there are an increasingnumber of ECDIS units on ships.

There are a number of statutoryrequirements, as well as the commonsense requirement of needing to have peo-ple able to do the job.

Where years ago we used to have radarassisted accidents, now we’re havingECDIS assisted accidents. There are manyexamples of this – far too many already.

To solve this we need to be pragmaticand do something both cost and timeeffective – if there are thousands of peoplethat need to go through training then anyprovisions and timeline put in place needto allow for this.

Training has got to be suitable for dif-ferent types of equipment and it has got toestablish confidence and competence inthe individual navigator – that’s critical toall of this. The navigator has to be able togo aboard his own ship and feel that heknows how to use the equipment.

Scale of training requiredWhat does this new requirement mean interms of the amount of training that willbe needed across the industry?

If we’re talking about ships over 500tons we’re looking at approximately65,000 vessels. It’s difficult to look at exactnumbers of ECDIS on these ships and thenumbers that need to be trained, but evenconservative estimates can outline thescale of the issue.

Let’s say there is a maximum of about15,000 ECDIS in use today. On most shipsthere may be four navigation officers, andthere will be a relief crew of two or four.So, roughly, there will be about six officerswho will require training for each individ-ual ship.

We would estimate that about 40 percent already have recognised ECDIS train-

ing – this is probably far too high, but let’sbe generous. That means 60 per centremain, and for 15,000 ECDIS that is about54,000 people still left to be qualified, andthat’s just for the ECDIS already onboard.

It has been suggested that only 2 percent of the vessels that will require ECDIShave actually been fitted with approvedECDIS equipment today. That is a verysmall percentage.

So the new regulations will requirethousands more ECDIS to be fitted. Buthow many ECDIS manufacturers do wehave? We estimate that there’s roughly 30.

All of the seafarers will need training,and that doesn’t include the pilots, whowould also need to use the equipment, aswell as superintendents who will travel tothe ship and work with the ECDIS.

It’s an immense number that will needto be trained between now and 2018. Themind boggles.

In comparison with that number ofseafarers that will require training, howmany colleges and shore based facilitiesdo we have in the world that can doECDIS training? What kind of numberscan they put through?

It won’t be enough. We need additionalsolutions.

Of course, this is also before we men-tion the manufacturer specific traininggeared to the use of the type of ECDISfound on the ship on which the individualis serving. That will be necessary in addi-tion to the generic ECDIS training. Whathappens when the manufacturer bringsout a new model and training needs to be updated?

Even ships within the same fleet willhave different ECDIS on different vessels

– you can have a qualified watchkeeperwith their ECDIS certificate, and on thenext ship there is different equipment andit’s no use.

We’ve got to be able to provide the ini-tial training and then update that knowl-edge and competence to allow the crewsto go from ship to ship.

Shore based training for ECDIS will bea big part of this, and a lot of shore basedestablishments do excellent work andexcellent training. Training on a simulatoris great, but normally they are very limit-ed in the number of people they can take,and 99 times out of 100 they will be usinga specific manufacturer’s equipment – soeven the generic training will be on a par-ticular manufacturer’s equipment.

Also, the inputs into that equipmentfrom your other instruments will not be thesame as the specific ones you have on yourown particular ships. That’s another diffi-culty that has to be coped with – and anoth-er burden on the available training facilities.

On-ship trainingWe can’t really see another solution otherthan doing this training on the ship,because the numbers are so huge thatneed to be trained between now and 2018.

However, training on the ship can be apractical, convenient, cost effective solu-tion to many of these issues. When youtrain on the ship you can train on the actu-al equipment and the actual interfaces you

will have to use in your day-to-day job.Going from ship to ship, if you have the

right training strategy then you can updatethat generic knowledge to suit the trainingrequirements for that new piece of equip-ment with its new group of interfaces.

CBT - Computer Based Training - is apotential solution, particularly whenblended with field training and work-books, and can deliver both learning andassessment. If fully endorsed and support-ed by the shipping company, it can provea powerful and effective learning tool.

Properly used and integrated into thecompany and shipboard training regime, itwill lead to the achievement and mainte-nance of a high and safe standard of ECDISoperation. And given the technical andcontent standards that can be achievedtoday, it certainly has the potential to helpin addressing this shortfall in training.

It is important though to recognise thatCBT is not a quick fix. It doesn’t solve allof your competence issues and doesn’tsolve your training issues overnight. Inrespect of ECDIS, hands-on training on theapplicable equipment is vital and CBT canonly support that.

However, it can also document train-ing, useful in particular during audits andinspections, as well as recording results tothe required standard.

Training futureHowever it is achieved, training is goingto be a fundamentally important part ofthe introduction of new navigation sys-tems going forward, beyond just theECDIS that we are looking at today.

The job of the watchkeeper is becomingmore and more technical and they’re rely-ing more and more on electronics andother technologies.

In the industry, we may start losing theability to do old-fashioned navigation,with basic situational awareness and plainold looking out the window – the conven-tional things we’ve always done – beinglost to the new breed of seafarer. Indeed,this is already recognised as a problem.

The maritime industry is often com-pared with the aviation industry and theairlines have done research which sug-gests that, in a sense, airline pilots are for-getting how to fly as they are relying soheavily on technology.

A recent FAA study said that pilotswere suffering from “automation addic-tion” in modern planes. It’s somethingthat the shipping industry needs to bevery aware of.

We mustn’t lose the ability to do funda-mental navigation and use basic equip-ment such as the sextant and azimuth mir-ror – though perhaps some may say thatthose abilities are already lost.

However, we would like to think thatthe industry is hanging on to those skills –and hope that training, even though muchin electronic format itself, can supplementthese skills and abilities rather thanreplace them.

The number of people requiring ECDIStraining in coming years is immense

This article has been adapted frompapers presented at the Seagull 2011UK User Conference in London

In the industry, we may start losing the ability to doold-fashioned navigation - the conventional things

we’ve always done.

DS

p22-36:p15-25.qxd 07/10/2011 11:27 Page 9

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TT he International Maritime Organi-zation (IMO) defined the goals ofeNavigation in rather lofty and

general terms.It, for instance, determined that

eNavigation should:� Facilitate communications including

data exchange between ships, between ships and shore-based entities and between shore-based entities

� Integrate and present information on board and ashore to manage the workload of the users while also motivating and engaging the user and supporting decision making

A multinational group of experts (‘theCorrespondence Group’ or CG) wasformed under the auspices of the IMO'sMaritime Safety Committee (MSC) andSafety of Navigation Subcommittee(NAV). The CG was tasked to assess whatobstacles stand in the way of achieving theeNavigation goals.

You can’t really identify such obstaclesunless you have a fairly good idea of theinformation exchanges that eNavigationwill encompass. So the CG first identifiedthese information exchanges and thenlooked for ways to streamline theirprocesses and procedures.

This is not rocket science. Businessprocess streamlining has been practicedby just about every company and govern-ment agency because it typically payshuge dividends. In many cases companieshad to change the way they do things justto survive.

This doesn’t mean it is easy. Dreamingup a better way to do things is easy. Thehard part is to turn these ‘ideal world’dreams into tools that work reliably in themessy real world and to get people to usethe new tools the way they were intendedto be used.

That is exactly what the CG ran into. Inits report to the NAV committee it pre-sented a 47 page spreadsheet of the obsta-cles it identified that prevent streamliningof processes and procedures along withsuggestions on how to bridge these ‘Gaps’,as they call them.

The detailed description of these gapsreveals a great deal about the specificprocesses and procedures the CG wants tostreamline.

Fundamental to identifying the Gapswas identifying the information require-ments of both mariners and shore-sideusers. The CG categorised informationneeds by the geographic areas of shipoperations and the environment thatexists within those areas.

The CG identified five separate ‘ServiceAreas’ along with an extensive menu(‘Maritime Service Portfolio’ or MPS) ofinformation services needed for each one:1. Harbour operations

2. Operations in coastal and confined or restricted waters

3. Trans ocean voyages4. Offshore operations5. Operations in Arctic, Antarctic and

remote areasWithin a service area, menu items are bro-ken down by information service users:1. Mariners2. Shore-based users

How will eNavigationchange ECDIS?

As e-navigation is implemented, ECDIS isexpected to evolve in many ways, with itsfinal shape still a matter for suppositionand conjecture.

Many of the new eNavigation informa-tion services for mariners will be madeavailable through new features. Whenselected, these features are intended topresent the information in a meaningful,task oriented way designed to assist themariner in making operational decisions.

Some examples of the proposed newfeatures are:

Automatic updating of ElectronicNautical Charts - The goal appears to beto use the voyage plan to automaticallyupdate the relevant ENC’s and electronicversions of publications (pilots, pilotagecharts, tide tables, light list, etc.) in real-time.

The gaps that the CG identified are 1)the lack of timely delivery of ENC’s andupdates via the internet, 2) the unneces-sary complexity introduced by encryptionof electronic charts and 3) the lack of stan-dards for transmission and display of non-ENC publications.

While commercial solutions to over-come the ENC update problems are avail-able, they are not available to all mariners.Also, electronic versions of publicationsare scarce.

Manoeuvring Support - The goalappears to be to support the mariner inmaking manoeuvring (and mooring) deci-sions by presenting real-time own-shipstatus information, environmental infor-mation (winds, currents) along with ahighly accurate own ship position andheading relative to the dock. This mighteven include a prediction of what theship’s position and heading will be in acouple of minutes.

To receive winds and currents and toget a highly accurate position and headingrelative to the dock it may well be neces-sary for the ship to exchange informationwith dock-side equipment, however, andthis is another gap: standards for suchinformation exchange are lacking.

Digital information exchange with thePilot’s Portable Unit (PPU) - The CG iden-tified as a gap that digital communicationwith the pilot could be improved. The AIS

‘Pilot Plug’ was the first attempt toexchange digital information with pilots.

It allowed a pilot to receive and displayAIS information and own-ship informa-tion on the carry-aboard laptop (PPU) butnot all ships provided pilot plugs andthose that did often positioned the plug inthe wrong place on the bridge or had aplug that didn’t work at all.

It appears that the CG proposes to fixthese problems and to broaden the infor-mation exchange to more tightly couplethe ship’s navigation system and the PPU.That could, for instance, include sharingVTS instructions, real-time environmentalobservations, waypoints, routes andmanoeuvring information.

Automatic, task oriented presentationof relevant Maritime Safety Information- The CG identified a gap that relates toMaritime Safety Information (MSI).

Actually, it is more of a gaping holethan just a gap – upon receiving real-timeMSI’s and other navigational warnings orbroadcasts that are relevant for the vessel'snavigation, there is no interfacing tech-nique that allows this information to bevisible in real-time to the mariner.

To fix this, the CG proposes that shoreauthorities transmit information critical toship's safety almost in real time and imple-ment appropriate systems to enable themdo so; to present appropriate MSI’s on anavigational display using standard sym-bols and text that consider the human ele-ment for effectiveness while preventinginformation overload; to automaticallyidentify relevant MSI’s during route plan-ning and voyage planning; and that MSI’shave a parameter for urgency and that theECDIS system provides the alarms.

Real-time environmental observations- The CG identified as a gap that currents,water levels and weather information isnot automatically received. The CGappears to feel that, if such real-timeobservations were automatically receivedand presented (on-demand), then themariner could and would use them tomake operational decisions.

For example, transmission of real-time,tide-corrected bathymetry would allowthe mariner to use ECDIS to automaticallydraw safety contours on the screen by tak-ing into account the ship’s draft and theminimum under keel clearance.

Weather Routing - The CG focused ongaps in delivery and presentation of real-time observations but, surprisingly, didnot focus on weather routing.

Many ECDIS systems are not able tosimulate alternative trans ocean voyagetracks to estimate their time of arrival andfuel consumption while taking intoaccount own-ship loading characteristics,short-term gridded binary (GRIB) weatherforecasts, seasonally adjusted climatologi-

cal information and pilotage charts. If it were made available, weather rout-

ing would assist the mariner with select-ing a safe track while minimising fuel con-sumption.

Traffic Organisation Service (TOS) -The CG identified as a gap that there areno standard data formats for on boardcapture and presentation that covers theentire scope of information provided by aVTS. The latter includes things like theVTS traffic flow plan and the time slotallocations to individual ships.

VTS authorities in some cases may notonly prescribe traffic separation schemesand arrival and departure sequences butactually prescribe the track to be followed,the time to start on the track and thearrival time at waypoints (‘Gates’) alongthe prescribed track.

This is likely the case not only for busyharbour approaches but also in waterwayssuch as the Bosporus, the Malacca Straits,the English Channel, Gibraltar, etc.

ECDIS could be set up to automatical-ly receive and display the prescribedtrack along with the speed to maintain toarrive at the check-in gates at the pre-scribed time. Doing so will greatly reducevoice VHF transmissions and therebyambiguity caused by language compre-hension obstacles.

The CG identified as a gap that currentVTS hardware and software may not havethe capacity for real time display of vessels’track to provide a (NAS or) TOS service.

eNavigation will change not onlyECDIS but also shore-based VTS Systems.It will require, for instance, upgrades toenable these systems to automaticallyreceive and accept AutomaticIdentification System (AIS) transmissions(vessel and voyage particulars and posi-tion updates).

Upgrades will also be required to allowtransmission of traffic flow plans, theirassociated tracks and time slot allocationsto individual ships.

Navigation Assistance Service (NAS)- This service is normally rendered at the

Lifting the veil on eNavigationThe details of how IMO’s eNavigation initiative will affect the wider maritime industry are

not yet widely understood as the project continues to develop, but descriptions of the obstaclesthat are slowing its implementation reveal what eNavigation will do, writes Fred Pot

Example of a Manoeuvring Screen. Photo: ADVETO

p22-36:p15-25.qxd 07/10/2011 11:28 Page 11


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request of a vessel or by the VTS whendeemed necessary. NAS is especiallyimportant in difficult navigational ormeteorological circumstances or in case ofdefects or deficiencies such as lack of ENCcoverage.

When requested, the VTS operatorassists the bridge team with determiningthe vessel’s position and provides adviceto support on board navigational decisionmaking.

The CG notes as a gaps that 1) the VTSoperator should have confidence that theinformation is correctly exchanged withthe ship and 2) that the system enables theoperator to effectively communicate withthe bridge team.

To be effective, NAS requires close cou-pling of the on board navigation systemwith the VTS system. AIS provides someof the required telemetry (GPS & headingsensor) but standards are lacking for theexchange of other information, such asdigital transmission and acknowledge-ment of information, warnings, adviceand instructions that the VTS Operatorprovides.

Remote Inspection of NavigationEquipment - Several of the gaps the CGidentified refer to remote monitoring ofthe quality of on-board navigation sys-tems by shore based authorities. It seemsthat the CG proposes to enable shore-based authorities to remotely determinethings like:� The make and model of the ECDIS and

radar systems that are being used, and

whether they are running the latest version of the system software. This tells them, for instance, whether the on board ECDIS can automatically receive and display MSI’s.

� The make and model of the GPS and eLoran receivers that are being used and whether they are running the lat-est version of their system software along with their position accuracy.

� The version of the ENC being used for the coastal area and for the harbour approach and whether the on-board ECDIS system can automatically receive and install a new version.

This type of fully automated remote inspec-tion is likely to be more effective than thecurrent practice of only relying on one-timetype certification of navigation equipmentthat freezes its further development.

Remote Update of AIS Voyage Details- The CG identified as a gap the “lack of asingle-window and/or automated andsingle entry for any required reportinginformation into the system for it to beshared by authorized authorities withoutfurther intervention by the ship duringnavigation.”

From the proposed solution it becomesclear that the CG is referring primarily toAIS voyage details (message 5). The CGappears to favour enabling shore-basedauthorities to remotely update a ship’sAIS voyage details if they are out of date,which still occurs quite frequently.

The CG also proposes that ship opera-tors use satellite-based systems to monitor

its ships’ AIS transmissions (AIS-S) andalert the bridge team if the voyage detailsare out of date.

eNavigation andadministrative proceduresThe CG identified a host of gaps thatinvolve processes and procedures that arenot associated with the safe navigation ofthe ship. These administrative processesand procedures currently, however, takeup a lot of the mariner’s time. An exampleis associated with ships’ reporting obliga-tions:

Standardised and automated report-ing - The CG identified insufficient meansfor ship reporting as a gap. The CG pro-poses to “remove the need for humaninterface and communication of manuallyoperated systems by replacing them withautomated systems (based on shipboardAIS) that will seamlessly populate VTSand Marine Domain Awareness (MDA)systems, anywhere in the world.”

This is an ambitious goal. It requires forinstance that the European SafeSeaNet,the Baltic nations’ HELCOM, the USElectronic Notice Of Arrival/Departure(eNOA/D) and all similar national andport systems in the world will automati-cally receive and accept a single set of elec-

tronic reports about the vessel, the voyage,the cargo, the crew and the passengers.

Please remember that the above list ofproposed services was not provided bythe CG. The author merely inferred themfrom the CG’s gap analysis.

The list of proposed services is, also,not intended to be comprehensive. TheCG identified many more gaps that areassociated with Search And Rescue (SAR),with Ice Navigation along with a host ofother gaps but the services describedabove represent the major ones thatmariners would be able to use in the nor-mal course of operations.

Everyone that will be affected byeNavigation should read the report of the CG to the NAV committee (see http://e-nav.no/media.php?file=96).

It is not too late to influence the designof eNavigation services that will beoffered. The eNavigation Conference inSeattle (November 29 - 30, 2011) providesan excellent opportunity to provide feed-back to not only the Chairman of the CG(Mr John Erik Hagen, Norwegian CoastalAdministration) but also to the USCG andUS Federal Department of Transportationofficials that in turn are in a position toinfluence implementation of the CG pro-posals at the IMO, IALA and ITU level.

About the AuthorFred W. Pot is Principal of Marine Management Consulting and can bereached at [email protected]. He acts as Co-Chair for the 2011e�avigation Conference along with Capt. Robert G. Moore, who also contributed to this article

DS

p22-36:p15-25.qxd 07/10/2011 11:28 Page 12

II t is an unfortunate fact of life that theever-growing capability of naviga-tional equipment is generally more

than matched by the growth of complexi-ty in its use.

Of course, it’s a trend that is generallytrue of all professional use software basedsystems, even the humble word processor.They can do a lot but extensive learning isrequired to be able to use all their avail-able facilities.

Twenty years ago many engineers,including me, were convinced that intu-itive user-machine interfaces for all navi-gational equipment were just a few yearsaway and that the user manual wouldbecome a thing of the past.

We were not only wrong but wouldhave been dismayed if we had known thatin 2011 there would be an ever-increasingdebate, particularly around ECDIS, onwhether manufacturer-specific familiari-sation training should be formalised.

ECDIS is a complex system and manu-facturers have generally needed to pro-vide their own solutions on how the usershould access the facilities.

In particular, unlike the word processormarket, there is not a dominant productand so users have to become separatelyfamiliar with every different ECDIS theyencounter during their careers.

Although the complexity of ECDIS hasbrought this subject to the fore it is also ofsignificance to other bridge equipment withhigh levels of user functionality, in particu-lar radar and integrated navigation systems.

ISM codeThe requirement “to ensure that new per-sonnel transferred to new assignmentsrelated to safety and protection of theenvironment are given proper familiarisa-tion with their duties” is explicit in theInternational Safety Management code,adopted by IMO in 1995.

At that time the ARPA radar was gen-erally the most complex item of navigationequipment on the ship’s bridge – and,even then only ships above 10,000 gt need-ed ARPA to be fitted.

However, most ARPAs on board in themid-nineties were ‘button driven’ and theirfundamental operation was quite similarfrom system to system. IMO requirementsfor both radar and ARPA were unchangedfrom 1979, anticipating the technologycapability of the early 1980s.

The standard training of the OOW wassufficient background to be able to use justabout any navigational equipment on thebridge with minimal specific introduction.This could be obtained during a relativelybrief bridge walk around with the masteror first mate.

However, at the time of the introductionof the ISM code, radars with user interfacesstrongly influenced by PC developments,such as the use of drop down menus, werejust becoming available. These effectively

paved the way for much increased func-tionality, some statutory and others asmanufacturer-specific ‘goodies’.

Today, even small ship radars requiretracking facilities, together with manyadditional functions, such as maps, routes,AIS display functionality, comprehensivestabilisation modes and use of theConsistent Common Reference Point.

With added chart facilities, the IMO

defined Chart Radar can become evenmore complex than a standard ECDIS.

All this functionality, even on a stan-dard radar, makes it difficult to believethat operational knowledge can beachieved with just a brief introduction tothe equipment.

To fully meet the requirements of theISM code with today’s fitted equipment,there does seem to be a need for a more for-malised equipment familiarisation processthat at least encompasses ECDIS, radar andany fitted integrated navigation system.

The latest IMO radar PerformanceStandards state “The design shall ensurethat the radar system is simple to operate bytrained users”. This certainly does not ruleout the need for familiarisation training.

FamiliarisationFamiliarisation really consists of two sepa-rate parts. The most demanding of these, asalready discussed, is learning the manufac-turer-specific way in which the functionali-ty is accessed on the equipment to be used.

The other part is to become familiarwith the bridge layout, including gainingan understanding of the specific intercon-nection between units. It is this part thatremains ideally suited to a formal bridgewalk around.

There is a lot of information that needsto be imparted, with just a few examplesbeing – What systems provide the primaryand secondary position fixing equipment?What sensors provide velocity and head-ing information? What are the installedradar systems? Where is the physical loca-tion of the CCRP and what equipment is

automatically referenced to it? What is thebackup for the primary ECDIS, and so on?

The standing bridge instructions alsoneed to be covered – whether written orverbal – at a detail appropriate to the levelof the particular watch keeper.

But how should equipment familiarisa-tion be tackled?

One-to-one tuition by an experiencedofficer is certainly feasible. This can be very

good but the general experience is that it isnot universally effective. The time requiredis very demanding – and the training istherefore often skipped or unduly short-ened because of other pressing matters.

This contributes to the commonlyreported experience that such cascadetraining leads to less and less knowledgebeing imparted at each cycle.

Having a shore course for the use ofcritical equipment can be highly effectivebut such a solution is expensive and cancreate enormous practical problems in itsimplementation.

It appears that the more practical solu-tion is based on distance learning tech-niques, potentially in paper format butmore ideally utilising computer technology.

If PC-based it can, in principle, be usedon or off the bridge, including onshore. Ifthe training package was also online, per-haps on the manufacturer’s website, itcould make access possible for the traineebefore arriving onboard.

It could also be included as a trainingmode on the equipment. This can be high-ly effective but obviously cannot be usedfor training when the equipment is in useat sea. In fact, for radar there is already anIMO requirement that a target simulationfacility is provided for training purposes.

It appears not to be widely known thatthe IMO standards for integrated naviga-

tion systems already state that “Materialenabling onboard familiarization trainingshould be provided for the INS”. Anappendix to the standards gives detailedguidance on what is required.

This model should perhaps be used forECDIS and radar. In fact, the radarapproval specification, IEC 62388, alreadygoes some way towards this by checkingthat familiarisation material is available“for example, as a DVD, a concise userguide, a brief operator instruction or otherportable media.”

Competency testingThe difficulty embedded within any train-ing is ensuring that the competenciestaught have been adequately learnt.

In principle, on a conventional onshorecourse, these can be effectively examinedat its completion, although we know thatsome courses offer hardly more than a‘completion’ certificate, with competen-cies not really evaluated.

The formal issues of certification areparticularly difficult to solve onboard, atleast in a manner that has any meaningoutside that particular ship.

Nevertheless, the master or first mateshould be in a good position to be able toassess equipment familiarisation compe-tency before a new OOW undertakes awatch, perhaps by asking the newcomer todemonstrate, physically or verbally, tasks‘randomly’ selected from a complete list.

It is in the master’s interest to ensurethat both suitable training has been under-taken by the new OOW and that samplecompetency is demonstrated. Withonboard training facilities available, themaster is in complete control of the process.

The ship’s ISM procedures should beconfigured to give confidence to all thatthe process is being properly undertaken.

It is also in the master’s interest to sim-ilarly check the competency of a newappointee who comes with paperworkindicating that he or she is already famil-iar with the use of particular equipment.

In terms of familiarisation training weare only talking about the competency toaccess the functionality of the equipment –for instance, how to change the value ofthe safety contour on the ECDIS and not toexplain how to assess the optimum valueof that contour.

This not only significantly reduces theassessment task but also highly reducesthe content of the familiarisation training.

Of course, as is usual, the master or firstmate will also ask more demanding ques-tions on the practice of navigation in orderto better assess the overall competence ofthe newcomer.

ARPA radar used to be the most complex navigation equipment on the bridge– those days are long gone. Photo: Clipper

Training for complexityIn an era of technological advancement and rapid system development, familiarisation training

is a key element in ensuring competence and deriving benefit from new systems. Dr Andy Norris explores some of the available options in modern navigation training

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]



p22-36:p15-25.qxd 07/10/2011 11:28 Page 13

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