DIGITAL SHIP NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBER VERSION August 08 2002 CONTAINER SHIPPING * Crowley asks GT Nexus to build its e-commerce platform * OceanWide integrates with INTTRA * Port of Barcelona uses Mercator to integrate port logistics * Greybox launches online container cost evaluation tool * General Defense establishes container chemical weapon detection business SHIP SHORE COMMUNICATIONS * TEAMtalk provides news to entire BP shipping fleet * Monition launches shipboard condition monitoring package * Inmarsat shifts 2,000 mini Ms a month * Lockheed Martin marine traffic business now called MS3 * SeaWave radio e-mail system has automatic frequency finding * Princess Cruises receives notices to mariners digitally only * Swedish research vessel Searcher to rely in Iridium for phone and data SHIPBOARD ELECTRONICS * Secure Marine has 9000-volt non lethal electric fence for ships * KMSS gets Greek type approval for black box * TEAMtalk Satellite gives RCCL passenger information system * "The World" vessel to have the world's largest public wireless communications network * STN Atlas receives 10 bridge system orders from shipyards * Xenex improves radar module SOFTWARE * Learn tricks of passing ship vetting inspections with Seagull * AVECS awarded "Best Ship Management Systems Company" by Institute * ILS has supplier catalogue hosting solution * KMSS supplies simulator to Kalmar Maritime Academy * Kvaerner Masa Yards signs up with ShipyardXchange * maritimeEXODUS ship evacuation model declares IMO compatibility * Transas adds Palma de Mallorca simulator sailing area * South Tyneside simulation facility models entry of 300,000 tonne ship ***** CONTAINER SHIPPING ***** Crowley asks GT Nexus to build its e-commerce platform http://www.gtnexus.com Crowley Liner Services, the container shipping unit of Crowley Maritime Corp, has contracted with shipping line backed e-commerce company GT Nexus to use its Execution product suite, to be branded Crowley rather than GT Nexus (a so-called "private label" execution.) The service, which will be hosted by GT Nexus over the internet, will be accessible from the Crowley website (www.crowley.com), enabling customers to conduct online shipment transactions directly with Crowley. They can make bookings, generate documentation and track cargo. "Customers want to streamline and simplify business processes with their carriers - and they want to do it over the Web," says Crowley. Crowley was one of the original participants in GT Nexus, but this agreement marks an expansion in Crowley's engagement with the company. It comments that 11 per cent of its business currently comes in over the GT Nexus platform. _____ OceanWide integrates with INTTRA http://www.inttra.com Web based freight forwarder software company OceanWide has completed its integration with shipping line backed container terminal software company INTTRA. OceanWide is integrating its ForwarderLogic online program which enables customers to manage freight programs from a single source, into INTTRA's global carrier network. ForwarderLogic users booking through INTTRA can gain instant access to status information about shipments. ForwarderLogic clients include BAX Global, Gillespie-Munro, Gillship Navigation, Rohde and Liesenfeld Canada and Rock-It Cargo. _____ Port of Barcelona uses Mercator to integrate port logistics http://www.mercator.com The Port of Barcelona has selected Mercator Software to build an integration platform for its port logistics system, automating the flow of information about harbour traffic, with communications between customs, consignees and port operators. "A determining factor in the selection of Mercator was its ability to handle any message format required by any member of the port community," says the Port. _____ Greybox launches online container cost evaluation tool http://www.greybox.net Container management service Greybox has launched an online Port Modelling System, to be used by container box owners to measure their budgeted and actual operating costs and work out the cost of doing business. The tool has been used in house by Greybox for 4 years as a tool for its own clients. The system can predict tangible operating costs associated with point to point and port to port container moves, and also the imbalance costs of the next move (moving the container to wherever its next assignment might be). The users can define their own operating parameters, such as system codes, exchange rates, schedule, routing, accounting cost centres and cost tariffs. "The need to be an MS Excel or Access genius before one can produce container budgets or simulations is a thing of the past," Greybox says. "An Operator's annual or quarterly budgeted flows and imbalance solutions maybe plugged into the PPM system to be compared directly with its actual flows and actual solutions performed over the same period." _____ General Defense establishes container chemical weapon detection business http://www.generaldefense.com Florida based General Defense Systems has received a "letter of intent" from the US Department of Energy, for the two organisations to work together and commercialise chemical, biological and radioactive detection products, which could be incorporated in shipping container inspection systems. The company has already presented its technology to the port authorities of New York and New Jersey. _____ ***** SHIP SHORE COMMUNICATIONS ***** TEAMtalk provides news to entire BP shipping fleet http://www.teamtalksatellite.com Maritime communications company TEAMtalk Satellite has signed a contract with BP Shipping to provide its seafarer news service to the entire BP fleet, providing the 4 page Britain Today and 2 page Philippine News. TEAMtalk says that the best factors of its service are its highly competitive rates, ease of delivery and versatile payment methods. The service is most appropriate for shipping companies who are modern and employee focussed, the company says. _____ Monition launches shipboard condition monitoring package http://www.monition.com UK company Monition, which provides maintenance monitoring packages for industry, transport and buildings, is now moving into the maritime market with the launch of a condition monitoring package for ships. A software system onboard the ship gathers data from sensors, and sends the data back to a shore based monitoring laboratory. The package includes a set up survey to agree machinery items to be included in the programme and to establish a data collection tour, involving identification of collection points and frequency. The package also includes a data collector to obtain readings from the shipboard power plant, which is then downloaded into the PC based software. Alarm levels can be triggered on plant to identify potential problem areas, sending readings back to the laboratory, which then triggers a contact onboard the vessel to provide support and advice. The software can zip up collected data and send it to the analysis centre every month/week. The processed data can also be returned to the ship, generating complete reports on plant condition and recommended maintenance actions. Staff onboard can view historical or comparative data on individual or collections of equipment to assess patterns in performance. Dockside maintenance can be more effectively targeted. It is possible to identify poor performance or equipment efficiency early, leading to savings in energy and maintenance costs, giving the ship complete onboard control. The development follows a European Commission funded project to explore ways to improve condition based and reliability focussed maintenance programs in the maritime industry. _____ Inmarsat shifts 2,000 mini Ms a month http://www.inmarsat.com Inmarsat reports that it has now registered 100,000 mini-M phones, making the phone the world's biggest mobile satellite phone, with activations currently at 2,000 per month. The mini-M covers all major shipping routes and 98 per cent of land, at comparable cost to GSM roaming and half the cost of hotel telephone costs. Inmarsat believes that this development pegs the company's leading position against rivals Iridium and Globalstar. "Inmarsat has seen many rivals enter and leave the mobile satellite services market, but despite all the hype and the tall claims, most users recognise that if they want reliability, coverage and availability, nothing tops Inmarsat," the company says. _____ Lockheed Martin marine traffic business now called MS3 http://www.lockheed.com Lockheed Martin has renamed its marine traffic management business Maritime Safety, Security and Surveillance (MS3). The main reason for the change was because of the large amount of port security business Lockheed has received lately. The company has a major contract with the US Coast Guard to provide maritime safety systems. Overall products include information systems for ship operators, surveillance systems, video cameras, underwater swimmer detection, sensors and AIS transponders. _____ SeaWave radio e-mail system has automatic frequency finding http://www.seawave.com Rhode Island maritime communications company SeaWave has launched SeaWave Navigator Version 2.0, a version of its ship-shore communications system which sends e-mail, weather information and other data to ships by digital radio. The new version automatically determines the best frequencies for transferring data, with no human administrator necessary to receive e-mail. _____ Princess Cruises receives notices to mariners digitally only http://www.princesscruises.com P&O Princess Cruises has decided to stop receiving Notices to Mariners (paper chart updates) on paper, depending totally on the Digitrace system sending Notices to Mariners to ships by e-mail. Princess Cruises is one of the first shipping companies in the world taking this step, according to Marine Press of Canada, operators of the Digitrace service. The ships receive the corrections onboard within 48 hours of the release of the data from the hydrographic authorities, rather than wait several weeks for the paper Notices to Mariners. All of the correction information is customised in the vessel's inventory of charts. "We have in practice only supplied the paper Notices to Mariner to the Fleet as a backup to Digitrace for quite some time now," says Paul Beggs, nautical manager at P&O Princess Cruises. _____ Swedish research vessel Searcher to rely in Iridium for phone and data www.searcher.norweb.se Swedish research vessel Searcher, leaving Gothenburg on an international voyage in January 2003, is going to rely on Iridium for telephone, e-mail, transferring data and pictures, web surfing and communication with company intranets The vessel will receive weather reports 24 hours a day through Iridium and Telia Mobile Satellite Services. Reports about the voyage will be posted on the internet. _____ **** SHIPBOARD ELECTRONICS **** Secure Marine has 9000-volt non lethal electric fence for ships http://www.secure-marine.com Rotterdam based maritime security consultancy Secure Marine has launched a 9000-volt ship protection system, to guard against theft, piracy, hostage taking, stowaways and onboard terrorist activity. The system provides a non-lethal electrocution to anyone who tries to onboard the ship without switching the electric current off first. The system is based on an installation commonly used to secure prisons and other high security installations, but completely adapted for the sea, and is not affected by saltwater, rain, heat and cold. _____ KMSS gets Greek type approval for black box http://www.kmss.no Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems (KMSS) has received Greek type approval for its Maritime Black Box voyage data recorder, so that it can be installed on commercial vessels with Greek flag. _____ TEAMtalk Satellite gives RCCL passenger information system http://www.teamtalksatellite.com Maritime communications company TEAMtalk Satellite has installed its "CruiseShow" passenger information product onboard 3 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet and confirmed orders for two others. The system provides passengers with information about ship navigation, weather, camera views, onboard activity and advertising, over the ship TV network, keeping passengers involved in ocean-going life. The system integrates directly with ship navigation systems, to obtain data about ship's position, speed, course and distance to the next port. It integrates with ship weather sensors to provide information about wind speed and direction, air and sea sensors and swimming pool sensors. The system can also provide video feed from a bridge mounted camera and a global view of the ship's course. _____ "The World" vessel to have the world's largest public wireless communications network http://www.red-m.com "The World of ResidenSea," a vessel with 110 "high end" private residences and 88 guest suites onboard, has the world's largest wireless single site communications network on it, according to installers Red-M. The network is based on Bluetooth, providing all residents, guests and crews with a means of networking their laptops, personal digital assistants and other Bluetooth enabled devices. The system has 5 layers of security. It has a central server and 250 access points. Systems integrator ShipEquip was also involved in the installation. "The Genos wireless network allows for the management of multi-technology wireless environments and the flexibility to broaden our network without having to invest in further infrastructure, should we wish to do so in the future" said Maria Lewing, IT director of ResidenSea. _____ STN Atlas receives 10 bridge system orders from shipyards http://www.stn-atlas.de Maritime electronics company STN Atlas has received orders from UK, German and Italian shipyards for 10 NACOS integrated navigation command systems, incorporating radars, electronic chart display and sensors. Worldwide sales for installation is now over 760 configurations. The new commissions include 6 systems for a series of ro-ro vessels ordered by UK consortium AWSR, 4 of which are being completed at Flensburger Schiffsbau yard in Germany. There are 2 orders for two luxury passenger ro-ro vessels being built in Italy and two for cruise ships being built in Italy. _____ Xenex improves radar module http://www.xenex.com Vancouver based radar-PC integrator board manufacturer Xenex has improved its board. The new board, it says, has better integration capability, versatility and performance. _____ ***** SOFTWARE ***** Learn tricks of passing ship vetting inspections with Seagull http://www.seagull.no Norwegian maritime training software company Seagull is currently developing a port state and vetting inspections module, for training seafarers and ship operators to meet the challenge of vetting inspections. It is written by Weston B Fitzgerald of Thome Ship Management, and contains all his "tricks of the trade" based on his long experience as an inspector. "This newly released training module includes all commonly cited deficiencies and what will immediately be considered an eyesore to most Inspectors," says Seagull. "We feel this module should be the corner stone of any on-board training library for virtually any kind of ship as they are all subject to random inspection." Seagull has appointed Roger Ringstad as CEO, taking over from Oscar Johansen, who is now chairman. Mr Ringstad has been with Seagull for three years as sales and marketing manager, also involved in product development and strategy. _____ AVECS awarded "Best Ship Management Systems Company" by Institute http://www.avecs.de The Institute of Transport Management in London has awarded German maritime software company AVECS the "Best Ship Management Systems Company" accreditation. The accreditation was awarded, AVECS says, following polling of shipping managers and other research. "The shipping managers interviewed stressed customer service, reliability of product, price and innovation as their premier concerns when assessing systems," says AVECS. "We scored brilliantly in each area." _____ ILS has supplier catalogue hosting solution http://www.ilsmart.com Online ship spares and supplies market ILS Mart is now offering to host catalogues for specific suppliers, manufacturers and distributors. The supplier-specific catalogues are still hosted and maintained by ILS, but appear to be on the suppliers' website. They carry the suppliers' brand identity. There is functionality for them to search for products, make selections and submit requests for quotes. The service is aimed at companies which would like to sell products from their own website but without massive investment in technology and expertise. _____ KMSS supplies simulator to Kalmar Maritime Academy http://www.kmss.no Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems has won a contract to upgrade and relocate simulator facilities at Kalmar Maritime Academy, Sweden. As part of the upgrade, it will upgrade the navigation simulator and provide a cargo handling simulator and GMDSS training unit. _____ Kvaerner Masa Yards signs up with ShipyardXchange http://www.shipyardXchange.com Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner Masa Yards has signed up with shipbuilding e-procurement portal ShipyardXchange, intending to use it for sourcing main components and systems to its new building projects. Over 25 per cent of the world's cruise ships have come from Kvaerner Masa Yards over the past 10 years, ShipyardXchange says. _____ maritimeEXODUS ship evacuation model declares IMO compatibility http://fseg.gre.ac.uk The maritimeEXODUS computer system to model how people evacuate ships, developed by the University of Greenwich (UK) fire safety and engineering group, has declared itself to be in full compatibility with IMO guidelines on advanced evacuation analysis, the first computer model to do so. The IMO guidelines require all new and existing passenger ships to undergo analysis to determine how people will evacuate the ship, with computer models capable of representing each occupant as an individual and defining the layout of the ship in detail. The model must also simulate interaction between occupants and pass 11 prescribed test cases. The maritimeEXODUS system has already been used to simulate evacuation in a wide variety of ships, from a riverboat to a warship. "Our objective is to turn the desktops of naval architects into virtual laboratories in which designers can reach the optimal solution cost effectively, without exposing anyone to the potential dangers of a trial evacuation," says the University. The software tracks the path of each passenger as they gather at their assigned assembly point and await the order to abandon the vessel. It simulates their reaction to ship listing and heat, smoke and toxic gases. It also simulates lifeboat launching. The system is jointly marketed by FleetTechnology of Canada and SeaTech in the UK. _____ Transas adds Palma de Mallorca simulator sailing area http://www.transas.com Maritime software navigation company Transas has added a new sailing area, "Palma de Mallorca" to its simulator database, including the Spanish ports of Palma, Machón, Alcudía and Ibiza. _____ South Tyneside simulation facility models entry of 300,000 tonne ship http://www.stc.ac.uk The South Tyneside Marine Simulation Centre, UK, is modelling the navigation of the 300,000 tonne hull of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) floating oil production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, moving up the River Tyne to the AMEC shipyard. The college has devised an exact computer model of the vessel, and a three dimensional map of the river with tidal flow and weather conditions. DIGITAL SHIP LTD 213 MARSH WALL LONDON E14 9FJ UK http://www.thedigitalship.com