FORTHCOMING DIGITAL SHIP EVENTS Moves to create US ship movements database Ship-shore communications GN Comtext ex-employees buy back the business Telenor gets Inmarsat's approval for Fleet Transas Telematics appoints sales manager Vessel operations Heidenreich launches questionnaire tool for dry bulk Transas offers simulator course in Shetland New sites for GAC CALLING SHIPPING COMPANY COMPUTER SYSTEMS MANAGERS Dutch association in www.seaquipment.com Navionics and SevenCs work together on charts Tribon launches 3.0 Supply chains First web enabled container terminal system Exel uses GT Nexus FORTHCOMING DIGITAL SHIP EVENTS APPLICATIONS AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE NEW INMARSAT FLEET January 30, 2002, Hamburg http://www.thedigitalship.com/Inmfleetconf.asp Delegate fee Euro 400 (£250) WHAT IS INMARSAT FLEET AND WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN IT MAKE TO A SHIPPING COMPANY'S OPERATIONS HOW CAN IT HELP CUT VESSEL OPERATIONS COSTS - KEEP BETTER TRACK OF YOUR FLEET - TROUBLESHOOT PROBLEMS - ALLOW EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS TO PROVIDE LIFE-CYCLE SUPPORT MONITORING ENGINES, CARGO AND FUEL CONSUMPTION - OBTAINING CHARTS AND CHART CORRECTIONS - TRAINING SEAFARERS ONBOARD - REMOTE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE January 31, 2002 Half day associated technical seminar BUILDING APPLICATIONS FOR INMARSAT FLEET Jonathan Elder, director, Brand Communications Delegate fee Euro 400 (£250) Further information and online booking http://www.thedigitalship.com/Inmfleetconf.asp To book contact Rebecca Clarkson on Clarkson@thedigitalship.com, Tel (+44 207) 538 1124, fax (+44 207) 510 2344 February 13, 2002 COST BENEFITS OF SEAFARER TECHNOLOGY Inmarsat conference centre, London http://www.thedigitalship.com/seafarertechconf.htm what are the cost benefits of seafarer communications and technology to the seafarer and shipowner? CREW COMMUNICATIONS - SEAFARER TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT - NEWS AND INFORMATION SERVICES e-mail lenzner@thedigitalship.com if you would like to get involved March 5, 2002 SHIPPING INTERNET- MAKING IT WORK Inmarsat conference centre, London http://www.thedigitalship.com/shippinginternet.htm Our twice-yearly event to evaluate the current industry climate towards e-business - which projects are proving most successful - can anything be done to expedite the use of e-business tools am: E-CHARTERING - INSURANCE - ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION - LINER SHIPPING pm: SHIP SUPPLIES - BUNKERS - SEAFARER E-COMMERCE - SHIP AGENTS e-mail Jeffery@thedigitalship.com if you would like to get involved Moves to create US ship movements database http://www.misnadata.org The Maritime Information Service of North America (MISNA), a non-profit organisation dedicated to facilitating flow of maritime information, is now providing seven day advance information about US bound ship traffic to the US Office of Naval Intelligence. The members of MISNA are maritime associations from 10 major North American seaport communities, including the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles/Long Beach; the Port Bureau and Marine Exchange of the West Gulf (Houston); the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region; the Merchants Exchange of Portland (Oregon); the Marine Exchange of Puget Sound (Seattle); the Marine Exchange of the Delaware River and Bay (Philadelphia) and the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia (Vancouver). MISNA tracks and records the movements of over 65 per cent of the total approx 75,000 US vessel calls each year. It collected real time ship movement information from each of the five founding West Coast member port communities and developed a centralised information database. "In terms of our overall data gathering and analysis needs, MISNA can save the government countless hours and eliminate a great deal of redundant effort," says a US Navy spokesperson. "In areas of seaport information, it became apparent very early after the events of September 11 that maritime associations are the best resource for critical vessel information," said Robert T. Bohlman, MISNA president. "Our constituencies in both the private and public sectors have recognized that having timely, accurate access to this information is critical to our nation's ability to not only remain competitive in the increasingly complex global marketplace but also to protect and enhance our seaport security." The group will now work to continue to expand its membership as well as seek to provide additional services to the commercial maritime transportation system users. "Now more than at any time in the history of international shipping, instantaneous access to accurate information is as important to our maritime infrastructure as are cranes and warehouses," he says. Ship-shore communications GN Comtext ex-employees buy back the business http://www.nordic-it.com MCSWin, the ship-shore messaging and e-mailing system marketed by GN Comtext, has been bought back by some of the original employees who developed it. MCSWin is a windows application which can handle e-mail, fax and telex communications, sending the messages by least cost routing where applicable (internet, satellite). It was originally developed by a company called MARK International Group, which was subsequently acquired by GN Comtext in 1996; GN Comtext was then acquired by messaging company Easylink earlier this year. Now Easylink has sold MCSWin and the associated MXServer software, including dedicated development and technical support teams, intellectual property rights, customer base and service contracts, to Nordic-IT, a company formed by former employees of MARK International who developed the system. Nordic IT is run by Lars Hansen, who was regional manager Europe for GN Comtext until its acquisition by Easylink. Nordic IT promises to target the maritime market, specifically in software and messaging. The short-term strategy is to I) to improve product support through further recruitment and training of staff, ii) to develop the systems further iii) to launch a further range of maritime software applications and iv) manager customer software development. The system will continue to interface with the EasyLink private global messaging network. Telenor gets Inmarsat's approval for Fleet http://www.eik.com Norwegian Inmarsat land earth station operator (LESO) Telenor claims to be the "first" LESO to get approval from Inmarsat for commercial operation of its Fleet communications service, which covers Mobile Packet Data. It means that the Eik land earth station in Southwest Norway will be able to handle commercial traffic as soon as onboard terminals become currently available, expected in the first quarter of 2002. Transas Telematics appoints sales manager http://www.transas.com Transas Telematics, the ship-shore communications arm of maritime software company Transas, has appointed Paul Morter as sales manager. Mr Morter, a master mariner, takes responsibility for increasing sales of Transas' ship management software TRIM. Vessel operations Heidenreich launches questionnaire tool for dry bulk http://www.qbulk.com Heidenreich Marine launched a version of its online questionnaire completion tool for the dry bulk market, dubbed Qbulk.com. The service is free of charge until July 1, 2002, after which each subscriber will be charged a "nominal annual fee per ship." The tool is intended for dry bulk shipowners, to help them complete vessel questionnaires to give information to charterers and port terminals. Parts of the questionnaires can be completed automatically because they are connected to a common database. The website also allows the user to search the database for specific information about each vessel. It follows Q88.com, a similar tool for the tanker market, which is now established. Q88.com currently has 117 questionnaires, being used by over 100 subscribers for 860 vessels. Transas offers simulator course in Shetland http://www.transas.com Electronic chart company Transas has won a tender to design, supply and install a maritime simulation complex at the North Atlantic Fisheries College, Scalloway, Shetland. The system will replace the customer's existing simulation facilities by Norcontrol, Transas says. The simulator will have a 180 degree screen, two radars, electronic chart display, and ship controls. Two other bridges will also be supplied, which can operate as separate vessels, in particular, as tugs, for complex tug operations in conjunction with the main bridge. Transas will create simulations covering the full pilotage area of Sullom Voe and the local harbours of Lerwick and Kirkwall on Orkney Island, running complex mathematical calculations to simulate how LNG carriers would behave. New sites for GAC http://www.gulfagencycompany.com Gulf Agency Company, which claims to be the "biggest independent shipping agency in the world," has launched regional websites in Iran (www.gaciran.com), South Africa (www.gacsouthafrica.com), United Arab Emirates (www.gacrasalkhaimah.com) and the Philippines (www.gacphilippines.com). The sites outline activities of GAC in each region. CALLING SHIPPING COMPANY COMPUTER SYSTEMS MANAGERS We want to talk to shipping company computer systems managers. In every issue next year, we would like to interview a shipping company computer systems manager, to ask what your views are about the latest systems and what you are using. If you are interested in doing an interview with us, either over the telephone or face to face, then please get in contact! Dutch association in www.seaquipment.com SeaQuipment.com, an online catalogue for maritime products and services intended for the shipbuilding industry, has announced a co-operation agreement with FME-CWM, a Netherlands association of 3,000 companies in metal, plastics, electronics and electrotechnical industry. Under the agreement, members of FME-CWM will receive a 50 per cent cost reduction when participating in SeaQuipment. Navionics and SevenCs work together on charts http://www.sevencs.com Italian electronic chart company Navionics has announced a joining forces with German electronic chart technology company SevenCs. The two companies will work together to produce and distribute electronic charts for commercial shipping market. Navionics claims to have the "most extensive database in the world of digital charts for the leisure boating market," whilst SevenCs claims to have been "one of the foremost technical contributors in the development of IHO-IMO standards" for electronic charts. SevenCs produces an ECDIS software engine which is used by many commercial ECDIS systems. The two companies will create an electronic chart database which can be used on type-approved electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) onboard commercial vessels. The product will be distributed from December 2001 with coverage of Europe and North America, leading to full world coverage during 2002. "From now on we will be able to supply our customers with a complete turn-key service, starting from our well established ECDIS Kernel, and ending with top quality electronic charts and updates for the entire world". ==== Tribon launches 3.0 http://www.tribon.com Tribon.com, an online parts database and acquisition management system for shipbuilding, plans to launch release 3.0 in January 2002. This release has improved search functionalities and easily downloadable components, with a new browser tree and component structure. The searching system, Tribon says, "makes it very easy to search and find information about the components and their suppliers as the search functionality is structured very similar to shipyards' contract specifications." Supply chains First web enabled container terminal system http://www.mtls.com Maher Terminals Logistic Systems, the information technology arm of US container terminal operator Maher Terminals, has sold what it claims is the "worlds first completely web enabled" container terminal management system to clients Massport (Massachussetts Port Authority, Boston) and Rio Cubato, Brazil. All of the processing, managing the throughput of containers in the terminal, is hosted and managed remotely by MTLS, communicating with the terminal over the internet. Authorised clients can access the container terminal management system over the internet, accessing cargo status, creating bookings and running reports. Running the system remotely means that the terminal is saved the trouble, expense and gathering of expertise required to run it itself. Smaller terminals can be automated without the significant expense of installing their own computer system to run it. This service can then be charged per container handled through the terminal rather than by upfront fee, making it much easier for smaller terminals to account. The data communications are made over special leased lines, not over the internet. The connection between the data processing centre and the Massport by a special T1 direct line. All port terminal employees in Massport have their own flat screen terminals Exel uses GT Nexus http://www.gtnexus.com Freight forwarder and logistics company Exel, which handles 300,000 ocean container shipments annually, has selected GT Nexus to supply its computer systems for worldwide seafreight operations. It will deploy the system at ocean services operating stations in Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Cleveland, Ohio. The ambition of GT Nexus is to help take out cost and improve service, through having a better supply chain. It will do this through improved logistics information quality and timeliness and streamlined transaction processes. By Yana Lenzner and Karl Jeffery lenzner@thedigitalship.com; jeffery@thedigitalship.com Have a great Christmas and thankyou very much for your support over the past year Please keep the e-mails coming! Digital Ship Ltd, 213 Marsh Wall, London E14 9FJ, UK Tel (+44 207) 510 2315 Fax (+44 207) 510 2344 http://www.thedigitalship.com