EDITORIAL

MAIN HEAD
Demonstrating competence with satcoms

BODY
How can shipping companies use satellite communications tools to demonstrate that the ships are safe, secure and well run? 

In shipping, just like any other industry, it's not always what you actually do that counts. Its what you can demonstrate what you can do and what authorities and charterers perceive that you can do.

Shipping company people are technical, operations people, that like to understand things as they actually are, rather than the way other people see them. And shipping companies are extremely safe and have improved their safety records dramatically over the past 30 years. 

But at the same time many voters and politicians they elect see the industry has being very secretive, dangerous and not very environmentally friendly, and put pressure on the regulators to try to do something about it, creating legislation which does not necessarily help the industry operate in a quality manner.

Besides, public demand from ship safety seems to have just changed from being tolerant of a few accidents here and there to being completely intolerant of any accidents at all, and the politicians need to impose regulation which follows the public will.

If your ships ever get into problems, wherever they are in the world, recent experience has demonstrated that they will be quickly swarming with government people out to satisfy demands from an angry public to find out what is going on. 

As a shipping company, in these circumstances would you prefer to be invisible for a few days, waiting for journalists, regulators and environmentalists to find you? Or do you think it would be better to be completely visible right from the outset, with clear evidence on the ship that you know exactly where your ships are, you are in constant contact and you are making sure everything is being well run onboard?

Regulators want to feel comfortable that your ship is safe and secure - it is probably fair to say that it is easier to make them feel comfortable by fitting devices on your ship which they can actually see, such as satcoms, software, CCTV cameras and double hulls, rather than investing in training and maintenance which they can't see, no matter what you personally think is the best way to improve security. 

Sending photographs back to shore is a very useful tool and something you can easily demonstrate. If there are any concerns about equipment or maybe corrosion on the ship, seafarers can send electronic photographs to experts on shore to ask their advice. 

There are ways you can monitor what is happening on the ship. For example, you can fit hull stress monitoring devices, which help you work out if the hull is likely to come under destructive stresses. This is also something you can demonstrate to safety regulators. 

Communications tools can be very useful in seafarer training. Seafarers can supplement their shipboard books, videos and CD-ROMs with communication with an experienced shore based instructor, who can co-ordinate practical training exercises on the ship and advise seafarers about which areas they need to learn more about. These are also things easy to demonstrate. 

One of the biggest safety issues is with cargo and fuel transfer. Satcoms tools enables shipping lines to remotely monitor the behaviour of cargos. Alarms can be sounded in both the ship bridge and the shore office if something serious is happening, for example water ingress to the hold. The shipping company staff can check that the tanks are filled to a sensible level and not overfilled. 

Knowing exactly who is on your ship at any time is also a useful tool, as ships are required to fit access control systems as required under the ISPS code. How about a software system which can, on demand, send you a list of all the persons thought to be onboard? 

One big fear regulators have is that a terrorist could gain control of a gas carrier and reprogram the AIS so that it transmits data saying that it is a relatively harmless bulk carrier and the authorities are none the wiser until the vessel blows itself up close to a residential area. 

You could get an alert every time the AIS is reprogrammed, for example giving the captain a special code he has to input, which will inform you about whether the AIS is being reprogrammed voluntarily or under duress.