BC-Ferries uses WAN for ship shore comms up to 35 miles range
SeaTel bought for $26m by Chelton
Avionics
Horizon Iridium calls $0.80 per minute
SES launches new software version
Baltic Exchange launches new shipping assessments
Sea-Web hyperlinks directly to Equasis
Nordic IT improves shipbroker software
Radio Holland exhibition at Europort
Kittiwake launches shipboard viscosity tester Viscotube
Greece and Russia distribute ENCs via Primar Stavanger
Kongsberg Maritime type approved GPS compass
Digital Ship 2003 event now in association with AMMITEC
Digital Ship Plus Sept 26 – download front page free
Athens Tanker Operator conference – transparency and safety
1,000 trained by Lloyds Register ISPS courses
MCA approves VideoTel shipboard security course
Germanischer Lloyd endorses Seagull security computer based
training
DNV to provide security certification for Barber
SUNY Maritime College offers 3 day ISPS workship
IMO Model security courses online
DHL Danzas uses Metaship intranet system
Savi and LXE work together on RFID and bar code readers
TrenStar raises $34m financing for container tracking technology
Published by Digital Ship Ltd, 213 Marsh Wall, London, UK E14 9FJ,
UK
http://www.data-linc.com/indapps/transpor/bcferry.htm
British
Columbia Ferries, which runs ferry routes near Vancouver using 39 vessels, is
using a wide area network for ship shore communications with a range of 35
miles.
Until 2
years ago, BC Ferries shipboard personnel kept manual maintenance logs and
purchase orders, which were entered onto the company computer network when the
vessels reached shore.
The
company has since worked together with Alliance Business Solutions of Nanaimo,
BC, to use radio modems for ship to shore data communications, with a
commercial wireless intranet system running at 2mbps, enabling shipboard
personnel to use e-mail, maintenance software and other applications onboard
ship talking to a database hosted on shore.
Each
ferry has a CISCO router with LAN port, with a 2mbps wide area network port,
which works when the vessel is near shore. When it is further from shore, it
switches to a lower speed 100 kbps WAN port, which runs up to 35 miles away
from shore.
SeaTel, which manufactures shipboard
VSAT antennas, has been acquired by Cobham plc, a UK company which owns Chelton
Avionics, which owns a company called Omnipless Antenna Systems, a South
African company.
SeaTel was bought for US 26m cash, with a further
$8m which may be payable by 2008 depending on SeaTel meeting certain
performance criteria. SeaTel’s revenue for the six months to June 2003 was
$17.9m.
Data calls
through Iridium cost just US $0.80 per minute using Horizon Mobile
Communications
HMCmail software.
Horizon
Mobile is offering this rate until September 1, 2005. It is available worldwide
with any new installation of an Iridium marine system, purchased by
Dec 1,
2003, which incorporates a Eurocom fixed mount unit or its RST-100 terminal
with HMCmail data messaging.
HMC
believes that its RST-100 satellite terminal is the "lowest cost Iridium marine
unit in the market today". It was launched together with partner Beam
Communication
of Australia.
Shipmanagement
Expert Systems (SES) has launched a new software package, "Smart
Radical
Innovation," covering technical, purchasing, regulatory and cost control
management.
It is
targeted mainly at small shipping companies, although larger companies can use
the software as an entry point to the full suite of SES products, covering financial,
crew, operations and chartering, the company says.
The
software is shipped together with databases of spares, stores, provisions and
utilities, designed to help the user get the software running in a matter of hours.
There
is also a "Data implementation wizard," designed to help the user
build up lists of maintenance jobs and spares very quickly.
The
software costs $2,000, including tools database, training and technical data,
for running both onboard the vessel and onshore. For one license, the shipping
company can run the software both onboard and on shore.
The
Baltic Exchange has launched two new ship assessments, the Baltic Ship
Valuation Assessment (BaSVA) and the Baltic Forward Assessments (BFA).
BaSVA
provides independent assessments on the market value of four ship types, VLCC, Aframax,
capsize and dry Panamax, based on five year old vessels. The assessments are
provided by 10 reporting companies. The assessments will be published twice a
month.
The BFA
provides a weekly mark to market information on three individual routes, with
an average of four Panamax time charter routes.
Sea-web,
the online ship database published by Lloyds Fairplay, is now hyperlinking
directly to information about the vessel on Equasis.
Sea-web
subscribers can find out about ships, owners and managers from Sea-web,
including the casualty summary and information about hull survey dates. The
user can then cross directly to Equasis to find out about the ship's detention
record and survey information where classed by LR, ABS and NK. It can also
obtain details of the ship's ISM information and P&I Club data.
Nordic
IT has made a number of improvements to its maritime messaging software
MCSWin,
since its management buyout from Easylink Services, formerly with GN
Comtext.
It has
written a new Sales and Purchase and Position List module, and enhanced the
MX-Server application which enables users to handle telex and fax through their
e-mail system.
There
is a 'Fax Editor' which allows incoming faxes to be modified, tailored and manipulated
before re-transmitting as either fax or e-mail.
Nordic
IT has also expanded its technical support and software development services.
Furuno
has launched a new GPS navigator, GP-90, following on its GPS Navigator GP-80.
The tool has a silver-grey 6 inch LCD display and complies with IMO Res.
MSC.112(73) GPS performance standard.
It has
RAIM (receiver autonomous integrity monitor) which diagnoses the state of
satellite signals received and gives a measure of the accuracy of the reading.
At
Europort, Radio Holland will be exhibiting a series of Furuno blackbox radars, automation
equipment from Stein Sohn, Fleet 33, 55 and 77 terminals by Nera and ECI and a
SeaTel maritime VSAT system,
The
company has 48 branches around the world, with new branches opened recently in
China, Canada and Curacao. It has also recently opened a subsidiary for airtime
services, Radio Holland Connect.
The
company will demonstrate how computer networks can work on a ship, with a
captain's cabin, engine control room, ship's office, crew communication corner
PCs all connected by a network. The network will tie together Rydex e-mail,
Transas electronic charts, digital cameras, office software, Datamation conning
display, Seacos loading software, radar, Stein Sohn engine room automation and
AVECS ship management software.
It will
demonstrate Ship@Sight, a tool to monitor and track vessels on the internet,
which can also be used for the ship security alarm.
It will
demonstrate a shipboard DVD system, which means that crew and passengers can
watch a DVD on a ship on different computers at the same time. The DVDs can
also be saved on a server.
PC
Maritime has sold a Navmaster Professional chart display system for India
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) to be used on survey and research
vessels.
The
system was chosen, the company says, because of its user interface and its
remote diagnostics feature which enables support to be given direct to system
operators onboard.
The
Remote Diagnostics feature avoids the need for support engineer
visits
and keeps maintenance costs very low.
PC
Maritime has also sold a full mission engine simulator package to Regional
Maritime Academy, Accra, Ghana, purchased by the International Maritime
Organisation.
PC
Maritime will supply a package of hardware and engine room simulators and
provide five days of on site training.
The
system is a PC based desktop engine simulator with a hardware console which
replicates the engine controls, alarms and switches. There is a computer aided
assessment feature which enables instructors to assess or verify competence.
Shipboard
chemical testing equipment company Kittiwake has launched Viscotube, a
shipboard tool to test the viscosity of fuel and lubricating oils.
The
system, Kittiwake says, is low cost, light, easy to use and accurate. "
Its
market competitive price offers a return of investment that will pay back after
the first few tests," the company says.
The kit
comprises a handheld system weighing 500g, with software provided on a CD
which, when run on a computer, will calculate the viscosity.
Raytheon
Marine Products has launched another Gyro Compass, Standard 22. It provides
rate of turn signal output to meet IMO standards and also as an input to the
shipboard AIS.
Raytheon
Marine will present a complete Integrated Bridge System at the EUROPORT,
allowing the visitors to watch its functions live on the stand together with a
projected sea and harbour area.
Transas
has moved its international headquarters to Cork, Ireland. The company will now
be Irish registered. It will maintain its Portsmouth Office for the UK team,
which will look after UK, Iceland, Southern Europe and the Mediterranean
area.
Greece
and Russia have concluded agreements with the Norwegian Hydrographic Service
(NHS) on distributing their national electronic navigational charts (ENCs)
through the Primar Stavanger international ENC coordination centre.
The
Greek Hydrographic Office has pursued an extensive ENC production programme in
recent years, and plans to release its first charts in late 2003. More than 300
ENC cells will cover Greek waters, and over 70 are already produced.
Given
the importance of the Mediterranean for shipping, and with Spanish and French
coverage approaching completion, the announcement that Greece is covering its
waters with official ENCs is a positive signal.
Primar
Stavanger has been distributing Russian ENCs for some time via an agreement
with Transas.
"This
is a positive collaboration, but we're now very pleased to have reached
agreement directly with the Russian Hydrographic Office," says Frode
Klepsvik, the hydrographer of Norway.
He
notes that Russian ENCs are becoming increasingly important as tanker traffic
expands through the Barents Sea and along the Norwegian coast, as well as through
the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic.
Primar
Stavanger currently offers 31 Russian ENCs, and this number is set to increase
in the months to come.
Primar
Stavanger can now offer a total of 1 390 charts, even before the Greek ENCs are
included. These are sold at prices comparable with paper charts, including
updates, through a network of authorised distributors.
Kongsberg
Maritime has launched a type approved GPS compass, Seapath 20. It already has
type approval from DNV, Norway as a transmitting heading device.
The
tool can replace the gyrocompass, GPS system, speed log and rate-of-turn
indicator. It outputs heading, position, velocity and rate-of-turn, together
with 1-second time pulse (1PPS) for synchronization of other survey systems.
http://www.thedigitalship.com/digitalship2003.htm
Digital
Ship 2003, our 3 day conference and exhibition in London about maritime
security, safety and efficiency, covering software, satcoms, security products
and electronic charts among others, will now be held in connection with the
Association of Maritime Managers of Information Technology and Communications
(AMMITEC).
Dr Panagiotis
Nomikos was appointed president of AMMITEC at its first Annual General Meeting
in Athens.
Dr Nomikos will
be holding an AMMITEC meeting in London on the evening of Nov 5, to coincide
with the event. Any shipping company IT managers interested in attending should
contact Dr Nomikos on pnomikos@hellasnet.gr
http://www.thedigitalship.com/plus/issue2cover.pdf
The front cover
of the Sept 26 issue Digital Ship Plus, Digital Ship’s premium market data
service for maritime satcoms, software, security and technology safety
industries, can be downloaded free by clicking the link above. For further information
about Digital Ship Plus see http://www.thedigitalship.com/plus/index.htm
http://www.tankeroperator.com/events.htm
Digital Ship’s sister magazine, Tanker Operator, is holding a one
day event in Athens on October 21, with the theme, is transparency the best way
to achieve safety and quality? Speakers include Fotis Karamitsos, Director
Maritime Transport, European Commission; Bob Sommerville, President and Chief
Executive, American Bureau of Shipping; Chris Hobbs, partner, Norton Rose,
Greece; Stephen Askins, partner, Ince & Co; Anthony Lambros, president,
Centrofin; Lefteris Karaminas, marine business manager, East Mediterranean
& Black Sea, Lloyd's Register; Fred Venner, product manager for Tankers
& Liquid Gas Carriers, Bureau Veritas; Rear Admiral Robert North, US Coast
Guard (Rtd, consultant, International Registries); Brad Berman, president,
LISCR; Alexander Papachristidis-Bove, president, Seatramp Tankers; Panteleimon
Pantelis, director, Ulysses Systems
Lloyd's
Register reports that it has trained 1,000 ISPS course delegates so far,
including company security officers and ship security officers. This includes
74 public ISPS courses held in 19 countries, and in-house courses for companies
including P&O Ferries,
Locations
where courses are being held include Bangkok, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong,
Kuwait, London, Manila, Melbourne, Piraeus, Rotterdam, Stamford and Toronto.
The UK
Maritime and Coastguard Agency has approved VideoTel's Shipboard Security
training course for ship security officers.
The
course includes a CD-ROM or video and printed course book. It covers threat and
vulnerability assessment, communications, defensive and preventative measures
and contingency planning. The coursework is assessed by independent third party
assessors.
Over
230 people from 17 countries have already signed up for the course. The first
person to complete it was Captain Nigel Vause of Maersk, who completed it in 15
hours. "I fitted it in around my other duties and found it interesting and
challenging to complete," he says.
Germanischer
Lloyd has certified the Seagull security computer based training package for
security compliance. The system allows crew to be trained onboard, including
security awareness, ship security officer and automatic identification system.
DNV has
made an agreement with Barber to work together on ship security services.
Barber will provide maritime security services, both to vessels under its own
management and as a consultant to other shipping companies; DNV will certify
vessels under the ISPS code, in areas of the world where it is allowed to. The
deal involves more than 100 vessels.
SUNY
Maritime Colleague in New York, USA, is offering a 3 day ISPS code workshop for
$795. The course covers maritime risk management, regulations, weapons identification,
understanding terrorists, security assessments, security awareness, security
record keeping, response, terminal security planning, vulnerability assessment
and a security exercise.
The
International Maritime Organisation has published model courses for company security
officer, port facility officer and ship security officer.
The
publications can be bought from the IMO website; click on
"publications."
DHL
Danzas Air&Ocean is using the internet based contract and rate management system
developed by Metaship, to manage its contracts and rates, for full
container
load and less than container load.
Registered
employees will have instant access to complex rates and information such as
surcharges, deductions, harbour dues and container service charges as well as
pre- and on-carriage costs.
The
system will provide significant improvements to rate negotiations and analyses
of cost effectiveness.
Employees
will be able to call up an overview of rate fluctuations on a given route or
with a given carrier.
Savi Technology,
which makes systems for container shipping security, has formed a joint product
development agreement with LXE which makes mobile rugged
computers.
The two
companies will work together on a device which can read RFID radio tags and bar
codes.
The
device will be used to capture, store and transmit data about shipping containers
and their contents; the data can then be used for container management and
security.
Container
tracking and logistics services company TrenStar has raised $34m in the first
round of financing, with half coming from Carlyle Venture Partners and the
balance from Trencor Ltd and "other strategic investors."
The
TrenStar system is to combine RFID radio tags and container tracking technology
with logistics services, to help companies improve visibility and control of
their mobile assets.