Digital Ship Athens 2008

Theme: operational excellence in shipping

Digital Ship Athens is one of the biggest events in the Greek technical shipping calendar, where IT, technical and operations managers come together to discuss the latest technology and practise.

Our theme for our November 2008 event is 'Operational excellence in shipping' - and how to get the ships, seafarers, systems, and standards to achieve it.

Companies registered to send delegates include Almi Marine Management, Athenian Sea Carriers, Avin, Brave Maritime, Ceres LNG Services Ltd, Chronos Shipping Co. Ltd, Ciel Shipmanagement, Costamare Shipping, Danaos Shipping, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd, Eletson Corporation, Eurobulk Ltd, Exmar Shipmanagement, Fairsky Shipping and Trading S.A, Franco Compania Naviera, Future Marine Shipping, Gourdomichalis Maritime, Gulf Marine Management, Hellenic Shipyards, Imperium Shipmanagement, JLShipping, Kassian Maritime Navigation Agency, Larus, Liquimar Tankers Management, Navios Shipmanagement, Olympic Shipping & Management, OSG Ship Management, PrivatSea, Remi Maritime, Samos Steamship, Springfield Shipping Co. Panama, TEO Shipping Corporation, Thenamaris, Transnautic Ship Management, Vanoss

AGENDA

Day one morning chairman - Charis Nassis, partner, Business & IT consulting at akereon.

Charis Nassis is a consultant specialising in IT and business. He was previously ICT Director at Ceres Hellenic Shipping and ICT Manager at Ceres Hydrofoils Joint Service / Minoan Flying Dolphins. He has a degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management.

KEYNOTE SPEECH

9.30 Keynote speech - meeting oil company expectations Mike Kennedy, director, Hellespont Steamship -Software, communications, training and environmental management systems which will help you impress the oil majors

Dr. Michael B. Kennedy is the managing director of Hellespont Steamship Company which is building 6 platform supply vessels and 8 chemical tankers. He is also a director of the Hellespont group which is operating 16 crude, product and chemical tankers worldwide. He belongs to the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (Greek Section), the American Society of Testing and Materials, and is Hellespont representative on the Tanker Structure Cooperative Forum. He is and has been a member of various IMO and other industry panels/committees.

DAY ONE MORNING - TOPIC SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS 10.00 Diskless IT on Vessels - systems implementation and administration. Andreas Charalambopoulos, IT manager, Maryville Maritime Inc

- Support to shipboard computer workstations is becoming a significant issue - can it be avoided?
- Vessels are travelling continuously world-wide and, while at sea, nobody is able to support the computer systems. No update of antivirus software is possible and this seems to be a black hole for everyone.
- When support is needed, meaning that a technician should pay a visit onboard, the payment of the visit makes ship-owner unhappy. What is more, the IT stays behind on running projects, losing precious time.
- The frequency of the needed support was big enough to make us visualize a solution that should make the replacement of a workstation a matter of few seconds

Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd is an independent shipping company operating a fleet of dry bulk vessels and providing world-wide seaborne transportation services to our clients. Our vessels carry dry bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal, grains, as well as bauxite, fertilisers and steel products. The technical management of our fleet is undertaken by our wholly-owned subsidiary Maryville Maritime Inc. At this moment, Excel Maritime posses 51 dry bulk vessels.

10.30 Developments with Inmarsat FleetBroadband -
Piers Cunningham, head of maritime business, Inmarsat.

Piers Cunningham is head of maritime business with Inmarsat, which operates the satellite communications system used by most of the world's merchant shipping fleet which also forms the backbone of global GMDSS provision. In August 2008 Inmarsat launched the 3rd of its next generation Inmarsat-4 satellites, which will provide simultaneous voice and data at speeds of up to 432 kbs.

11.00 BREAK

Day One Coffee Break Sponsor:

11.45 Comparing Inmarsat, Iridium and VSAT Ron Vollenga, CEO, Outsource IT Management
- Analysis based on one month's telephone costs on an offshore vessel, looking at high bandwidth and low bandwidth usage.

Mr Vollenga runs Outsource IT management. He was previously IT Project Manager for Maersk Ship Management at Maersk Line, IT Account Manager Fleet & Chartering, P&O Nedlloyd.

12.15 Results from Inmarsat maritime field evaluations - Sandro Delucia, maritime market manager, Inmarsat.

Sandro Delucia is maritime market manager with Inmarsat, which operates the satellite communications system used by most of the world's merchant shipping fleet which also forms the backbone of global GMDSS provision. In August 2008 Inmarsat launched the 3rd of its next generation Inmarsat-4 satellites, which will provide simultaneous voice and data at speeds of up to 432 kbs.

12.45 Panel discussion

1.00 Lunch

Lunch sponsor:

DAY ONE AFTERNOON - TOPIC SOFTWARE

Chairman: George Kyriakopoulos, IT manager, Naftomar

Naftomar owns and operates 24 LPG vessels of 14,000 to 83,000m3 to carry its own cargos. Also with chartering Dept they use a further 20-25 more vessels.

2.15 Afternoon keynote: Performance management - using technology for human resources Adonis Violaris, group marketing and communications director, and HR manager, Cyprus office, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. Also director, Telaccount Overseas Ltd, and chairman, Information Communications Technology Subcommittee, Cyprus Shipping Chamber

- How Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement is using IT in recruitment, training, and performance development

- Using IT in human resources - from e-mail to human resources management software

Adonis Violaris is the Group Marketing and Communications Director with Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the HR Manager of the Cyprus office, as well as the Director of Telaccount Overseas Ltd. Mr. Violaris holds an MBA in Business Administration from Freie Universität in Berlin. With regard to his service role, Mr. Violaris is involved at national and local levels in Communications and Marketing, and Human Resources Management. He was elected to the position of Chairman for Intermanager's Communications Committee. In addition, he serves as the Chairman of the ICT Sub-committee of the Cyprus Shipping Council. He is also a member of the Cyprus Human Resources Management Association. www.bs-shipmanagement.com

2.45 Pawel Bury, IT manager, Intership Navigation. Shipdex - a new way to provide ship technical information (including manuals, maintenance information, parts lists, drawings) electronically.

Pawel Bury is IT manager of Intership Navigation Co Ltd. Intership Navigation is principally a shipowning company which also offers third party management for a small number of European and Asian owners. It technically manages a fleet of 50 owned vessels, which consists of a different series of vessels of 23.000 DWT bulk carriers, 31.000 DWT bulk carriers, 17.800 DWT and 8,000 DWT multi-purpose tweendeckers, 37.000 DWT lakers, as well as a number of smaller vessels, all trading on a worldwide scale. In addition to its owned fully managed vessels, ISN partly manages an additional fleet of 70 ships on a crew management basis. www.intership-cyprus.com

3.15 How to set about Shipdex - making manuals electronic. Marco Vatteroni, ILS manager, SpecTec.

Marco Vatteroni did a lot of the work to develop the ShipDex standard and is currently its technical manager. He is Italian representative to the ASD/AIA Spec 1000D SPWG Committee (Sea Publication Working Group). Marco Vatteroni is Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) manager with SpecTec, the world's largest maritime software company. Before that he was working at Italian shipyard Fincantieri, developing computerised maintenance systems, and participating in a Navy industries working group to develop a new electronic standard. www.spectec.net

3.45 BREAK

Coffee break sponsor:

4.15 Using maritime software. Constantinos Tomasos, chairman, Tomasos Brothers

Tomasos Brothers Inc manages a fleet of 16 vessels including 10 product and chemical tankers, 4 bulk carriers and 2 passenger vessels. Most of the fleet is under 10 years old.

4.45 Experience using Fortune Technologies software. Evangelos Karayiannis, technical superintendent, Roswell Navigation Corp.

Roswell Navigation Corp. is a ship-management company based in Greece. While the Company has been known for its long standing experience in managing refrigerated cargo vessels, its involvement in diversified projects such as bulk carriers, general cargo vessels and Ro-Ro_s, gave the Company the opportunity to gain experience in all sectors of international shipping

5.15 Cocktails

Day One Cocktails sponsor:

7.00 Evening dinner at Aleka's Taverna, 2 Thrasivoulou Str & Mnisikleous, Plaka.

We have arranged for the Athens Happy Train to take delegates from the conference centre to the taverna, departing at 6.30pm. Alternatively, it is a 20 min walk - a map will be provided in the conference program.

Banquet sponsor:

DAY TWO - TOPIC - SAFETY AND QUALITY SYSTEMS

Chair: Dimitris Lyras, director, Lyras Shipping

Dimitris Lyras is director of Lyras Shipping in London and advisor to the board of Ulysses Systems, a maritime software company. He is a qualified engineer, and Council Member of Intertanko. He is also special advisor to the board of maritime software company Ulysses Systems. Being very much involved in both the worlds of shipping and information technology, he has a unique perspective on how information technology can add value to shipmanagement, by providing people with the information they need to make decisions to improve efficiency and reduce risk, and streamlining business processes. www.ulysses-systems.com

(Parallel session: Inmarsat FleetBroadband training)

9.30 Systems for quality and training Stylianos I. Siafakas, SQHE Management Representative, Capital Shipmanagement Corp - Risk Management and Self Assessment techniques / Benchmarking.

Stylianos I. Siafakas is the Management Representative of Capital Ship Management and works for the company for the last 5 years. He is a Merchant Marine Academy graduate and sailed as Chief Officer onboard tanker ships. He also studied Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and holds degrees in Quality Assurance, Maritime Law and Marine Transport. Capital is a ship management company based in Piraeus. It operates 29 tankers of between 30,000 and 160,000 dwt, and two 35,000 dwt bulkers. Capital also has an extensive New Building program. For more information please visit www.capitalship.gr

10.00 A unified system for data and quality.
Christos Sotiropoulos, IT manager, Neda Maritime.

[Please note: This presentation will be in Greek language, but Mr Sotiropoulos will bring a translator. The presentation will be in English.]

Christos Sotiropoulos is the IT Manager of Neda Maritime Agency, one of the oldest Greek shipping companies with a 140 year history, which presently operates 20 vessels (11 bulk carriers and nine tankers, five of which are VLCC's), all under the Greek flag. There are a further 14 newbuildings on order, two of which are VLCCs. Christos Sotiropoulos has pioneered a fully integrated inter-office communications system, that has connected several offices worldwide real time.

10.30 BREAK

Coffee break sponsor:

11.00 Human Factor: The strong, or weak, link in a Digital Ship? Dr. Nikos P. Frydas, director of Studies, KCL Group

Dr. Frydas holds two BSc degrees (Athens & Cambridge Universities) and two postgraduate degrees (Essex & Loughborough Universities). He worked for ten years as a lecturer in deMontfort University, Leicester (last six years was Principal Lecturer). In 1992 moved to Greece were he worked as a manager, and then General Manager, until he joined KCL Group in 2007.

11.30 Using telemedicine services in the maritime industry. Jean Giakoumis, general manager, Cardioexpress.

- get immediate diagnosis from specialists via satellite if there is any concern - shipboard equipment set-up

Dipl.-Ing. Jean Giakoumis is the director general of Cardioexpress, one of the largest telemedicine companies in Europe. It utilizes the high technology of telemedicine in a very simple way, in infirmaries and rural practises spread over mountainous areas and the Greek Islands, private clinics, home care institutions, industries, hotels and a lot of worldwide operating shipping companies. Currently Cardioexpress is covering over 1,700,000 people with more than 8000 transtelephonic ECG-based diagnoses from incoming subscriber calls per annum. www.cardioexpress.gr

12.00 Panel discussion - are there any reliable ways which shipping companies can improve the quality and safety of their operations using digital technology?

12.30 Lunch

1.30pm TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

10 minute presentations of interesting new technology.

1.30 A new global VSAT service for shipping with unlimited usage. David Hess, managing director, CSC Management

- Global broadband service
- Flat Rate with Unlimited Usage
- Guaranteed Speeds
- Static IP Address

1.45 JRC - new shipboard terminals for FleetBroadband. Harry Miyashita - General Manager JRC Europe.

JRC is one of the world's leading manufacturers of maritime satellite communications equipment.

2.00 Chris Courard, Business Development manager, Onwaves. Technology to enable seafarers to use GSM/CDMA mobile phones onboard ships

On Waves is a leading player in wireless mobile network communications, enabling GSM and CDMA coverage on board cruise and ferry vessels, cargo ships, business aviation jets and remote terrestrial locations. It is a subsidiary of Siminn – Iceland Telecom.

2.15 Martin Wren-Hilton, chairman, Zynetix. Technology to enable mobile phones onboard ships.

Martin Wren-Hilton is chairman and strategy director of Zynetix. He was previously head of mobile strategy with Carphone Warehouse, one of the largest mobile phone companies in the UK. Zynetix has technology which can be used to set up GSM networks anywhere in the world, including onboard ships, in rural networks, and where special additional security is required.

2.30 - 4pm AMMITEC BOARD MEETING

Annual meeting of the Association of Maritime Managers of Information Technology and Communications

(Open to AMMITEC members only)