Email Communications News

A U.S.-flagged tug and deck barge reportedly struck a pier and grounded while conducting docking maneuvers at the Ensenada Honda auxiliary cargo dock in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday.The tugboat Don Jaime and barge Marilin H have been refloated, and there are no reports of injuries, oil discharge or sheening in the surrounding waters, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, whose inspectors are on scene to investigate the marine casualty incident.“We are looking to identify…

Hutchison Ports Australia (HPA) says it remains committed to negotiating a resolution to the current industrial dispute with workers in Brisbane and Sydney. HPA also wishes to clarify some of the reporting to date, including the financial challenges being faced by HPA and the process around the text message and emailing communications to staff on August 6. The company issued redundancies to 87 staff only after careful consideration of the current business conditions and following extensive consultation. HPA has invested $700 million in the Australian operations since June 2013 and made an $87 million loss for the 2014 calendar year. The company has been incurring substantial losses in Australia after finding it extremely difficult to break into the current duopoly in the Australian market.

General Dynamics C4 Systems - built Warfighter Information Network - Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 Soldier Network Extension (SNE) continues evolving with new capabilities based on soldier feedback and mission-centered innovation. In April, soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division were assigned to an observation point during the Afghan elections. The soldiers drove a SNE to their mission location near a polling place and used the SNE as a hotspot to connect their laptop computers, radios and other equipment to the tactical network for voice, chat and email communications, including situational awareness information, directly from their area of operation.

Airbus Defense and Space, the global innovative provider of satellite enabled solutions, reached a fresh record for its dedicated SkyFile Mail software in 2013, with more than 50 million emails sent by some 40,000 mariners worldwide – a 25 percent growth in email volume over the previous year. SkyFile Mail is an intuitive email solution for business and crew working for some of the world’s largest shipping companies. It is a leading messaging application optimized for satcom and the perfect partner for Pharostar, Sealink and WaveCall VSAT services from Airbus Defense and Space. The increased use of SkyFile in 2013 was similar for both VSAT and MSS…

Logistics company SBS Worldwide worked tirelessly through the weekend to maintain its clients’ supply chains as the devastating hurricane Irene battered the US north east. Early on Monday morning, SBS Worldwide’s New Jersey office was “open for business as usual”, after airports and seaports were closed and road infrastructure was reduced to a honeycomb of flowing water, trees and mud as Irene hit the US east coast over the weekend. SBS Worldwide US MD Lars Kloch says preparation is key to ensuring that disruption to its clients’ supply chains is kept to a minimum at times like these.

International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) says that shipbrokers run the risk of exposure to substantial liabilities as a result of inadequate monitoring of their email communications. In the latest issue of its Claims Review, ITIC cites the case of a shipbroker acting for a shipowner which had a demurrage claim against charterers. The charter party included a 60-day notification period and a 90-day time-bar for documented claims. The owner passed the full documented claim to the shipbroker, which sent it to the charterer via email on the same day, to the email address specified by the charterer. The shipbroker did not receive any email failure notice or rejection and, on this basis, believed that it had been sent successfully.

SeaWave, LLC has installed the SeaWave Integrator 3.0 aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System's (AMHS) high speed ferry "Fairweather," as it embarks on a one month trip for delivery from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Juneau, Alaska today. The builder of the vessel, Derecktor Shipyards, wanted to have a communications system on board for email and weather tracking for its delivery voyage. Working with SeaWave, this has been accomplished. The SeaWave Integrator will provide voice and email communications to the Derecktor delivery captain and 10 crew members during transit of the first commercial ferry to be built to the international High Speed Craft (HSC) code in the United States.

As technologically advanced as communications have become, the bottom line, particularly for business applications, remains basically the same: the need for clear, reliable and cost-effective means to communicate. Trends in the transmission of data, voice and e-mail from ship-to-shore are much like that of land-based operations. The need for more speed and increased reliability are never ending, and the companies that excel are the ones that not only continually innovate, but those that consistently stay on the front of the curve to deliver real-world technologies that deliver benefits in the unique maritime operational environment. In parallel, price pressures are ubiquitous, as shipowners are keen to exploit every outlet to cut costs and generate revenue.