Helm Operations News

Maritime technology companies Helm Operations and Spinergie announced they are teaming up to create a fully integrated fleet optimization platform and centralized source of record keeping.The partnership will integrate vessel management system data from Helm Operations' Helm CONNECT into Spinergie's Smart Fleet Management, including logbook entries, engine room readings, and other essential sources. When combined with Spinergie’s data streams, including AIS, GPS, custom GIS Maps…

Marine operations software developer Helm Operations and AIS services provider ShipTracks launched a new set of integrated features for harbor docking companies designed to streamline and automate the creation of towage orders directly from the AIS system.By linking Helm CONNECT Jobs dispatch software and ShipTracks’ AIS technology, operators are able to achieve greater operational awareness, reduced workloads for dispatchers and increased revenue as they identify and capture jobs that were previously lost to their competitors…

Helm Operations and the ACTion group of Channelview, TX have signed a new partnership agreement to help inland marine companies address the challenges of SubM and implement new software to reduce the costs of compliance. As part of the agreement, the ACTion group will begin offering safety management services via Helm CONNECT and provide consulting and training to companies moving to the industry standard platform.Based in Channelview, the ACTion group is one of the inland marine industry’s leading safety management and certification companies. Since its founding in 1999 by Capt. David A.

PortX (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Helm Operations (Victoria, BC, Canada) announced that they have signed a new strategic partnership agreement to combine PortX’s cutting-edge AI-based port dispatching system, OptiPort, with Helm CONNECT, a leading harbor dispatching and operations software.Already used in a number of ports around the globe, OptiPort dramatically improves the scheduling of harbour towage operations by using artificial intelligence to optimize vessel dispatch based on crew working hours, currents, tides, vessel characteristics, fuel consumption, and availability. Until now, it has been difficult for companies to manually calculate and account for these factors in a live environment.

Helm Operations has announced that it has surpassed the 4000 vessel mark on its maritime asset management and operations platform, Helm CONNECT. Since launching Helm CONNECT in July 2016, more than 1000 vessels have joined the platform each year, with the 4000 vessel mark reached earlier this month.This milestone coincides with Helm Operations’ 20th year as a company.

Alabama-based Tug and Barge Solutions (TBS) announced that more than 100 vessels now use  Ivy Marine's Towing Safety Management System and audit services, powered by Helm CONNECT software.Founded in 2012 by tug captain turned ISM/ISO auditor Pat Folan and towing vessel operators Steve Wilson and Patrick Boles, TBS has been helping towing vessel operators achieve compliance with the US Coast Guard (USCG), International Safety Management (ISM), Tanker Management and Self-Assessment (TMSA) and other standards for more than five years.Starting with operators on the US Gulf Coast and along the Intracoastal Waterway, TBS has steadily expanded to serve vessel operators throughout the US.

The marine software developer looks to accelerate growth with new backing from global technology firm.Marine operations software company Helm Operations has been acquired by Toronto-based Volaris Group Inc. (“Volaris”). Volaris specializes in strengthening and growing technology companies and is a leader in the marine software space. Founded in 1999, Helm Operations is widely known as a developer of marine operations software for the workboat market. Following an acquisition by ClassNK in 2014, the company released its newest platform, Helm CONNECT, in 2016, reportedly achieving measurable growth in just two years. The firm is heavily involved in the subchapter M implementation markets on U.S.

Houma, La.-based towing operator becomes first company to roll out new Helm Operations software for crew management.Marine software company Helm Operations announced that Dupre Marine Transportation is the first company to go live with its newly-launched Helm CONNECT Personnel software for crew management and payroll. Dupre Marine is just one of several marine companies which have signed on for the new product since its launch in mid-June.Helm CONNECT Personnel is the latest addition to the Helm CONNECT platform…

Foss Maritime will centralize fleet management and operations with Helm CONNECT. The announcement comes as Foss progresses to better organize and streamline operations across core business units and wholly-owned subsidiaries along the U.S. West Coast, and in Hawaii and Alaska.As part of the agreement with Helm Operations, Foss will centralize its vessel dispatching, billing, maintenance, compliance and personnel management in the Helm CONNECT software platform.“At Foss, we’re constantly looking at new ways to improve our business.

Helm Operations assisted Ivy Marine, LLC obtain its SUB M TSMS Certification. Ivy Marine, LLC, a two-towboat company out of Mobile, AL is now the third and smallest company in the United States to obtain their TSMS Certificate. Ivy Marine’s President. “Before Helm CONNECT, we used a paper-based system for all of our required forms and reports on the boats. Helm CONNECT allowed us to increase efficiency across the business, streamlining functions like compliance, inventory management and preventative maintenance.

Canadian maritime software company, Helm Operations, a ClassNK subsidiary, sai dit has earned Class Type Approval for its planned maintenance software, Helm CONNECT. On September 1, 2017 after a detailed review process, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), issued a Type Approval Certificate for Helm CONNNECT as a recognized planned maintenance software system. ClassNK is a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). IACS members recognize and accept Type Approvals from other society members, thereby allowing any ship owner to implement the Helm CONNECT software as their planned maintenance tracking system. “This is a historic moment for our organization. For many years we have been the market leader in maritime software for the global tug and barge industry.

Management software: vendors, consultants, class strive to provide turnkey service. Unless you’ve been lost at sea for the last few years, you know about Subchapter M. You know the June publication of the U.S. Coast Guard’s regulations for ensuring minimum safety standards on tows and tugs, which will extend inspection requirements to the majority of these vessels for the first time, moved the long-awaited, and in some cases, dreaded program from the haze of eventually out into the cold light of day.

Software developer Helm Operations announced that it will launch its innovative Subchapter M compliance software, Helm CONNECT Compliance, at the International Workboat Show (IWS) in New Orleans from November 30 – December 2. Helm has been selling its Compliance software since Sub M came into effect in the summer of 2016. However this is the first industry specific event for towing vessel operators where Helm will be able to showcase its ground-breaking software. Rodger Banister, VP of Marketing at Helm is excited about being able to demonstrate the flexibility of Helm’s software to a wide audience at IWS. “This year at IWS we will be showing off the power of mobility in Helm CONNECT…

ClassNK is dedicated to ensuring the safety of life and property at sea, and the prevention of pollution of the marine environment. Bolstered by a workforce of more than 1800 engineers, surveyors and maritime professionals, ClassNK focuses on delivering the highest quality classification services while maintaining its totally independent third party, non-profit status. With more than 230 million gross tons on register, ClassNK is one of the world’s largest classification societies, helping to secure the safety of about 20% of the world’s ocean-going commercial vessels.

Longtime waterjet propulsion equipment provider NAMJet introduces key advancements for the workboat sector. Back in 2011, when boat builder Birdon went looking for a propulsion system that they could utilize in the bid phases of a multi-boat contract with the U.S. Army, they landed on NAMJet propulsion systems and its TRAKTOR Jet line of high-thrust marine jets. Subsequent to that, and because their Army Bridge Erection boat (BEB) concept, powered by NAMJet, performed so well, Birdon went ahead and purchased the company. Since then, NAMJet has gone on to blaze its own trail for propulsion solutions over a wide range of workboats. Denver-based NAMJet provides waterjet technology designed for a wide variety of commercial…

Helm Operations  signed on more than 50 commercial maritime companies to its  maritime software, Helm CONNECT, many of whom are trying to prepare for the publication of Subchapter M. Helm CONNECT’s customers come from a variety of commercial maritime industries, such as fishing, ferries, research vessels, inland / coastal barging and pilotage vessels. The reason for the broad appeal of Helm CONNECT is its simplicity. “Businesses are craving software that’s easy for their people to use,” said Rodger Banister VP of Marketing at Helm Operations. However, many towing vessel companies are also subscribing to Helm’s innovative software in an effort to prepare for Subchapter M.

Helm Operations has launched new software Helm CONNECT Jobs, specifically designed to support tugboat owners and operators in a range of customer-facing tasks including contract management, tariffs, billing, dispatch and vessel logs. The Jobs software improves on the functionality of Helm’s program Helm Dispatch Manager for Harbor Towage, which is in constant use on around 400 vessels across the globe, and has been rebranded to reflect the transition to cloud-based storage. With Jobs, schedulers/dispatchers are doing much less data entry and have more time to focus on ensuring top-notch customer service. Management can view data in new ways either at a macro or micro level to make better business decisions.

Global waterjet manufacturer HamiltonJet has launched its latest vessel positioning system, JETanchor. Developed from the blueARROW controls platform JETanchor is the newest addition to the HamiltonJet controls’ product range, developed and tested over the past 18 months, in response to strong market demand for small vessel positioning systems. Aimed predominantly at Pilot boats, Fireboats, SAR, Patrol, Survey, DSV and small Offshore Crewboats, the JETanchor system provides a cost effective “dynamic-positioning-type” system for smaller vessels. HamiltonJet Global Marketing Manager Albear Montocchio said, “The product has undergone rigorous and extensive testing on two commercial vessels, an offshore crew-transfer vessel and a coastal survey vessel.

Software developer Helm Operations announced that over the last two months it has signed on 15 more commercial maritime companies to its planned maintenance and compliance software, Helm CONNECT. The companies come from a variety of commercial maritime industries, such as the fishing, passenger vessel, research vessel, inland / coastal barging and pilotage vessel sectors. The reason for the broad appeal of Helm CONNECT is its simplicity, the developer said. “Businesses are craving software that’s easy for their people to use,” explained Rodger Banister VP Marketing at Helm Operations. “They want software at work to be as easy to understand…

Some 50 percent of crews working on offshore support vessels are willing to compromise safety rather than say “no” to clients or senior management, while nearly 80 percent believe commercial pressures could influence the safety of their working practices, according to operations and maintenance management software specialist Helm Operations, who commissioned a newly published report on workboat and OSV safety. The independent report, which summarizes six months of research by Fathom Maritime Intelligence and primary data collection and analysis by Southampton Solent University…

The perennial “Year of Subchapter M” has been kicked forward again, this time to February 2016. That means that the clock is now ticking loudly for those towing operations that have yet to climb onboard the safety train. Quality operators see standardized safety practices as a way of leveling the playing field, integral to maintaining the health and profitability of their fleets, and key to winning business from quality customers. Subchapter M will be a phased-in over a period of years. It’s not as much time as you think.

When industry players say “the handwriting is on the wall,” they aren’t just talking about the pending Subchapter M regulations, but also about the already existing demand for safety management systems (SMS) in general for the domestic towing industry. While the U.S. Coast Guard and Homeland Security work to finalize Subchapter M requirements, operators are already finding it harder to win bids without some level of a Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) and ensuing proof of compliance. The oil majors, Mexico and many clients already insist on adherence to safety standards, and in some cases they are aggressively conducting their own audits of contractors and reminding them to use JSAs. That has spurred companies like McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., Inc.

In line with the Subchapter M waterways rules which are due to come into effect in 2016, Helm Operations will introduce the full capability of it’s latest Maintenance and Compliance solution, Helm CONNECT, at this year’s International Workboat Show (IWS). As in previous years, the crew at Helm will offer another fun challenge to delegates to “get fixed up”, in order to gain insight into the seamless operation of the Maintenance feature. IWS is North America’s largest commercial marine trade show and conference.