Hogia Ferry Systems News

German ferry operator Aktien-Gesellschaft EMS (“AG EMS”) has partnered with Hogia Ferry Systems to implement their standard reservation software BOOKIT.AG EMS operates a ferry service between Emden and the island Borkum, using both traditional and high-speed ferries. The company will also use BOOKIT for its river cruises and excursions.“We had reached the end of opportunities with our current system, and we needed a modern and reliable standard ferry reservation and check-in system to replace it," said Stefan Beekhuis, CIO, AG EMS.

New Zealand ferry operator StraitNZ Bluebridge reached an agreement with Hogia Ferry Systems for delivery and implementation of its standard reservation software BOOKIT.Bluebridge operates two ropax ferries between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island, across Cook Strait. Hogia Ferry Systems is part of the Hogia Group, one of Sweden's largest software companies with 600 employees in Sweden, Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Hogia Ferry Systems have appointed Ari-Pekka Soini to the position as Managing Director with effect from the 1st of June. Mr Soini has been the Customer Services Director at Hogia Ferry Systems since 2007, and has a long career within the ferry business behind him. During his 20 years within the ferry business, he has held leading positions both on board and ashore. His latest position before joining Hogia was Managing Director of Sea Containers Finland. Jan Lundberg, who holds this position until end of May, has decided to continue his career with new challenges.

The management at Hogia Ferry Systems changes positions. Sales manager Alf-Håkan Romar takes over as new managing director at Hogia Ferry Systems. The company’s founder and present managing director, Stefan Engelholm, is instead to focus on system development. He will also continue as a member of the boards of Hogia Ferry Systems Ab and Oy Hogia Data Ab. Stefan Engelholm, managing director of Hogia Ferry Systems in Korsholm (Vaasa) has announced that he is to resign as managing director of the company at the general meeting of shareholders in April 2005. Hogia Ferry Systems was founded by Engelholm in 1981 – known then as Oy Consy Ab – and he has led the company since then.

The Algerian ferry company Entreprise Nationale de Transport Maritime de Voyageurs (ENTMV), operating traffic between Europe and Algeria under the brand Algérie Ferries, is going to replace its in-house developed booking system, which has come to the end of its road. The ENTMV has chosen the BOOKIT system delivered by Hogia Ferry Systems to replace the old system and to enhance the company's distribution. With the ENTMV (Algérie Ferries) as its latest customer in North Africa, Hogia Ferry Systems continues to strengthen its foothold on the Mediterranean market. Today Hogia Ferry Systems supplies booking systems for several ferry companies operating in the region.

Hogia Ferry Systems has established a new position as Manager Customer Services. The Manager Customer Services will be responsible for present customers and ensure they benefit from their systems in the best possible way. Ari-Pekka Soini has been appointed Manager Customer Services at Hogia Ferry Systems. Soini has held leading positions both onboard and ashore during his 20 years career in the ferry business, his latest position being Managing Director of Sea Containers Finland. As the Manager of Customer Services, his responsibility is to care for the current customers and after sales activities. The new Manager Customer Services will inform and offer new functionality to customers and keep informed about their business and development plans.

Jan Lundberg joins Hogia after having worked 8 years with Spotfire, a leading provider of business analytics software. At Spotfire he was a department manager for a team responsible for quality assurance and user experience. During his time the company grew from 15 to over 200 employees. Previously he also worked as a language specialist at Microsoft in Dublin. Jan holds a Masters degree in Computational linguistics and brings many years of experience from software engineering and localization industry.