Online Access News

FORCE Technology has expanded its engineering design and testing services portfolio to provide remote access to high fidelity maritime navigation simulation for the purpose of testing planned port and harbor construction projects. The new SimFlex Cloud for engineering studies unlocks time and cost savings during the planning and design phase of maritime infrastructure projects as proposed developments can be evaluated in real-time and under highly realistic conditions without…

Digitalization is expediting and maximizing the safety and economics of structural stress and fatigue measurement technologies. Terje Sannerud, Chief Commercial Officer at Norwegian fiber optic condition monitoring system developer Light Structures explains.Yet to be mandated by the IMO or included in any SOLAS regulations, structural stress and fatigue monitoring systems have in fact been used for providing real-time safety warnings on large and specialist vessels for more than two decades.

Last May, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA) announced that 240 new officers made up its 140th graduating class.The Academy’s announcement referenced additional, important highlights. Women made up 34% of the Class of 2021, and 34% of the graduates were from underrepresented minority groups. Even more focused was the statement that 22 African Americans “walked the stage,” the largest number in Academy history, and 2021 included the second highest number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders.To make the ceremony even more memorable, President Biden delivered the keynote address.

A remote simulation solution for Dynamic Positioning (DP) Induction Courses developed by Kongsberg Digital (KDI) to support training centers worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns has been approved by The Nautical Institute.Since the start of the pandemic, KONGSBERG has been ramping up the delivery of cloud-based eLearning and remote training solutions to support education and training institutes and meet the challenges imposed by the impossibility of carrying out tuition in a physical classroom situation.

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) said that it is now recognised by 41 flag states globally, seeing recent additions in 2018 from the Netherlands, Vietnam, Jordan and Bahrain.Towards the end of 2018, it also received approval from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), strengthening its offshore portfolio in the Middle East and opened an office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to better service its customers in the region.IRClass claimed in a press release that it continues to record steady growth in its classed fleet, flag recognition and geographical presence, mirroring the shipping industry’s ongoing recovery.With tankers and bulk carriers continuing to dominate IRClass’ tonnage…

Transas said it booked an order in Q1 2018 with the Norway-based fleet operator Wilson ASA to supply a Fleet Operations Solution (FOS) including onboard navigational and communication components to provide enhanced connectivity for business communications and crew services, and access to fleet data from shore-based locations for complete situational awareness.For Transas, which was acquired by Wärtsilä in May 2018, the contract marks one of the first applications of the Thesis concept within Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine Ecosystem vision, which uses high levels of connectivity and digitalization.

Wärtsilä and Hidrovias do Brasil signed a five-year Optimized Maintenance agreement on the fleet of eight pusher tugs operating in the rivers of South America. The agreement enables flexible maintenance planning and execution according to the real condition of the equipment, thus ensuring better lifecycle value for the vessels. Hidrovias pusher tugs offer high-quality logistic solutions for the transportation of agricultural commodities, ores, steel products and other loads, with customized long-term projects in the rivers of Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Vessels are operating in demanding shallow waters and remote locations, which makes maintenance planning and execution challenging for pusher tug operators.

Transas has launched its first package of applications built on THESIS, a unified cloud-based platform for managing operations across the full breadth of the maritime ecosystem. The advanced ‘A-Suite’ package also sets a new precedent by utilizing the latest in machine learning techniques to reduce the potential for human errors on the bridge or poor decisions elsewhere in the vessel operational chain. In addition to the officers and crew working on board ships, the benefits of…

MAN Diesel & Turbo recently signed a contract with Stena Line to provide its online service to two vessels. The Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica are both conventional passenger-and-vehicle superferries that sail the daily route between the Hook of Holland and Harwich and are each powered by 4 × MAN 48/60CR engines. Dan Sten Olsson, CEO and owner of the Stena Sphere, and Bjarne Koitrand, Stena Line Technical Director, visited Augsburg, Germany to meet MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Dr Uwe Lauber, CEO, and Wayne Jones, Chief Sales Officer and agree the new deal.

As of June 24, 2016, ships flying the Danish flag are being digitally certified, making Denmark one of the first countries to put an end to the 100-year-old tradition of certifying ships with paper certificates. Until now, ship certification typically involved printing, stamping and signing paper certificates, and subsequently sending them around the world to be kept on board ships. Digital certification – or electronic certification, which is the term used internationally – will put an end to these cumbersome procedures…

IRClass, the Indian classification society, today announced the release of its new technical software, IR-HULL. IR-HULL was developed by IRClass specifically to verify all aspects of ship design compliance to its established Rules and Regulations for the Construction and Classification of Steel Ships. The new IR-HULL software analyses global strength (including both longitudinal and buckling strength) and local scantling for all panels and stiffeners in a vessel’s hull section. IR-HULL is equipped with a user-friendly graphical interface and an intuitive modeller with CAD drawing tools to significantly reduce data entry time. “IR-HULL is agile, versatile, and can be simply applied to multiple ship types,” said Mr. Arun Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of IRClass. Mr.

Sea IT informs it has signed a long term strategic ICT contract with Maersk Tankers covering all vessels operated within its fleet. The four-year-long ICT contract includes a unique modification of BlueCORE which has been customized to fit Maersk Tankers' global business operations and security standards. Under the contract, Sea IT will install a customized solution of its flagship product BlueCORE, a complete IT system including Wi-Fi, on the Maersk Tankers fleet, which includes approximately 100 vessels around the globe.

Sea IT has signed a long-term ICT agreement with Veritas Tankers including installation of the BlueCLOUD Office platform at Veritas Tankers’ headquarters. BlueCLOUD Office is a cloud-based solution which fully integrates the fleet and the office communication as a one-stop-shop. BlueCLOUD Office is a dynamic service that enables Veritas Tankers management to instant access where they can easily add and remove users or change user rights. Besides BlueCLOUD Office, Veritas Tankers also benefit from the module BlueCONNECT, a virtual software that acts as mail server and carrier controller. Sea IT has previously entered a Fixed BlueCORE ICT agreement with Veritas Tankers to upgrade all its vessels - Astina, Astral and Astoria - during a three-year period.

Sea IT has entered a long term ICT agreement with Veritas Tankers. The agreement comprises installation of BlueCORE Generation 4, an ICT platform specifically developed for the marine industry, and BlueCONNECT, a virtualized software which acts as mail server and carrier controller. Veritas Tankers will upgrade and have the installations made on all its vessels: Astina, Astral and Astoria. Sea IT will support Veritas Tankers during a three-year period though the Fixed BlueCORE ICT agreement.

For domestic and international shippers, now is the time to satisfy GHS freight label compliance. The “Globally Harmonized System” (GHS) was established by the United Nations to create a unified system for identifying and communicating hazardous chemicals. In the U.S., OSHA set a June 2015 deadline for chemical manufacturers to use GHS compliant labels, followed by a December 2015 deadline for distributors, and June 2016 deadline for end users. Despite the harsh environments, extreme temperatures and rugged handling that freight is subjected to when shipped by land…

Seagull Maritime has launched an advanced software tool able to benchmark seafarer knowledge levels, allowing shipowners and operators to compare their crew and potential recruits with industry peers. The new tool will provide shipping companies with online access to data that can help them take objective decisions on recruitment sources and identify areas where further training is required. Benchmarking establishes the standards specific industries find acceptable, in terms of products, service levels or competitive practices, then finds ways to meet or improve upon these standards. Companies use benchmarking to measure their successes and pinpoint their shortcomings.

Maritime services group Global Navigation Solutions (GNS) will unveil its new Voyager suite of products that for the first time connects ship and shore through one e-navigation solution. Scheduled to debut at events in London, Singapore and Hamburg on June 17, 18 and 19, GNS’s new web-based Voyager Management Service now enables shore-based ship managers to check that vessels are always carrying required charts and publications, in either digital or paper format, and that all relevant corrections have been received onboard and applied, thereby helping prevent vessels from incurring penalties from chart-related issues arising with port-state control inspections.

Maritime software solutions provider Oceans HQ Ltd has announced a partnership with the Gibraltar Ship Registry (part of the Gibraltar Maritime Administration), ahead of new STCW requirements for online access to seafarer certification data which come into force in 2017. The project, which began in September 2014, sees Oceans HQ working directly with the Gibraltar Maritime Administration to implement the Vessel HQ and Seafarer HQ platforms, enabling ship registries to keep accurate…

When Aberdeen-based Diamond Offshore wanted to add new functionality to the existing helideck monitoring system on the Ocean Guardian drilling rig in the North Sea, Fugro developed and delivered a fully integrated, user-friendly solution to fulfill the requirements. Severe weather conditions in the North Sea can cause major disruption to offshore operations so Diamond Offshore and its client wanted to better understand the direct correlation between the wind, waves and the performance of the rig anchoring system, as well as accurate station keeping, particularly during storm events.

As maritime markets continue to recover and interest and investment in advanced communication systems picks up steam, Tore Morten Olsen, Head of Maritime Services at Astrium Services, says the focus now shifts now from simple connectivity to providing specific business solutions at sea. While the evolution of communications at sea has had its fair share of starts and stops, largely driven by overriding economic conditions of the day as well as the stale notion that communications costs are an expense versus an investment…

Astrium Services released a new software version for its established XChange connectivity platform, which offers a range of new features to facilitate permanent remote access, allow smartphone usage on board and provide improved VoIP capabilities. XChange v2.3 was developed to meet specific customer demands and is available free of charge by a simple firmware update, through a local file or via the embedded over-the-air update feature. The inclusion of new VoIP technology in XChange enables bandwidth savings of over 50%, whilst at the same time offering high call quality and reliability. This makes regular use of VoIP a more attractive option to the crew…

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., one of the world's largest transportation and logistics companies, introduces Navisphere®. The release of Navisphere brings significant improvements to online tools for C.H. Robinson customers. The updates to Navisphere online access include a modernised user interface, streamlined access to business-critical data, and customisation to support customer requirements across global workflows. The platform also allows customers to leverage C.H. Robinson's technology investments and gain access to a centralised network of more than 100,000 supply chain partners without the need to integrate with each provider individually.

American Marine Publishing has announced  that it is making the 2012 PowerBoat Guide freely available online. Aimed at building product recognition among new users, visitors are invited to browse the PowerBoat Guide’s vast collection of boating information without setting up a user account or disclosing an email address. “We gave this a lot of thought," said Ed McKnew, editor of the PowerBoat Guide. "In the end, we decided the best way to drive new sales is to make much of our content available online where boaters can use it at no charge. Those who wish to take advantage of this free boating information will find it posted on the "Free Access" page of the PowerBoat Guide website. Clicking on any highlighted link will bring up a new window for each selected model.