Nominees For CITIS 2002 Awards Announced

Providers in the communications and IT in shipping sector have been short-listed for innovation honors in the CITIS 2002 Awards. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner during the sixth CITIS event -hosted and sponsored by Inmarsat in London from March 18-22 - which also features a conference, seminars and an exhibition. The dinner will take place on March 19 at the Underglobe in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. In addition to awards in four commercial categories, International Maritime Organization secretary general William O’Neil is to receive a lifetime achievement award for steering the introduction of the Global Maritime Distress & Safety System. Falmouth Coastguard officer Steve Huxley will preface the presentation with a first-hand account of the contribution of GMDSS to saving life at sea. The commercial awards short-list includes: Innovation in ship communication: NewsLink Services for its daily seafarer newspaper; RDT for the Tempus 2000 remote medical monitoring system; and Telemedic Systems for the VitalLink 1200 vital signs monitor Innovation in IT for ship operation: BMT for the maritimeEXODUS evacuation simulator; ChartCo for MetManager; and the UK Hydrographic Office for its TotalTide tide prediction software Innovation in ships’ electronic safety and navigation equipment: BMT for the Rembrandt shipboard training simulator; Transas for Navi-Sailor 3000; and Videotel for its CD ROM collision avoidance trainer Inmarsat innovation award for effective use of Internet protocol: RemoteReporting for the Fleetrack-Internet ship location system; Rydex for its News from Home service; and Thenamaris Ships Management for TMS message management Nominations were assessed by judges including Capt. Chris Cobley, secretary general of Comite International Radio Maritime (CIRM); Nikos Mikelis of Intertanko’s IT committee; Nautical Institute project manager David Patraiko; Alan Ward of the International Ship Managers’ Association; Ocean Voice managing editor Nigel Kitchen; and Inmarsat’s Chris Insall.

The awards dinner marks the midpoint of the two-day CITIS conference where leading satcom and maritime industry figures will review technological developments, operational applications and systems integration. Other highlights of the week, organized by Lloyd’s List Events, include seminars on security on March 18 and electronic navigation systems bridge integration on March 21.