Seabulk Selects ABS-NS SafeNet

Seabulk Offshore Ltd., has selected ABS Nautical Systems SafeNet fleet management system for 14 supply, crew and utility boats operating in the US Gulf of Mexico. "The strength of the SafeNet system is the complete integration that exists between the various management modules," said ABS Nautical Systems' senior business development manager Joe Woods. Seabulk Offshore has contracted for the Maintenance & Repair, Purchasing & Inventory and Financial Reporting modules. "Data need only be entered once to be available within each of these modules, vastly simplifying the control of the fleet and eliminating the possibility of incorrect duplicate entry," said Woods.

An important element in the decision was the ease with which ABS Nautical Systems was able to build interfaces between SafeNet and the company's Oracle-based financial system. "No matter how comprehensive a fleet management system is, it will rarely meet all the business requirements of every client," said Woods. "It is essential that simple, transparent bridges can be established with a company's other critical IT systems if the benefits are to be maximized." ABS Nautical Systems also provided Seabulk with a seamless interface with the SeaSupplier e-procurement system to which the operator subscribes. SafeNet does offer its own e-procurement facility that creates a direct link between the user and selected vendors, effectively cutting out the middleman. "But some operators prefer to work with a centralized organization, such as SeaSupplier, to maximize their purchasing power," said Woods. "In those instances we can very easily provide interfaces between SafeNet and the third party agent to facilitate the transactions and maintain single entry inventory and financial records."