Digital Ship

SOFTWARE NEWSSeatrans signs up toShipServ’s TradeNetwww.shipserv.comwww.seatrans.noShipServ has announced the signing ofBergen-based ship owner and operatorSeatrans AS to the company’s e-commerceplatform TradeNetSeatrans will use ShipServ’s TradeNetplatform to source ship supplies for 16ships in its fleet operating in the chemicals,forest products, offshore and liner segments.The Seatrans ships will connect toshore and to their suppliers through theShipNet SNAPS Maintenance andPurchasing system.“Seatrans runs its chartering and operations,management and crewing inhouse,servicing a diversified fleet so weare always concerned to be as efficientand flexible as possible,” says Leif Larsen,technical director of Seatrans.“ShipServ TradeNet will give usthe ability to better manage our procurementand use the built-in KPI functionalityto review the performance of oursuppliers.”PortVision introduces integratedsoftware solutionwww.portvision.comPortVision has announced the availabilityof its PortVision TriMode workboat fleetmanagement and business intelligenceservice, combining the existing PortVisionPlus and PortVision Advantage platformsinto an integrated offering.The web-based service is designed topermit real-time visualisation and historicalreporting to a data warehouse thatprocesses and analyses over 40 millionvessel movements each day. Vesselarrivals and departures in covered regionsare recorded and the system can be configuredto automatically alert users whenevents of interest occur.PortVision’s TriMode extends the company’sPortVision AIS-based offering toinclude two-way cellular and satelliteservice for messaging and positionreports. The firm claims that its softwarecan cut overall expenses in half comparedto conventional satellite-only alternativesby using least-cost routing.TriMode integrates least-cost routingacross three communication paths: AIS forreal-time reporting of the fleet and otherAIS-enabled vessels when near shore orin-port; cellular for near-real-time reportingat low cost whenever a vessel is withina cellular coverage area; and satellite forguaranteed reporting and text messagingwhenever cellular is unavailable.In addition to vessel position reporting,customers can use the TriMode serviceto create e-mail alerts or viewarrival/departure history. The data warehouseis reported to have archived over 15billion arrival, departure, and vesselmovement records spanning the lastfive years.“Traditionally, fleet owners reliedonly on expensive satellite airtime forvessel reporting and messaging,” saidDean Rosenberg, PortVision chief executiveofficer.“By integrating AIS, cellular and satellitecapabilities into a tri-mode solution,PortVision is able to significantly increasefleet visibility and enhance maritime businessintelligence, while saving our customersup to 50 per cent in hardware andairtime costs.”Cory Brothers launchvessel monitoring softwareLeif Larsen and Atle Sommer, Seatrans, and Ane Fosseng, ShipServ,mark the new agreement at Nor-Shipping 2011Intergraph and STX sign 5 year contractwww.stxeurope.comwww.intergraph.comwww.hexagon.seIntergraph has announced the signing of afive-year contact with STX France, Frenchdivision of the Norwegian shipbuildinggroup STX, for the purchase of theSmartMarine Enterprise software system.Intergraph’s SmartMarine Enterprisesuite is an offshore and shipbuildingsolution, designed to promote improvementsin design efficiency, productionschedule, handover and overall life-cyclecost control.The solution package STX has purchasedincludes Intergraph SmartMarine3D and SmartPlant Foundation,SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlantInstrumentation, SmartPlant ElectricalBasic & Detailed, SmartPlant Materials,SmartPlant Foundation, SmartPlantReview and SmartPlant Review Publisher.STX will use the software to improve itsshipbuilding design efficiency throughreduced design man-hours, as well as thecompany’s design quality through integrationbetween disciplines and by sharingstandard catalogues along the projectlife cycle.The implementation is further expectedto reduce costs and STX hopes to achievebetter project stages coordination andaccurate management of bills of material(BOM) which is supposed to be promotedby the integration of SmartMarineEnterprise and SAP.“We selected SmartMarine Enterpriseafter several months of evaluation andpilot projects because the software suiteproposes a large scope of integrated functionalities,required to design complexworks as cruise ships are,” saysChristophe Dutrieux, CIO of STX France.“It enables us to coordinate activities ofhundreds of designers and subcontractors,by sharing the same model, the same catalogues,and by building a single bill ofmaterial of the ship. It provides us withthe means to reduce design hours, toenhance our design quality and toimprove integration and coordinationbetween design and construction.”STX plans to build its next cruise shipprototype with Intergraph technology,which will be fully deployed in 2013.“STX's exhaustive evaluation ofcompeting enterprise solutions and itsselection of Intergraph's SmartMarineEnterprise signal the strength of our solutionswithin the marine and offshoreindustries,” says Gerhard Sallinger,Intergraph process, power & marinepresident.www.cory.co.ukCory Brothers, a UK based shipbroker, hasannounced that the company’s web-basedvessel monitoring software ShipTrak hasbeen made available to customers.ShipTrak is a web-based software solutiondeveloped in-house and designed tohelp monitor a company’s vessel operations.The application holds details of vesseloperations and allows ship operators tolog on wherever internet is available toaccess the information they need.ShipTrak has been designed to providea detailed log of events and enable theShell begins use of electronic documentswww.essdocs.comShell has completed its first oil productsshipment using a CargoDocs electronicbill of lading, using a service provided byElectronic Shipping Solutions (ESS).ESS’s delivery team worked with ShellInternational Trading and ShippingCompany Ltd (STASCO), Shell UK OilProducts Ltd and charterer MorganStanley to use original electronic documentsto cover a shipment of diesel loadedon the 14,766 dwt tanker Bro Deliverer fordischarge at Shell’s Stanlow refinery.An electronic bill of lading, certificatesof origin and quantity and a document ofenclosures form were issued to MorganStanley and endorsed first to STASCO andthen on to Shell UK Oil Products Limitedwho in turn produced the electronic bill oflading back to the vessel’s master.Shell is already part of the ESS OilIndustry Steering Group, which providescomparison of projections at any stage, forany number of vessel operations.The application is based on Java softwareand can exchange data with othershipping-based systems and commonoffice software programs.“We, and our shipping partners, useShipTrak every single minute of the dayand we find it an essential tool,” saysKevin Gorman, Cory Brothers’ managingdirector.“It is ‘platform independent’ so youcan use ShipTrak on your PC, Mac, mobilephone - anywhere you have an internetconnection and a web browser.”input on the development of theCargoDocs system for the oil industrythrough ESS’s Users Association. Shellparticpated in pan-industry CargoDocstesting during 2008 and 2009.Use of the technology became possibleafter STASCO’s General Terms andConditions (GT&Cs) for sales and purchasesof crude oil and products wereadapted to be compatible with the use ofelectronic documents, including electronicbills of lading."Shell has always championed innovationin its operations and the opportunityto move from the traditional paper bill oflading to a secure electronic format is onewhich we think has obvious advantages,"said Sven Thiessen, commercial operationsmanager with STASCO."Having amended our terms and conditionsto allow for eDocs we expect to seetheir use increase significantly movingforward."Digital June/July 2011 page 24