Unique New System from Braemar Engineering Saves Owners and Operators Up To 35% on Annual DP Trials

Braemar Engineering has introduced a unique new initiative which can save on average 25-35% of the costs of carrying out annual dynamic positioning (DP) trials. The system offers savings that hard pressed vessel owners and operators in the offshore sector can utilise to increase their competitive advantage while ensuring that the highest quality standards are maintained.  Read more

Liverpool shipping industry inspires next generation of seafarers

Cadets - Luke, Jonathan, Conrad and Claire

Four aspiring seafarers have been drawn into Liverpool’s maritime heritage after being accepted onto a three-year Officer Cadet training scheme with global carrier X-Press Feeders and Bibby Ship Management.

The scheme, which will be sponsored by X-Press Feeders and managed by Bibby Ship Management, will see the new recruits – Luke Jakes, Conrad Dempsey, Claire Allan and Jonathan Jones – experience maritime activity both practically, at  sea, and academically, at  various nautical institutes around the UK.

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Simple Steps to Futureproof the Shipping Industry

Panel of speakersSenior decision makers from all sectors of the shipping industry met in Hamburg yesterday to hear some of the leaders in the digital revolution debate the opportunities and threats faced by the industry today. Although operating in many different fields, their conclusion was startlingly clear. To navigate successfully and profitably in the digital age, ship operators must go back to basics, steering a clear course through the data explosion to harness the benefits of the new technologies whilst avoiding their pitfalls.

Run by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, MariApps Marine Solutions and World-Link Communications; Read more

New Suez Canal to benefit from ‘One Belt One Road’ and an opened up Iran

Denis Petropoulos, President of Braemar Shipping Services AsiaThe new deeper Suez Canal will be a beneficiary of the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative taken by China’s charismatic leader Xi Jinping, especially when it comes to the opening up of the Iranian market following the lifting of international sanctions and the moving into importance of the Indian refinery markets, according to Denis Petropoulos, President of Braemar Shipping Services Asia.

Speaking at the 1st Suez Canal Global Conference in Cairo, Mr Petropoulos said ‘One Belt One Road’ was not just about China but reached into around 60 countries: “many with increasing energy needs, and the Suez Canal playing its very essential part.”

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Norbulk Shipping Implements Cloud Technology Solutions

Leading ship management company Norbulk Shipping is already seeing the benefits from embracing the move towards paperless ships.

The Glasgow-based ship manager explored several options before deciding to move its IT systems to ‘the cloud,’ via the cloud migrator for Google, Cloud Technology Solutions.

A need for the industry to move to the digital world has been recognised by InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third party ship managers, which believes the burden of administrative tasks falling on seafarers in today’s shipping industry is significant.

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ICS Co-ordinates Maritime Employers at Important ILO Meeting

The International Chamber of Shipping, as the Secretariat for the Shipowner Group at the International Labour Organization, co-ordinated employers’ representatives from over 20 national shipowners’ associations at the second meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) for the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, held in Geneva from 8 to 10 February 2016. Read more

Global Security Threats Assessed And Displayed Round The Clock In New Interative Map

 

Riskmap

Ship owners and managers can now view what security threats a country poses to shipping lines with the click of a button thanks to a new live interactive map.

The security and risk mapping system RiskMap provides a new and unique way of viewing and categorising up-to-the-minute security threats from around the world.

RiskMap automatically analyses thousands of news articles every day, by assessing the threat posed, classifying the risk and identifying the location. It automatically summarises articles of interest by selecting the most important information that is relevant to the event. It can also understand large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.

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Videotel and Safebridge Conclude Groundbreaking Agreement to Facilitate Onboard ECDIS Type-Specific Certification

New approach to training and certification provides shipping companies with a more efficient, cost-effective way to ensure crew are qualified to operate ECDIS systems safely

MIDDLETOWN, RI, and LONDON, UK – Feb. 4, 2016 – VideotelTM, the leading global provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), has joined forces with online maritime training business Safebridge GmbH, which specializes in ECDIS training, to provide shipping companies with the unique ability to certify their seafarers on ECDIS type-specific training while serving onboard. More than 30 ECDIS type-specific training courses will be available, which is the most comprehensive offering in the industry. Companies using the award-winning Videotel On Demand (VOD) system will have access to this leading-edge certification route. Read more

BBC Presenter Louise Minchin To Host Mersey Maritime’s Annual Awards Ceremony

Television presenter Louise Minchin will be welcomed back as the host of the second Mersey Maritime Industry Awards.

British journalist and BBC news reader Louise will present the ceremony that celebrates the best of maritime businesses in the North West and Isle of Man.

The event is organised by Mersey Maritime – the maritime cluster organisation that represents more than 1,700 businesses in the north-west of England – and follows on from the success of last year’s inaugural Mersey Maritime Industry Awards (MMIAs) in March 2015.

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Norsafe Takes a Major Step Forward to Offer Complete Safety Package to Seafarers

Norsafe has become the first lifeboat manufacturer to provide STCW and Norwegian Oil and Gas (NOROG) compliant training courses for seafarers.

This means that the company is the only lifeboat manufacturer that offers production, servicing and certified training in the operation and maintenance of lifeboats and lifeboat crew.

Gaining STCW approval is very timely for Norsafe as the Manila 2010 Amendments to the STCW-78 Convention stipulates that seafarers, who are qualified in the following areas, need to provide documentary proof they have recently undergone training or have been on a refresher course within the last five years by 1st January 2017.

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Videotel’s New API Enables Integration with Crew Management Software

The newly released Videotel Partner API allows vessel operators to easily store and track crew training information in a single program

MIDDLETOWN, RI, and LONDON, UK –January 28, 2016 – VideotelTM, the leading global provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), has released the Videotel Partner API, an application programming interface that facilitates the exchange of data between Videotel and any of its clients’ crew management software systems. Videotel developed the API in collaboration with software and solutions developer Netvision, whose products include Compas, one of the leading crew management systems for the maritime industry. The Videotel Partner API is designed to be used with any crew management software; there is no additional fee for the service. Read more

STCW 2010 – Employers Need to be Ready says ICS

The transitional period for the 2010 amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW 2010) comes to an end on 1 January 2017. To prevent last minute certification ‘logjams’, and potential difficulties during Port State Control inspections next year, it is important that maritime employers liaise closely with maritime administrations, says the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

With less than a year to go before the end of this major transition, ICS and its member national associations are urging shipping companies to check that those maritime administrations responsible for issuing their seafarers’ STCW certification are fully prepared, and that arrangements have been made to ensure that any necessary updating training can be undertaken by the seafarers they employ.

The 2010 ‘Manila Amendments’ to STCW entered into force in 2012, with different requirements being phased-in at various dates before 1 January 2017.

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