Maritime IT & Electronics (June/July 2011)

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June/July 2011

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CONTENTS 3

Comment

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News

Bridge design Multi-functional design 6 Suppliers of modern bridge systems are solving the problems of information overload and alarm management 11 Elephant sized screens How long until screens provide a larger window on what ECDIS can deliver

Safety 14 Increasing AIS resilience After the Japanese earthquake knocked out coastal AIS stations, MITE investigates how the infrastructure might be reinforced

JUNE/JULY 2011

20

26

Look after your recordings P&I group Gard offers advice on making sure VDRs do their job when it counts most

Inmarsat reveals Xpress strategy Global Xpress will complement existing services, maintains Frank Coles

Positioning 16 GPS vulnerabilities

Telephony 29 Voice services take

discussed

precedence

While the weaknesses of GPS are easier than ever to exploit, safeguarding mechanisms remain distant 18 Guarding against GNSS disruption

Inmarsat has introduced a slew of new services aimed at increasing talk time 30 The line on GSM has cleared

MITE discovers how two systems for detecting GNSS jamming could be adapted for maritime applications

VSAT 22 Advanced satcoms management MTN Satellite sheds light on how advanced data-mining and troubleshooting tools are making maritime satcoms more efficient 22 New lease of life for C-band Intellian proves there is still scope for finessing a wellestablished technology

Regulations on where shipboard mobile networks can and cannot be used have been harmonised

80 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5BJ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 2600 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7382 2669 www.imarest.org Editor: Kevin Tester kevin.tester@imarest.org MITE Advertising Manager: derek.wood@imarest.org Graphic Designer: jo.cooper@imarest.org Publication Sales & Subscriptions: lorraine.jordan@imarest.org Publisher: Derek Wood derek.wood@imarest.org Visit MITE online: www.imarest.org/ publications/ maritimeITelectronics

Training 32 Revised STCW could boost CBT uptake The Manila amendments take into account the role that technology can play in seafarer training 34 Training in progress Transas crane simulators lower risk; BIMCO uses VideoTel webbased learning; Intermanager says crew should think for themselves

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Marketplace

Š Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (2011). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying, storing in any medium by electronic means or transmitting) without the written permission o f the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 6-10 Kirby Street, London, England, EC1N 8TS, website: www.cla.co.uk email: licence@cla.co.uk. Applications for the copyright owner's written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Information published in MARITIME IT & ELECTRONICS does not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Whilst effort is made to ensure that the information is accurate the publisher makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or correctness of such information. It accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any loss damage or other liability arising from any use of this publication or the information which it contains.

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COMMENT

Nor-Shipping offers a change for the better Kevin Tester In a flash Nor-Shipping has been and gone. The organisers claim this show was the biggest, brightest and busiest of all time. But then again, they always do. However accustomed – or circumspect – one might be about the hyperbole surrounding number of stands and visitors, what really counts at any exhibition is what the exhibitors are exhibiting.

And in this respect – at least from the IT and technology perspective – the event did live up to expectations, with a diverse array of new innovations being showcased. To name but a few: Intellian launched its revamped C-band antenna (see p24); Datema relaunched its pay-asyou-sail electronic chart service; and Saab TransponderTech took the covers off its fifth-generation AIS hardware.

What is all the more remarkable is that these developments are taking place in the midst of a highly uncertain financial climate, with markets easily frequently spooked by political unrest, skyrocketing oil prices and a shift in the economic centre of gravity from West to East.

Equilibrium disturbed But a resurgence in real innovation is welcomed. For a while, it seemed the industry had reached equilibrium, particularly with regard to maritime satcoms. The pros and cons of the main three technologies (L-band, C-band and Ku-band) were – generally – well understood and it was up to the ship owner or manager to decide which would best suit their needs and budget. Regular readers however will realise the situation has

recently become more muddled, but exciting, nevertheless.

Inmarsat has finally reached the conclusion that many shipowners – especially the larger ones – were not happy with the pay-as-you-go pricing model for its broadband Internet service. While many in the industry knew Inmarsat was offering preferential packages to major operators surreptitiously, this fact was not admitted publicly.

However the secret had spread too far – and what with super-injunctions not being up to the job anymore – the company decided to come clean by announcing the availability of ‘very large allowance’ data plans.

But even still, it was reluctant to disclose exactly how large ‘very large’ is. Until under intense scrutiny, it eventually revealed the plans start at 10Gb per month per vessel. Does this move indicate that the pay-asyou-go age is coming to an end?

It would certainly mirror trends seen on land for consumer grade mobile Internet.

Voice of Inmarsat If the cost of data drops, as bundle plans would imply, Inmarsat will no doubt want to reinvigorate other revenue streams. The signs are it is hedging its bets on voice services. It has extended the hours for its ‘super-quiet time’ off-peak calling rates for crew to 24/7. It is also rolling out a firmware update – erm, hack?

– for its FleetBroadband terminals that will allow nine concurrent calls over a single connection (see p29).

Moreover it has announced a suggested retail price $0.55/min – for voice calls. Endusers will likely applaud this

Editor

transparency, but it is different story for the company’s network of distribution partners, which typically added a premium in order to subsidise their costs and other value-added services.

Elsewhere long-term rival Iridium appears to have changed its strategy too, albeit more subtly. In conversation with MITE, it came across the company has shifted its focus away from OpenPort to its short-burst data (SBD) service. In recent times Iridium has witnessed rapid growth in SBD and it makes good commercial sense to build this niche further.

Back on track One high-profile application harnessing Iridium’s SBD service deserving a special mention is Datema’s ENCtrack service, which is now ‘back on track’ two years after its initial launch at Nor-Shipping 2009. ENCtrack promised to revolutionise the way electronic charts are licensed by letting Masters obtain charts on an as-needed basis rather than planning purchases in advance.

It was a simple idea, but simple ideas are normally the best.

Unfortunately however it more than ruffled a few feathers among incumbent chart suppliers, especially UKHO, who perceived it as a risk to their traditional business model. These disagreements have apparently now been ‘patched up’, and though one wonders what concessions were needed, MITE hopes that ENCtrack will now be given the opportunity to shine.

MITE June/July 2011

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NEWS

Inmarsat has acquired marketleading VSAT provider Ship Equip for $159.5M, in a move thought to be aimed at strengthening its distribution channels to current VSAT-enabled shipowners in advance of launching its own Ka-band service in 2014.

Commenting on behalf Inmarsat, Stratos chief executive James Parm intimated as much when he explained the motives for the acquisition: ʻShip Equip will bring a large installed base of maritime VSAT customers, who we expect to be in the forefront of the transition to Global Xpress services.ʼ As of this March, the company had an installation-base of over 1170 vessels.

Inmarsat snaps up Ship Equip, gains large VSAT customer list Parm also referred to the benefit of acquiring Ship Equipʼs ʻextensiveʼ operational experience of managing maritime VSAT (a concern which was aired in the editorʼs comment of MITE Apr/May 2011).

One thing is for certain: Inmarsat is wasting absolutely no time in its efforts to make Global Xpress a reality. So far this year, it has secured technical assistance from iDirect and Sea Tel to develop shipboard modem and antenna and announced that the design of the

satellites themselves is progressing ahead of schedule. Or as Parm put it: the acquisition ʻdemonstrates [Inmarsatʼs] clear determination to prepare the way for a fast and successful take up of Ka-band services.ʼ So why not one of the myriad of other VSAT providers out there? Besides the solid customer-base and established reputation within the industry, Ship Equip does not carry baggage unnecessary to Inmarsatʼs needs. In particular, it does not own or operate its own land-earth stations.

Investigation finds fatigue to blame for bulk carrier grounding At 1705 on 3 April 2010, the Chinese registered bulk carrier Shen Neng 1 grounded on Douglas Shoal, about 50 miles north of the entrance to the port of Gladstone, Queensland. The shipʼs hull was seriously damaged by the grounding, with the engine room and six water ballast and fuel oil tanks being breached, resulting in a small amount of pollution.

The grounding occurred because the chief mate did not alter the shipʼs course at the designated course alteration position, according to the findings of an official investigation recently published by the Australian

Transport Safety Board (ATSB).

The reportʼs authors go on to infer that the chief mateʼs monitoring of the bulk carrierʼs position was ineffective and his actions were affected by fatigue.

The investigation also found that the passage plan the ship was following before the grounding had been amended after sailing but the amendments were not entered into the GPS route plan. Consequently, the defences the GPS unit provided had been rendered ineffective for the amended part of the passage. In addition, the chief and second mates did not follow company and industry

Grounded: Poor passage planning was also highlighted

guidelines when they completed the watch handover.

The ATSB report identified five key safety issues: 1) There was no effective fatigue management system in place on board Shen Neng 1 to ensure that the bridge watchkeeper was fit to stand a navigational watch after the loading in Gladstone; 2) The shipʼs origi-

Inmarsat finds new faith in fixed-fees Inmarsat reports large merchant fleets are lapping up its fixed fee pricing plan for FleetBroadband. The ʻvery large allowancesʼ that are available for the set monthly charge relieve major operators from having to worry about unexpectedly large communications bills. Although the company was not keen to explain exactly how large ʻvery largeʼ is, MITE understands that quotas start from 10Gb per ship per month.

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MITE June/July 2011

The satcoms giant stated Navarino, the exclusive partner for Stratos in the Nordics, has used the fixed-fee plan to draw in such major names as customers such as Grieg, OSM and Ugland ship management companies.

It should be noted the ʻvery large allowancesʼ differ from the Shared Corporate Account Plans ‒ SCAPs ‒ which Inmarsat has offered to large data consumers in the past and allowed pay-as-you-go credit to be

It purchases extra capacity from satellites only when demand for throughput from end-users makes this necessary. Reducing this capacity would make it easy for the company to wind down Ku-band provision once Global Xpress is up and running.

It is also worth noting that Ship Equip is a pure VSAT-only provider. It is not reseller of Inmarsatʼs L-band services, in contrast to the majority of other players in the industry, therefore forestalling any potential ʻconflicts of interestʼ.

shared over multiple vessels.

In an official announcement, James Collett, director of maritime at Inmarsat, said: ʻThere is burgeoning demand for data communications at a fixed cost, and we see plenty of market opportunity, which will be addressed by Global Xpress service when it starts operations in 2013. For now this market can be served with fixed fee options for FleetBroadband.ʼ

nal passage plan had been amended before the grounding but the amendments were not entered into the shipʼs GPS unit. As a result, the cross track error and waypoint approach alarm defences the GPS unit provided had been rendered ineffective for the shipʼs amend route; 3) The shipʼs safety management system did not contain procedures or guidance on the proper use of GPS route plans and their relationship to the shipʼs passage plans; 4) In the 30 minutes leading up to the grounding, there were no visual cues to warn either the chief mate or the seaman on lookout duty, as to the underwater navigation hazards directly ahead of the ship; and 5) At the time of the grounding, the protections afforded by a requirement for compulsory pilotage or active monitoring of ships by the local VTS were not in place in the sea area off Gladstone.

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NEWS

Two years later, Datema ʻpay-as-you-sailʼ service is back on track When in 2009 a small Dutch company launched a new service designed to take the hardwork out of acquiring charts, it probably did not anticipate the obstructive response from incumbent chart distributors and two-years of intense negotiation and lobbying that followed.

Now after considerable lobbying and debate, Datema has managed to secure the necessary permissions from a significant number of countries to once again roll-out its revolutionary ENCtrack distribution system for electronic charts.

The member countries of ICENC have approved pay-as-you sail licensing in 2010 under strict conditions. Datema has performed a number of tests and trials to meet those conditions, and final approval was granted in March 2011. With the approval of IC-ENC, the coverage of the service has now been significantly increased.

In a nutshell, Datemaʼs idea was to deliver electronic charts to mariners on an as-needed basis. The key advantage of this pioneering ʻpay-as-you-goʼ approach was that bridge officers

Ship Constructorʼs Morais scoops COMPIT award Ship Constructorʼs Denis Morais has been declared winner of this yearʼs COMPIT Award.

The Canadian IT expert was honoured for his contributions to ʻpromote frontier technologies in shipbuilding,ʼ stated Germanischer Lloyd (GL), who sponsored both the award and the conference recently held in Berlin.

The jury singled out Morais because his paper combined ʻprofound insight into business particularities of the maritime industries with an impressive scope of IT techniques as applied in other industriesʼ.

Entitled Driving the Adoption of Cutting Edge Technology in Shipbuilding , Moraisʼ paper explores the possibilities of how advanced technologies such as laser scanning, digital prototyping and ʻshop-floor 3Dʼ could become more widely used, efficient and cost-saving assets for the shipping industry.

Morais has previously made presentations on CAD technology to participants in the US Navy-funded National Shipbuilding Research Program. He has applied his indepth knowledge of the

would no longer have to purchase charts they might never use, for example to cover emergency situations. This attracted the ire of existing distributors, who were probably doing very well thank-you from the traditional business model, and were obviously keen for the statusquo not to be broken.

First introduced at Nor-Shipping in 2009, the groundbreaking ENCTrack concept was stopped in its tracks due to disagreement on the terms of licensing. Coverage had been limited until now to the Baltic area.

Within the ENCTrack service all available electronic charts (ENCs) are made available to the mariners beforehand, and a tracking system is used as method of post payment.

The new service provides a considerable safety benefit in

that all charts are available at all times, eliminating the need for license management and allowing the ship to change plans for emergency and bad weather conditions at any moment.

The new service could not have come at a more opportune time, as the IMO has approved the amendments to SOLAS for the use of ECDIS and electronic charts from 2012. As the ENCTrack service addresses many of the existing issues surrounding the licensing of ENCs like inflexibility, pricing, training and license management, marinersʼ world wide greeted the new service with great enthusiasm.

ENCTrack records a shipʼs movements using a GTT Systemʼs tracking device, which sends position reports via Iridiumʼs short-burst data service.

Denis Morais (left) receives the award from Albrecht Grell, GLʼs executive VP Maritime Solutions

Autodesk ObjectARX API and the .NET framework to create applications for the production engineering of shipsʼ hull forms, piping and structure.

The COMPIT ‒ Computer Applications and Information Technology in the Maritime Industries ‒ conference, now in its tenth year, was attended by more than 90 experts from around the world, offered information on advanced IT applications for the ship life cycle.

Major themes this year included: virtual reality, electronic data exchange, and web technology.

MITE June/July 2011

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Joined-up designs overcome challenges Concerns continue to grow about the pressures placed on today’s Masters and his fellow bridge officers. Globalisation has resulted in larger ships (as operators strive to maximise economies of scale) in greater number (leading to increasingly crowded sealanes) working on tighter turnarounds (leaving no margin for error).

On top of this, a never-ending stream of new rules and regulations is burdening Masters with weightier administrative duties. And if this wasn’t enough, the industry is also facing an impending shortage of well-trained, experienced navigators.

All the above creates challenges for the providers of navigational equipment. Mixed into the equation are diverging requirements from ship owners and end-users. Ever cost-conscious owners want systems that are easy-to-use (and therefore don’t require much operator training); built on hardware that can be easily upgraded to handle new functionalities; and standardised installation procedures backed up by service contracts for immediate attendance if the system breaks down.

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MITE June/July 2011

Having had many years to devise ways of dealing with information overload and alarm management, it appears the suppliers of integrated bridge systems are beginning to deliver workable solutions

End-users want an easy to understand display with intuitive and standardised operation; centralised access to core navigation and administration routines; reduced workload through process automation and performance monitoring; and stress-free alert management.

The German navigation system integrator Raytheon Anschütz believes its recently introduced Synapsis architecture provides a solid foundation capable of meeting these diverse requirements.

The Synapsis INS features multifunctional workstations that can be configured in numerous ways, ranging from a standalone radar or ECDIS to a fully integrated workstation with optional access to further ship systems such as automation, or for dynamic positioning. A dual Eth-

ernet bus distributes all navigational data to all workstations, where (to ensure redundancy) it is locally stored to maintain the independence of each workstation in the network.

Task allocation The tasks allocated to each workstation are managed by a newly developed ‘bridge integration platform’, which automatically sends the relevant configuration to the console when it is networked into the INS. Integrated multifunctional workstations offer central access to nautical tasks such as route monitoring, collision avoidance, navigation control, status and data display or alert handling.

Steering positions can be fitted with take-over function and alarm reset button, which enables officers to take full control of the ships from any dedicated workplace.

According to Raytheon, this approach is particularly advantageous to vessels fitted with larger bridges. ‘Having central access to most important nautical functions from any workplace reduces the number of PCs on the bridge and lessens stress during operation. It also results in less running around between differ-

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BRIDGE DESIGN

ent consoles to check alarms.’

In this last respect, Raytheon has outfitted the INS with an intelligent alarm management system, which checks whether an error generated by an individual sensor is sufficiently critical to set off an alarm, or whether it only needs to be indicated to the watch officer for information. Officers have access to the full alert monitoring page from any multifunction workstation. With fewer blinking displays or continuous beeping to attend to, they can focus on dealing with the most serious alarms.

The system’s intelligence is most evident however in the way it prevents alarm cascades.

Raytheon’s Andreas Lentfer says the system will ensure that multiple alarms are not caused by the same failure propagating through to other equipment. The classic example here is a GPS malfunction, which can result in

Raytheonʼs Synapsis concept offers a standardised interface that can be freely configured

Kongsberg has carved a niche in supplying ʻseated bridgesʼ for offshore support vessels

a cacophony of beeps and buzzers since so many different systems are dependent on its position input. ‘With fewer alarms in the background, bridge staff can respond more calmly to the core issue,’ points out Lentfer.

Common reference point One of the more interesting innovations embedded into the Synapsis system is the Consistent Common Reference System (CCRS). An INS relies on numerous sensors, including compasses, speed logs, GNSS receivers, echo sounders, radar

receivers and AIS receivers. The more important sensors are duplicated as a failsafe.

CCRS monitors the performance of all sensors automatically.

It observes data validity, consistency and accuracy of each sensor data and gives them a quality rating. From this information a set of the best sensor data is compiled, which is then distributed throughout the INS. (Manual override is of course possible).

Having data consistently available throughout the whole navigation network also allows new display pages to be created with respect to individual requirements. A voyage efficiency monitoring screen, for instance, might merge navigation, engine automation and loadmaster data on a new conning page to support the navigator in rudder steering to lower fuel consumption.

One of the primary objectives of Raytheon’s Synapsis architecMITE June/July 2011

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Manufacturers still waiting for IBS test standards ture is to make the job of the navigator more straightforward and less stressful. Or as Lentfer puts it: ‘Modern systems should be easier to operate, not more complex, even if more functions and more data are available. Our philosophy is to intelligently hone in on and present the navigator only the information and functions required to the task in hand.’

Unified interface Kongsberg Maritime’s K-Bridge also exemplifies the trend for multifunctional operator stations, with sensor data, electronic charts and voyage plans accessible from all consoles. Cutting the number of different interfaces a navigator has to contend with in driving the ship was high up the list of the Norwegian manufacturer’s priorities.

With some traditional bridge arrangements where standalone devices are fitted, there is often more information available than the navigator can use, notes Kongsberg’s Øystein Andreassen.

Or, perhaps more worryingly, two or more systems inform him about the same parameter but with diverging values.

He continues: ‘By focusing on information elements across multiple displays in a navigation workstation, rather than on information contents along traditional sub-system boundaries, we believe that well designed multi function workstations will provide better situation awareness.

We also believe they will be able to shift the level of detail in their presentation according to the operational situation.’

In its efforts to tackle the perennial challenge of alarm management, Kongsberg participated in Flagship, a part EUfunded project with an ambitious and wide-ranging remit to reduce risk and improve the environmental friendliness and competitiveness of European maritime transport.

Under this aegis, the company headed the development of iCas – Intelligent Central Alarm System – a system intended to 8

MITE June/July 2011

FROM JANUARY this year integrated navigation systems must comply with the 2007 IMO revised performance standard, which incorporates SOLAS Chapter V/15 guideline requirements to deliver safe operations, free from the dangers of undetected human error and system or sensor failure, supported by fail-to-safe principles.

However manufacturers are waiting for an IEC test standard allowing the industry to certify products. While the expectation is this will be published before next year, it is as yet unclear which direction this standard will go. ʻEssentially there are two possible approaches,ʼ says Anders Rydlinger, director of navigation products at Transas Marine. ʻOne is more rigid where an INS is treated as a discrete ʻproductʼ which must comply 100% with the test standard. In this case INS will only be applicable for new buildings and I doubt we will see many compliant systems in the near future because sensors and subsystems will not meet with the requirements. ʻThe alternative is for the INS standard to act more as a guide on how integration should be carried out. This will improve the situation on vessels sailing today as there are no clear rules on integration for retrofit projects. On many vessels today there is a mess where different GNSS systems or heading devices are connected to radar and ECDIS.

Enshrouded by fog: The testing regime for integrated bridge systems remains unclear

avert alarm cascades on the bridge and in the engine room. A key objective was to devise a means of presenting an overview of a situation on board as it unfolds, so that crew can deal with the unexpected and follow the vessel’s routines without disturbance.

Proven methodologies from the offshore industry were employed to create an alarm ‘shelving and grouping’ function. The resulting system was put through

its paces in a simulation of a real incident on an LNG tanker, where a full blackout generated many thousand alarms over a few minutes and more thousands during the next few days.

The system focuses on alarm grouping in order to give overview and criticality and also use temporary shelving of spurious alarms to allow much reduced disturbance and more focussed operations on board.

Noise reduction According to Kongsberg’s Geir Hasnes the noise reduction in critical situations is almost ‘unbelievable’ and he is hopeful the concept will be integrated into standard products over the coming years: ‘We have built a full demonstration bridge simulator incorporating the iCAS system at our facility in Norway so that ship owners can see the system operating in lifelike conditions.

Responses have been very positive so far.’

One area where Kongsberg has carved itself a niche is in supplying ‘seated bridges’, such as its K-Master, for offshore support vessels. But is this design ever likely to find a place in other commercial vessel types? ‘Seated bridges are primarily intended for ship handling and system operation in shorter bursts of high intensity.

For instance while transferring cargo from a supply ship to a rig, or while pulling out a mooring line.

‘Conceivably it could be of interest to ferries sailing in narrow channels, and we have noticed some interest in K-Master for such projects. However, even on offshore vessels, when operation is less intense, they often prefer to have arrangements that do not tie the operators to a seat every time he has to interact with the system.’

Questioned whether full integration should be the ultimate goal of bridge design, Andreassen was philosophical: ‘The goal is safe navigation. Whether integration is the answer or not depends on several factors. Two MITE October/November 2010

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Star Cruises goes for user centered design in trio Platinum upgrade of the more important are the competence of the operators and the number of people manning the bridge.

‘Besides smoothing the flow of information, integration reduces the space needed to provide fewer people on the bridge with the same number of devices or subsystems. On the other hand if integration increases complexity beyond the capability of the operators, integration is probably not the answer. However, we believe that contemporary technology and methodology makes it possible to provide better systems by integration than by all sub-systems separate.’

Freedom of movement Transas is less equivocal in its view. Transas Marine's director of navigation products Anders Rydlinger told MITE: ‘A solution based around multifunctional workstations where the user can switch freely between ECDIS, radar, conning and alarm management panels via a unified interface will definitely create a better working environment. It helps avoid task duplication and can provide enhanced redundancy.’

With regard to alarm management, Rydlinger takes a pragmatic stance. ‘An INS will not instantly result in a silent bridge.

And nor should it: alarms go off for a reason,’ he states. ‘While multifunctional workstations and

A TRIO of Star Cruisesʼ passenger ships are to benefit from the very latest in integrated bridge technology when they are fitted with the Nacos Platinum system from Hamburg-based SAM Electronics.

Installation of the new navigation and control hardware aboard Star Pisces, SuperStar Aquarius and Superstar Libra will be carried out in Malaysia by Lyngsø Marine, a Danish subsidiary of the Germany company, in the first half of 2012.

Jointly developed by Lyngsø Marine and SAM Electronics, the Nacos Platinum series of ship control systems feature standardised hardware and software components, which collectively are supposed to provide improved simplicity and reliability of operation while ensuring optimum levels of operational safety and reduced maintenance costs. Uptime is said to be assured by extensive self-monitoring facilities supported by online diagnostics.

As is the current vogue for multifunctional consoles, Nacos Platinum allows radar displays or ECDIS to be called up on any workstation, even off the bridge, for example in an engine control room, in the Captainʼs office, or in public areas.

A key concept of the Nacos Platinum series is that all products are developed according to the principles of User Centered Design (UCD). SAM Electronics and Lyngsø Marine worked with an international human factors research organisation in what was described an ʻambitious collaborative design processʼ to devise a Human Machine Interface (HMI) which is intuitive, transparent and completely consistent across the full range of products.

Tim Lysholt Jensen, SAM Electronicsʼ head of product management for automation, navigation and communications explains: ʻUsability is not an attribute that is naturally occurring.

It only emerges from careful design during the development process. And even then it must be accompanied by user-focused testing, with representative end-users and in real-world scenariosʼ ʻIn years gone by, usability was a subject rarely given much consideration, but nowadays that has all changed. It has crept up the agenda of regulatory authorities and ship owners alike, mainly because it has been recognised as a key factor in reducing the risk of human related errors when underway, but also because intuitive interfaces can lower the training burden on crew members, while allowing them to gain the full benefit of advanced integrated systems.ʼ

Nacos Platinum on the Star Pisces

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internal logic for grouping related alarms together will reduce the number of warning lights flashing at any time, so will setting up and managing safety parameters in order that they match the vessel’s operational profile.’

The implication here is that the default or factory-set alarm thresholds might be inappropriate. It is easy to conjecture a situation whereby excessive caution results in alarms triggering frequently and unnecessarily. The risk here is that bridge staff who have served on a vessel for any significant duration will eventually ignore them, in effect becoming de-sensitised to their meaning.

An integrated navigation system shifts the focus from the traditional ‘boxes’ concept to a task-oriented concept. In other

words instead of discrete ‘boxes’ – ie, hardware – each feeding the navigator certain kinds of information, the integrated system collects inputs from all sensors and filters it depending on the particular navigation task in hand.

For this reason, the way this information is presented is important. Rydlinger elaborates: ‘The typical mariner is around 50 years old, wears reading glasses and has a lot of other duties besides the time he spends on the bridge. He does not have the time or inclination to dig into the bridge system and find all function and features. So the interface has to logically, intuitive and consistently arranged. It should display the right information at the right time.’

However, Transas also keenly

SCANA CREATES PROGRESS

Scana Mar-El AS is a leading manufacturer of electronic remote control systems for propulsion and manoeuvring of vessels.

The company was founded in 1974, and so far we have delivered a total of nearly 3000 systems world-wide.

Joystick and position keeping system The Marco-V is an advanced joystick system offering full vessel control from a 3-axis joystick.

The system includes features as automatic heading and automatic position keeping.

Scana Mar-El AS Storvegen 48, N-3880 Dalen, Norway • Tlf: +47 35 07 58 00 • Fax: + 47 35 07 58 01 • E-mail: mar-el@scana.no • www.scana.no

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recognises the potential safety risks resulting from the extra complexity of a networked architecture. ‘The system must be designed with a graceful fall-back chain so that each workstation can revert to standalone mode in the case of a network malfunction.’

Not a simple choice WHEN SPECIFYING a boat, yacht owners are often asked to choose between either a conventional or an integrated bridge system (IBS), but according to Alewjinse, the distinction is not so clear cut.

Not only is it difficult to define what exactly is an IBS, but the development of modular, multifunction workstations now make it possible to customise the precise level of integration. This means that owners have the option of choosing between a relatively low level of integration ‒ where not all the navigation functions are available on every workstation but the systems still communicate with each other ‒ and a higher level of integration where chart radar, conning, ECDIS and AMS can be accessed and controlled from any workstation on board.

Most current IBS tend to be a customised mixture of these two extremes. And it is the role of companies such as Alewijnse to design and build, within certain safety and IMO boundaries, customised bridge systems that meet the precise needs and expectations of their clients.

For example, the captainʼs display can be delivered in a number of ways: 1) On monitors installed throughout a vessel, connected across the boatʼs Ethernet LAN; 2) on a tablet device, such as Appleʼs iPad, via an onboard wireless network; 3) through the monitors of a entertainment system integrated with the INS. In addition to radar, ECDIS and conning screens, Alewijnse states that captains increasingly want immediate access to collision avoidance and automatic route planning software.

Products like these can be configured according to a clientʼs specific requests with varying levels of accessibility depending on location. They can for instance choose to have the full information available in the captainʼs cabin only, and then show just the ECDIS information including features such as tender tracking in the saloon.

Alewijnse is also seeing growing interest in ʻclean deskʼ bridge layouts, where the controls on visible display are kept to a minimum and have a uniform appearance. To that end, it has devised a solution whereby the major controls are placed below a customised foil panel.

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How to fit an elephant on a 19-inch screen With quicker updating, automatic positioning and more straightforward course laying, electronic charts outshine paper ones in many respects. But not all. One of the most debilitating factors of contemporary electronic chart display system is the limited screen real estate.

The navigator can never really visualise the whole chart.

His viewport is always constrained, as if he were peering into a room through a keyhole.

To see the room in full, he needs to keep looking around and build up a mental image to supplement the limited area that is actually visible on screen at any given moment.

What can be done? It is not beyond the imagination that one day in the not-too-distant future bridges will be furnished with cinema-tastic wrap-around widescreens, boasting augmented reality displays over the

Traditional nautical charts were printed on durable paper measuring 25 by 40inch, a size denoted historically as ʻhalf a double elephantʼ. But how long until electronic charts can be displayed in their full elephantine glory?

window. But until that day comes, a more down-to-earth pragmatic approach is called for.

In other words, to use what realestate is available to maximum advantage. Or so says Simon Salter, sales manager at CherSoft, the developers responsible forNuno Navigator and other navigational software.

‘With Nuno we have done a bunch of things to compensate for the lack of screen size,’ says Salter. ‘To begin with, we avoid dislocating affordances. An affordance is something which by its appearance invites user interac-

Paper charts do not suffer from a limited viewport, but clutter can sometimes be a problem

tion, such as on-screen buttons and sliders. It is a very important concept in user interface design.

When you want a computer program to do something, users will seek out affordances – graphical elements that can be pressed, dragged, selected etc. For seasoned users, this happens almost subconsciously.’

Avoiding disorientation A dislocating affordance is one which causes the whole screen to change, such as a control for making the chart view jump.

Salter likens this to spying through the keyhole, closing your eye, changing position and then looking again. ‘You are suddenly presented with a different part of the room but you don’t really know how it joins up to the part you were viewing moments before. To maintain a sense of continuity, it is much better to allow a smooth transition from one view to the other by panning and zooming etc.’

Nuno also dedicates as much screen real-estate as possible for displaying the actual chart by not reserving huge swathes for control panels. (The user can set up these panels but they are not imposed as a default). ‘Many of the affordances are arranged around the screen in fixed positions so that you will always know where to find them but they become translucent when not being used. They obscure the chart a little bit but you can still see chart and we think the more chart you can see the better,’ says Salter.

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Conrac unveils 46-inch tabletop chart display paper chart. Instead it is like an enormous cylinder on to which the world is projected. If you keep panning right you will eventually come back to where you started. This means that however big the screen, the user will still need to pan and zoom.

To display an image of a paper chart on a screen at about the same size as the original you need about 100 dots per inch (dpi). Less than this and the image will be blurred. More than this will result in a sharper, clearer image. Paper charts are typically printed with at least 600dpi, but it is difficult to obtain such high definitions on a screen image. So100 dpi is considered to be reasonable a compromise.

Elephant evolution So what, in Salter’s view, is the best size for a screen? ‘You need to be able to see it all without having to walk around. In fact if you could reach across to any part of it then that would be good. Maybe this problem is already solved. Maybe a paper chart has evolved to be just the right size. Maybe in 200 years of making charts we have actually come up with something that is just the right size for the job.

‘Now the standard size for a full paper chart is a half double elephant. This is not, as you might logically deduce, the same as a single elephant. The elephant folio is up to 23-inches tall whereas a double elephant is 50inches. So the paper chart, at around 25 by 40 inches is in fact a half double elephant.

‘A screen this size would need to 5000 pixels wide. At the moment the best mainstream video standard is dual channel DVI which supports up to 2560 x 1600. So four of these lashed together could look pretty good. A company called Cinemassive make a set of monitors like this.

EyeVis have some pretty good single screens 64-inch 4096 by 2160 – not quite enough pixels and a rather eye-watering price.

However we are certainly heading in the right direction.’

GERMAN INDUSTRIAL display manufacturer Conrac used Nor-Shipping as a platform to showcase a variety of its widescreen marine panel computers. The latest and most impressive addition to the range is an extra large 46-inch display, with integrated touch interface, intended for use as digital chart table.

At the opposite end of the scale is a small panel PC ‒ also touch screen enabled ‒ for embedded applications. Conrac states it is ideally suited to ship automation functions and maybe as a ʻcaptainʼs chair displayʼ.

Elsewhere it demonstrated a 38-inch ʻstretchedʼ format display. The somewhat unusual 16:4 aspect ratio results in a screen approximately equivalent to a conventional screen sliced horizontally across its middle. Of course, says Conrac, this makes it suited for applications or installations constrained by strict height restrictions. Though, exactly what these applications might be remains unclear.

Last but not least, Conrac presented its almost frameless narrow bezel displays, which can be used as stand-alone units or joined together in a cluster. The latest enhancement made here is the Display Performance Monitoring for managing the configuration of screens installed in a large network or in disparate locations.

Further, despite the almost frameless design a special sensor has been integrated in the front bezel, which continuously monitors the panelʼs operation (backlight, inverter, power supply and interface).

The 46-inch display, with touch interface, could be used as a digital chart table

Getting touchy feely While extra large screens might solve one problem, they create others, suggests Salter: ‘Your poor old mouse is going to run out of steam. You would need a mouse mat four times bigger unless you could manage to move the mouse four times more precisely.’

But maybe mice are redundant. If the screen were set up as a traditional chart table – the temptation would be to reach out and touch it. Elaborates Salter: ‘Multi-touch technology is really starting to gain pace now. Once you get to grips with an Apple iPad you soon find it is a great way of

doing things. Microsoft Surface is another pioneering touch interface, which also benefits from a large form factor, having been designed from the outset as a table rather than tablet.

Sadly for now it doesn’t have enough pixels, but it offers a tangible indication of the direction of things to come.’

Although Salter admits that screens the size of a chart table will not suit every vessel, the technology is edging closer to commercial reality, especially as displays become lighter and cheaper. Indeed, Nuno is already looking at a project to prototype a full sized electronic chart table along these lines.

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‘If a quake that size had hit any other country in the world, they would probably have been completely levelled and there wouldn’t have been anything left for a subsequent tsunami to wash away. The fact that most of Japan was still operating relatively normally demonstrates how well things are designed and constructed,’ says Simon Tucker of SRT Marine*.

This otherwise general observation does raise an important point: the robustness of any structure – including coastal AIS installations – depends largely on the build specification. If it is designed from the outset to withstand certain kinds of disaster, natural or man-made, it probably will. Additional insurance can be provided by careful placement, ie using solid sites that have been proven down the centuries (though arguably such options are limited in seismically active regions, such as Japan).

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When the earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the north eastern of Japan earlier this year, it knocked out several AIS stations along its coast. MITE asks if more needs to be done to increase the systemʼs resilience

resilience that must be considered. It also requires connectivity and a power supply. Tucker believes that the most likely reason behind the failure was power supply related. ‘While these stations are fitted with UPS backups, these are only supposed to act as a temporary fix. After several days it would have failed,’ he theorises.

Does this indicate that a rethink is necessary and that improvements could still be made?

While recent experiences in Japan will no doubt feed into discussions on defining the required levels of resilience for future coastal AIS stations, it is clearly unrealistic and unneces-

Tsunami aftermath: The technologies on which we increasingly depend cannot stand up to the might of nature

sary to go about building systems capable of withstanding once-ina-thousand-years type events, such as M9 earthquakes.

Among the growing variety of installation types and configurations that are already in operation or currently on the drawing board, Tucker notes a general trend for increased use of local solar power and larger UPS provision. In respect of connectivity, both protected wire data networks and satellite-based VSAT systems can be used for backhauling data to a central point in order to ensure additional redundancy.

Radio overlap In Sweden the approach taken was to deliberately design the coastal AIS network with overlapping radio coverage. So if one receiver goes down, others will immediately be able to fill the

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Saab AIS enters the fifth-generation gap. An even more ambitious idea is to deploy back-up units at national TV broadcasting aerials, though budget restrictions and lack of inter-agency cooperation would likely prevent this ever seeing the light of day.

But how much of a problem actually is it if coastal stations are knocked out? AIS is essentially a meshed network, so even if the coastal monitoring infrastructure fails, vessel-tovessel communication is maintained and, according to the theory, fundamental safety will not be compromised. In Tucker’s view, this architecture makes AIS an extremely powerful safety system with significant redundancy.

He elaborates: ‘If the receiving network is offline, then authorities using that system to monitor traffic will be blind.

However the mesh network nature of AIS would mean that temporary AIS receiving stations could be operable very quickly, or data relayed back from SAR aircraft etc.’

Use of normal patrol aircraft fitted with an AIS receiver with the ability to stream back data can quickly give instant coverage to a large area. Crucially, it can also be realistically maintained as part of their normal patrol patterns.

The launch of a balloon fitted with a receiver to a sufficient height can also provide a big enough footprint to provide coverage whilst the network is re-instated. And of course the simple use of a temporary receiver at a sufficient height can provide an instant interim solution.

Satellite solution?

Satellite-based AIS detection is another technique that has bubbled to the surface in last couple of years and is regarded by many as the Holy Grail. Yet while numerous projects are underway to find out the potential of this technology – what can and cannot be done from Earth orbit – it is probably fair to say that these projects remain in the experimental phase.

SAAB TRANSPONDERTECH AB has unveiled its fifthgeneration of AIS technology. ʻThe new R5 AIS products are the first to incorporate softwaredefined radio (SDR) transceivers together with newly developed high-speed analogue-to-digital converters,ʼ said company vice-president Gunnar Mangs. ʻThe result is a dramatic improvement in receiver sensitivity, stability and signal processing.ʼ Saab plans to roll out the new R5 technology in a wide range of AIS products to meet different market requirements, including inland waterways, coastal fishing, deep-sea shipping, military and coastal surveillance. The products will be brought to market in phases during 2011 and 2012.

In addition to VHF ship-to-ship and shore-to-ship AIS messages, the R5 will also be able to process DGPS beacon signals and future satellite AIS messages and e-navigation radio channels. Added Mangs: ʻThe SDR technology in the R5 products provides unlimited flexibility in adding new radio channels with software upgrades in the futureʼ

In addition to lingering concerns about the satellites’ performance in ‘de-colliding’ the intermingled signals emanating from ships in congested waters, some of the satellites have been prone to failing, casting further doubts around the overall reliability of the system. Simply substituting one unreliable system with another does not really help matters.

Moreover, no-one has yet found a workable business model for covering the costs of maintaining a constellation of satellites. In short, the indications are that a space-based solution is still some years away from realisation.

Of course the disaster in Japan comes as a stark reminder that human prowess is no match for the might of nature. It follows that, in the face of such forces,

By using Software Defined Radio, Saabʼs R5 will be easily upgradeable

the technologies on which we grow increasingly dependent can never be 100% reliable. Is it wise then for the shipping industry – or those who regulate it – to enthusiastically embrace initiatives, such as e-Navigation, that would serve to increase this dependency further still?

This is not to dismiss the concept out of hand. It has the potential to improve the efficiency of navigation, resulting in smaller fuel bills and one would conclude greater business efficiency. The safety case is probably less clear-cut, since it must be considered in the terms of accidents and incidents that are prevented (and therefore hard to quantify and prone to exaggeration). For this reason, e-navigation should perhaps be treated as ECDIS and radar were in their early days: as an aid to navigation – not the primary means.

The officers and masters onboard ships must always be prepared to revert back to older methods.

Strong links SRT’s Tucker believes that the success of contemporary AIS derives from the strict standards laid down by the IMO which, if complied with, ensure total interoperability between devices as a mesh-network: ‘From the outset AIS was intended to be a fully automated system, ie one that is capable of working without any human intervention whatsoever.

The hardware is designed to be extremely robust and reliable.’

But like the old adage says: a chain (or network) is only as strong as its weakest link. So, the danger, according to Tucker, is where rogue, non-compliant devices are produced, sold and fitted to vessels. ‘This is why robust independent testing and approval of AIS products by a competent test house is imperative.

If this is done, then the marine domain is significantly safer with AIS.’ * SRT Marine is a UK-based company that holds close to 80% market share for AIS hardware globally.

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Five years ago, GPS jamming was generally regarded as a government-level problem concerning national defence. Jamming devices were not readily available and the major perceived threat was to missile guidance systems and other military systems.

Today however the picture has radically altered. Jamming devices are easily obtained through the internet, either ready built (through auction and other e-commerce sites) or as circuit diagrams which can then be homebuilt. At the same time use of GPS has become much more widespread.

It was for the purpose of addressing this issue and to share ideas on possible solutions that a few months back some 40 plus researchers and engineers congregated at the National Physical Laboratory, nestled among the greener suburbs of Greater London, to attend the GNSS Interference, Detection and Monitoring Conference.

James Caverly of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opened proceedings with a stark warning: ‘The vulnerabilities of GPS are well understood but the threats have changed.

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The vulnerabilities of GPS are wellknown and have, for those so inclined, become markedly easier to exploit, yet patching these weaknesses is proving as difficult as ever

GPS has become embedded in the machinery of modern society. It underpins our power grid, banking system, logistics chain and mobile communications. We cannot even begin to estimate the financial, let alone practical, impact of a full-blown outage.’

Ubiquity unrecognised Its ubiquity is such that many organisations don’t even recognise their dependency anymore, he added. ‘The only sure way of waking people up to the fact would be to turn off the system and see who screams loudest.’

The DHS has been tasked with identifying and mitigating sources of interference. In one case, recalls Caverly, the cause

GNSS back up options are inadequate, and even where available they are largely untested

of a periodic GPS outage at a major American airport was discovered to be a truck driver who was using a small handheld jamming device to hide his location from his employers while he visited his girlfriend while on work hours.

The government body has stepped up its anti-jamming activity. It has set up procedures for identifying, analysing, locating, attributing and mitigating ‘denial-of-service’ attacks. It has also defined three categories for classifying outages: intentional jamming; non-intentional jamming; and ‘space weather’, though the line for differentiating between intentional and nonintentional jamming is still blurred.

Caverly pointed out that not only do mechanisms for detecting and reporting interference have to be improved, but laws on jamming need to be strengthened and better enforced.

‘GPS creates a single point of failure,’ stated Dr Martyn Thomas, chairman of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s recent and much publicised study into GNSS vulnerability [1]. RAE’s fascination in the topic was spurred by a report issued two years ago by the US Government Accounta-

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bility Office [2] on its fears over US Air Force’s ability to maintain GPS provision (in space) due to insufficient resources.

Inadequate back-ups Driving home Caverly’s view on a trajectory of increasing GPS dependency, Dr Thomas added that ‘back up options are inadequate, and even where available they are largely untested.’ He too intimated that the window of opportunity for carrying out practical trials on jamming is shrinking rapidly. ‘We will soon reach a point where such experiments become too dangerous to contemplate,’ he stated.

He noted also that the alternative constellations, such as Europe’s Galileo system and Russia’s Glonass share many of the vulnerabilities inherent to GPS. In this respect, he highlighted the importance of not creating ‘perverse incentives’ that encourage wider use of jamming among the public, say for example, GPS-enabled roadcharging schemes. Nevertheless, he was keen to emphasise the situation isn’t entirely doom-andgloom: ‘There is still time to respond. The report should be viewed as a call to arms.’

Dr Thomas believes that more can be done to overcome jamming through better antenna and receiver design, and hopes the report will stimulate sustained research in this area.

Dead-reckoning This was a theme explored further by Peter Soar of Qinetiq. He explained that not all receivers function the same way: ‘Some are capable of dead-reckoning.

That is to say, during short outages, they will calculate their current position based on movements relative to the last received signal.’

However, he pointed out that the switch over to dead-reckoning is, in most cases, invisible to the user, which could create safety risks. In a maritime context, for example, it would be better to for deck officers to see an icon flash up on their ECDIS

Laws on jamming need to be strengthened and better enforced consoles that dead-reckoning had been engaged.

Prof Washington Ochieng of Imperial College London concurred with this line of thought.

In discussing the capabilities and limitations of RAIM (Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring) he stressed the importance of informing the user of possible failures. He also invited delegates to consider the idea of defining a performance standard for integrity.

Meanwhile, the focus of Dr Stuart Eves from the UK’s International Space Innovation Centre (located near Oxford) was on creating higher resilience for the actual GPS satellites. He talked about a programme to bring about a space equivalent of air traffic control to track manmade orbital objects, both operational and defunct.

Encryption helps Nigel Davies, also representing Qinetiq, said that (as long as collisions can be avoided) modern GNSS satellites are highly reliable pieces of kit. Indeed, resilience is considered to be a key requirement on forthcoming constellations such as the EU’s Galileo (should it ever see the day) and China’s Compass.

Davies also drew attention to the growing problem of spoofing, but expressed great belief in Galileo’s signal encryption as a future solution. Though it should be remembered that this encryption scheme is – at the moment – only supposed to be available to government users.

Possibly looking to win the award for most creative scenario on how terrorists might go about breaking GPS, Davies suggested the placement of jamming devices in radio-controlled planes to amplify and maximise the level of interference over a rela-

tively large area.

Bringing a maritime flavour to the discussion, George Shaw from the UK’s General Lighthouses Authority (GLA) made the case for ‘hardened GNSS’. As previously reported in MITE, the GLA has carried out several large-scale investigations into the consequences of GNSS jamming at different power levels. Alluding to Davies’ concerns about spoofing, Shaw told delegates the real danger was not of the signal being completely blocked, but a low-power disturbance resulting in misleading but ‘believable’ errors.

Complmentary solutions But GLA left no room for ‘misleading signals’ about its preferred solution to the problem of GNSS vulnerabilities: eLoran. The Authority’s evangelical stance on e-Loran is both politically and technologically motivated, but an irrefutable argument in its favour is that it inversely complements GNSS: whereas satellite-based positioning systems rely on a high frequency, low power signal, terrestrial e-Loran uses a low frequency, high power signal.

Chronos was the only organisation to present a tangible practical solution to GNSS vulnerabilities. But even here the focus was on detection of interference rather than actual mitigation. Company chief executive Charles Curry gave an overview of its Sentinel system, a spin-off to its earlier Gaardian project. It is notable both use e-Loran as a reference point. Whereas Gaardian’s primary goal was to assess GNSS Quality of Service over large areas, Sentinel was developed to work in a localised manner in order protect critical infrastructure locations.

[1] Global Navigation Space Systems: reliance and vulnerabilities [2011] http://www.raeng.org.uk/gnss [2] Global Positioning System: Significant Chal-

Low-power disturbances can result in misleading but ʻbelievableʼ errors

lenges in Sustaining and Upgrading Widely Used Capabilities [2009] http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-670T

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Guarding against GNSS disruption Three years ago a research consortium was formed to develop a system capable of monitoring fluctuations in the local RF environment that would indicate the presence of GNSS jamming. Christened GAARDIAN [sic] the group was led by Chronos Technology, a company that delivers timing and synchronisation services and GPS solutions to the telecoms and defence industries among others, and funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

One of the major challenges in the early part of the GAARDIAN (an acronym aptly conjured up to mean ‘GNSS Availability, Accuracy, Reliability anD Integrity Assessment for timing and Navigation’) was handling the vast amounts of data that would need to be processed as monitoring was underway.

The hardware and software that eventually resulted employed special algorithms that reduced the quantities to a more manageable size. The probes were also conferred with ‘semiintelligent’ decision-making circuits, which could ascertain whether or not a particular anomaly was a real problem.

Meanwhile the dual approach of using GPS and e-Loran came about because a verifiable reference point is needed. ‘It is not inconceivable that a suitably high-power jammer could over18

MITE June/July 2011

Andy Proctor* talks to MITE about the evolution of two GNSS jamming detection systems ‒ GAARDIAN and SENTINEL ‒ and reveals how the technologies might one day be deployed in a maritime scenario

load the GPS receiver in the probe. With e-Loran acting as a back-up, we can obtain a more accurate picture of the level of GPS degradation,’ explains Chronos’ Andy Proctor, responsible for the commercial aspects of the programme.

Doing as much numbercrunching as possible on the probes at the point of reception is also important to reduce the bandwidth requirements for sending the data home to Chronos’ servers at its headquarters outside Gloucester, England for further trend analysis.

The GAARDIAN probes are not small mobile devices. They are static monitors that require their own power-supply and feeds to GPS and e-Loran antennas. The 17 units currently deployed around the UK are sited at consortium locations including BT facilities and some of the General Lighthouse Authorities’ and Ordnance Survey monitoring stations. Proctor elaborates: ‘The current probes fit in a standard 19–inch server rack unit, primarily because that’s a con-

17 GAARDIAN units are currently deployed around the UK for measuring GNSS quality of service

venient form-factor. But they could equally be housed in a durable plastic box for outdoor locations. Data could feasibly be transmitted back via 3G modem rather than DSL.’ At HQ engineers can access the data from any probe through a web interface powered by GoogleMaps. The hope was that GAARDIAN would go some way to protect critical infrastructure, such as airports and harbours among others, from jamming. However, while it could alert authorities about possible disruptions, it was unable to pinpoint their source.

Explains Proctor: ‘The difficulty arises due to the various power levels used by different jammers.

Low-power units may only impact a hundred feet or so, but a highpower device could have a sphere of influence of over half a mile.

This challenge is being addressed in SENTINEL, the successor project to GAARDIAN.’ ‘We met with Association of Chief Police Officers and they gave us an insight to the criminal use of jammers and talked about a much more tactical kind of system. What we realised is GAARDIAN is good for wide area monitoring, for QoS, integrity etc, but SENTINEL will have to work in a localised manner. It also needed to discriminate between man-made interference, whether intentional or not, and natural disturbances caused by space-weather,’ he continues.

SENTINEL – a shortened way of saying ‘GNSS SErvices Needing

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Trust In Navigation, Electronics, Location and timing’ – is designed both to detect and to provide an indication on location of the jamming source. An installation consists of a web of probes that effectively encircle the facility they are protecting. Then, should normal GPS operation be disrupted, it would be possible to triangulate the position of the jamming source. ‘We can provide a circle of probability. From that, the authorities can be directed to an approximate location, narrowed down by using such things as hand-held GPS interference detectors.’

Chronos hopes that SENTINEL will provide a measure of confidence in the GPS signals being received by a user, whether for timing or positioning purposes. ‘Maintaining trust in the system is important, because many kinds of national infrastructure – from finance to power generation – are all reliant on GPS for timing and synchronisation. It is more than just location, location, location.’

Proctor suggests that SENTINEL could be further modified to use eLoran as a backup source of accurate timing if GPS can no longer be trusted due to jamming or some other interference.

For now, the main target user group for the SENTINEL system are security related or those infrastructure operators for facilities that the government considers critical: power stations, airports and seaports and such like. The next tier down would

be for protecting state-endorsed projects such as in GPS based pay-as-you-go road pricing. In Europe, one of the main uses of GPS jammers is to defeat such systems, notes Proctor.

Taking a wider perspective, the SENTINEL system does open up some interesting possibilities in the maritime context, for example protecting offshore oil and gas drilling operations. ‘In modern offshore energy projects there are countless GPS dependencies, from the myriad of systems used on the drilling rigs themselves to the dynamic positioning and other advanced electronics found on offshore support vessels (OSVs). Together, these represent a single point of failure,’ says Proctor. ‘With GPS so embedded in the success of these projects, the financial implications of a serious outage would be considerable.’

And in today’s world, the idea of a group of environmental protesters wanting to take direct action against Big Oil cannot be dismissed as entirely irrational. In fact sabotaging the GPS in the vicinity of a rig might not even require true direct action: a jammer (together with power-supply) on a small raft could be floated into the target area from a safe distance.

Position correcting services, such as those delivered by satellite or other means, employed by the offshore industry for making sure DP projects go exactly to

Sentinel: A web of sensors allow GNSS signals to be monitored

plan are typically not designed to compensate for full-out localised GNSS disruption. In this sense, SENTINEL would act as an extra layer of protection.

But the possibility of protecting entire shipping channels is – for the time being – probably beyond the scope of the technology.

As it stands the system depends on probes being static – for example fixed on buoys or other maritime fixed infrastructure. If these are positioned in sea lanes, then all is well and good. But it would not yet be possible to install a probe onboard individual ships.

‘Their metal construction is very noisy from an RF perspective, so any probe could susceptible to the self-induced jamming effect of the vessel’s superstructure,’ says Proctor. ‘Moreover, they themselves are moving, which, even accounting for dead-reckoning, brings many other variables into the equation. These fall outside of the SENTINEL project but have been identified as future work to be done.’ * Andy Proctor is divisional manager for GNSS applications and solutions at Chronos. To learn more about the companyʼs GNSS and timing systems, visit: www.chronos.co.uk ** Both GAARDIAN and SENTINEL were funded by the UKʼs Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

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Look after all your recordings, says Gard The sole function of voyage data recorders (VDRs) is to serve as a black-box to record and store the movements and other vessel data so that it can be analysed in the event of an incident. But officers must be familiar with its operation for a successful conclusion when it matters most.

Failure to be able to produce VDR information may lead to counterparty allegations that might have been prevented and/or proceeded against in a less costly manner had it not been for the lack of VDR evidence, explains Gard in its latest circular for ship owner members.

The P&I group goes on to stress the importance of knowing the VDRs capabilities and limitations, so that members do not lose crucial evidence connected to an incident. The circular also delivers a number of recommendations on familiarisation, drills, service and description in the SMS on when and how to use the VDRs. Press save In one recent case a large container vessel ran aground. On grounding, the ‘save’ button on the VDR was pressed in accordance with the procedures, but three days later, when a shore technician was contracted to extract the VDR data recordings, it was found that the data had never been saved. It also turned out that the master was not familiar with the VDR and that he had never saved data before. The relevant VDR data from the incident had been lost.

Gard finds that lack of understanding and limited indepth knowledge of the 20

MITE June/July 2011

Norwegian P&I group Gard has experienced a number of cases where vessels have been unsuccessful in both saving and retrieving vital VDR information. It offers advice on preserving data and preventing unfair claims

equipment often lead to loss of VDR data even where the equipment is in full working order.

Even when the VDR information has been successfully preserved, downloading it often poses a challenge.

‘Most VDRs require a manufacturer’s technician to attend in order to download the data. The fact that there are numerous manufacturers and various model types requiring different software versions to be able to view the data make it difficult to retrieve the information and data,’ the insurer writes.

‘VDR systems also have a built-in alarm function that is automatically triggered in the event of a malfunction of the system, however, in some cases, we have experienced that the VDR alert function was not triggered by the hardware malfunction.’

Going loopy The VDR loop function may offer an option to retain data from a longer period of time than the 12hr window required by the IMO performance standard. (Some class societies stipulate 24hrs, while manufacturers often provide sufficient capacity to record up to 48hrs). By adjusting this default the Master increases the chances of data being preserved. But they should al-

ways be aware that the records will be overwritten within the implemented time frame if the data is not promptly saved.

Gard advises owners to get the equipment regularly serviced. To ensure that the VDR is in full working order, tests should be conducted regularly by an approved service supplier to verify the accuracy, duration and recoverability of the recorded data. The contact details of technicians and manufacturer should be easy available. VDR software should also be available at relevant location onboard/ashore.

It also urges owners to plan onboard familiarisation and drills. These should be undertaken regularly, ideally in combination with above mentioned regular service of the VDR unit, to verify that the bridge team is familiar with the procedures and the VDR equipment. Saving of data should be a part of the emergency response procedures and emergency drills.

Reasonable recommendations The insurer has further come up with three recommendations concerning when and how VDRs should be used. Firstly, it should be clearly stated in the operator’s procedures which kind of incidents and near-misses should be preserved for securing of evidence and sharing of lessons learnt. Owners/managers are also recommended to include such information in the emergency response section of the vessel’s Safety Management System (SMS).

Secondly, a poster on the bridge positioned near the VDR equipment setting out the procedures, such as when and how to

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RNLI mods toughened DV cameras to raise profile The UKʼs Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is making dramatic video recordings of their rescue missions and routine training operations, in some of the harshest sea conditions in the world, thanks to a ruggedised camera from Ovation Systems.

The RNLI first began to use the FlashBack-2 digital recording system in 2008 both for training purposes and for raising public awareness of the difficult work being carried in saving lives at sea.

This latter objective is

use the VDR (both saving and retrieving data), roles and responsibilities by the bridge team and a short user description.

Thirdly, the data will often be saved in a format that is not readily accessible to a third-party without the necessary software.

Owners should check whether the information on their equipment can be readily downloaded or whether a manufacturer’s technician will be needed. If a technician is required, he should be put on stand-by to attend a casualty as soon as possible after an incident to extract the necessary evidence.

However, paramount emphasis should be placed on stopping the VDR overwriting data, states Gard, for failure to retrieve VDR information could, it warns, lead to counterparty allegations that might have been prevented and/or proceeded against in a less costly manner had VDR evidence been available.

Consider the scenario where one vessel retrieves its data, while the other has none. The latter is clearly at a disadvantage in any disputes. For this reason more than any other masters and their bridge team should be familiar with the practicalities of data saving and retrieval.

important because, as a charity, the organisation receives no governmental funding, so relies on donations from the general public.

For this role the FlashBack-2, which is a compact and rugged digital video recorder (DVR), has been combined with a side-mounted helmet camera. The system is connected to the camera by use of a specially designed cable and is carried with a battery in a plastic waterproof case which is mounted on a crew memberʼs belt kit. ʻRNLIʼs in-house engineering department have integrated the FlashBack-2 with the other products to create a highly durable and

The digital recorder is wired to a side-mounted helmet camera

effective man-pack system able to operate in the most extreme conditions,ʼ commented Ovationʼs Gordon Moore.

The RNLI now have over 300 Flashback-2 systems deployed at more than 230 lifeboat stations throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland.

While FlashBack-2 was ostensibly designed for covert surveillance applications, it has been adopted in a variety of other applications where video quality, compact size and rugged constructions are key requirements. As video recorded by the camera is fully MPEG-2 compliant, standard applications may be used to view and archive recordings to disk or DVD.

ECDIS Doctor Training dominated the debate at open panel session at the first ECDISPLUS seminar held in Singapore in April. Operators want to know how they can ensure navigating officers are trained adequately, cost-effectively and on type-specific ECDIS equipment.

For Kelvin Hughes customers, the answer is simple: ECDISPLUS, can deliver IMO-approved ECDIS training that covers both the generic and type specific requirements.

Our flag-state approved training has been developed by experts to ensure that navigators get the best out of their equipment whilst teaching them how to enhance navigational safety and make the switch away from traditional techniques.

We will also be providing a computer-based training package that will enable users to familiarise themselves with the operation of our ECDIS on board ship. The only practicable solution to the large numbers of crew that will need training is an onboard approach. In this way, initial training and refresher courses can be undertaken without large costs or disruption.

With the ability to offer training to fleets all over the world, and with a package that includes the latest ECDIS equipment, cost effective supply and management of charts and real-time updates, Kelvin Hughes and ECDISPLUS are taking integrated ECDIS solutions to the next level.

To find out more, go to: www.ecdisplus.com

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Advanced analysis Back in 2001, MTN Satellite was one of the first satcoms suppliers that provided a ‘ship tracker portal’ to its maritime customers. ‘Today such a capability is taken for granted, but back then it was revolutionary,’ says Kevin McCarthy, the company’s senior VP of network engineering. ‘It was the first time customers could view the location of their vessels on a map, and quickly pull up key parameters such as signal strength and utilisation.’

McCarthy is responsible for the design, management and support of the company’s global VSAT satellite network. Since joining the company in 1999, he has successfully led MTN through several major technology upgrades, steadily increasing the performance and capabilities of its network.

A few years later MTN deployed SatManage, a system created by Parallel (since acquired by iDirect) which provided orders of magnitude more granularity. ‘Owners can see utilisation as before, but drill down for more detail. They can see how much data is being consumed by voice calls, web-surfing, email. It’s also possible to delineate crew, business and passenger usage.’

Watchful eye But SatManage is more than an eye-candy front-end. For experienced network engineers like McCarthy it is an indispensable tool. ‘Bandwidth is a scarce and expensive resource, so it is critical we monitor our services in real-time to look out for unusual usage patterns. Out of the ordinary usage could indicate the 22

MITE June/July 2011

MTN Satelliteʼs Kevin McCarthy explains how powerful data-mining and troubleshooting tools have made the shore-side management of maritime satcoms more efficient

presence of a virus or other malware, but is also caused by streaming media sites left running. The Satmanage traffic analyser lets us drill down to gain a better idea of the reasons for the anomaly and then take remedial action as appropriate.’

The back-end database is invaluable to McCarthy for another reason: forecasting future demand. Each year MTN has to work out how much capacity to purchase from satellite operators to ensure that it can fulfil the expectations of its clients (as specified in their SLA) plus a bit extra for contingency.

But there was definitely room for improvement in McCarthy’s traditional methodology for attacking this problem: ‘Because

Successful troubleshooting MTN USES SatManage to help it proactively detect and prevent network issues. A recent example of an issue that would have been difficult to spot without SatManage involved the tracking system on one of MTNʼs large teleport antennas.

Previously, it was nearly impossible to detect a subtle teleport antenna tracking issue by looking at one shipʼs signal strength. However, by using SatManage to correlate the data from dozens of ships over a period of several days, MTN was able to detect similar fluctuations in signal strength throughout the data. This common fluctuation helped isolate that the problem was at the teleport.

passenger ships plan and publish their itineraries a year in advance, we would know their approximate location. And past experience would offer an indication how much bandwidth they were likely to require. Then we effectively just correlated the two sets of data. It wasn’t the most sophisticated of techniques.’

Accurate predictions Now SatManage is continually gathering and storing information on where, by whom and how much data is being transmitted usage, as well as a plethora of technical parameters. This can be mined to investigate trends over time and make predictions about future usage with a greater level of precision, which, says McCarthy, is particularly helpful for regions and waters with high population density. Indeed, to do this effectively, McCarthy and his team have created reports and developed their own forecasting tools to extrapolate the necessary patterns from the data.

Cruise ships still represent the core of MTN Satellite’s customer base. ‘Setting up the satcoms for a large passenger vessel is not dissimilar to provisioning connectivity for a small town. Capacity has to be shared among passengers, crew and officers, through a diverse range of applications: internet cafés, WiFi, mobile telephony, credit-card transactions and operational data.

‘As might be expected, the scale of these projects results in considerable customisation on how things are set up on board.

The Allure of the Seas for instance has six iDirect modems for load balancing and to ensure adequate redundancy. What remains consistent however is a

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Up and running in 24 hours need to maintain QoS – Quality of Service – in order to prioritise and redirect traffic. The ability of SatManage to do deep analysis allows us to make sure this happens correctly.’

Diversification ahead Nonetheless, over the last few years, the MTN has tried to break into other verticals, namely white-boat, merchant fleet, offshore energy and governmental/military sectors.

Commercial shipping has proved to be a very tough market. The number of vessels has acted like a magnet in attracting lots of players, but at the same time owners have a reputation for being spendthrift and highly price sensitive, so overall the margins are slim.

Expansion into mega-yachts and other high-end leisure craft however has come much more easily. McCarthy says: ‘The owners are very demanding: they have high expectations and low tolerance for problems. However, that’s not so different from a typical cruise-ship operator. In fact, some of our first leisure customers were cruise line owners!’

All MTN Satellite’s airtime packages – whether for cruise ships, billionaire yachts or even vessels in the merchant fleet – are based around the Committed Information Rate (CIR) model.

‘CIRs provide the end-user a guarantee the service they’re signing up for won’t degrade over time. It is different from an

SPANISH RESEARCH vessel BIO Hesperides has become one of the first recipients of MTNʼs rapid deployment [VSAT] system (RDS). Installed in just one day, by MTN and Spanish VSAT provider Erzia, RDS is designed to ensure connectivity ʻno matter the location or conditionsʼ aboard the Hesperides as it travels across the Pacific from Sydney, Australia to Cartagena de Indias in Columbia for the Malaspina expedition.

The projectʼs main objective is to develop a high-resolution inventory of the impact of global climate change on deep ocean ecosystems. As it approached the final segment of the expedition across the Pacific Ocean, the vessel required a temporary broadband satellite communications solution that could be installed in quick time. ʻHesperides is a Navy ship dedicated to marine science that uses X-Band satellites to connect their systems,ʼ said Bradford Briggs, senior vice president for MTNʼs commercial shipping and energy business. ʻWhen the vessel required additional coverage, they turned to the MTN/Erzia team for a fully operational temporary Kuband VSAT solution. RDS solution was developed for this very kind of situation.ʼ

BIO Hesperides: Ku-band connectivity was installed in a day

“up to” model, whereby vessels can end up competing for limited bandwidth. While CIR is a fixed minimum transmission rate, ships can take advantage of extra capacity on the circuit whenever it’s available, for example, during off-peak hours.’

Teleport handovers MTN Satellite standardised on iDirect technology for its maritime customers in 2003. A key driver was the prospect of centralising the management of multiple hubs. ‘In practice this meant we could control the traffic flowing back from ships through teleports at various geographic locations from a server sitting at a single site.’

Moreover it made moving vessels from one teleport to another more straightforward, particularly when compared to the equivalent procedures for vessels transmitting data on SCPC (single channel per carrier). ‘With SCPC you had to adjusted input frequencies on modems and coordinate everything with the people onboard and at the earth station,’ recalls McCarthy.

Bandwidth allocation was also easier. ‘As vessels move around the load on different satellites is continuously changing. Managing that on SCPC circuits was very cumbersome and labour intensive. The TDMA method employed by iDirect, in effect, created pools of bandwidth for inbound/outbound traffic, making the process more efficient.’

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www.imarest.org/publications/MaritimeITelectronics

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Intellian breathes new life into C-band A relatively new name to commercial maritime satcoms, antenna manufacturer Intellian is quickly gaining traction in what is becoming a fiercely competitive marketplace. This was most recently demonstrated by its appointment as an official supplier to airtime provider Marlink. Notably Intellian only produces stabilised maritime antennas, and moreover its entire range is designed and tested in-house from the ground-up.

But what really differentiates this South Korean manufacturer is its hands-on approach to innovation, marrying simple ideas with sophisticated technology.

This philosophy is affirmed in the v240C, a model unveiled earlier this year marking the company’s first foray into C-band territory.

In brief, the v240C is a 2.4m diameter C-band antenna designed to perform in low signal strength environments. It also features a newly developed automatic polarisation switching capability, more about which later.

But at a time when ship owners appear to be deploying Ku-band systems in growing numbers, the 24

MITE June/July 2011

While it would be easy to dismiss Cband VSAT as ʻold-hatʼ, Intellian proves there is still scope for finessing a wellestablished technology

For vessels transiting the high seas, [C-band] remains a very attractive option Paul Comyns, Intellian

Less is more: A mechanically streamlined design means Intellianʼs v240C can reach ʻover-the-topʼ elevations up to 120deg and negative ones up to -15deg

question has to be asked: why Cband and why now?

C-band is a tried and tested technology, which is suited to ships requiring high bandwidth on a near global basis. Whereas Ku-band where coverage is provided by a patchwork of regional satellite beams from numerous operators, C-band coverage is not dissimilar to that provided on Lband services, such as Inmarsat.

‘For vessels transiting the high seas, it remains a very attractive option,’ Paul Comyns, Intellian’s vice president for global marketing told MITE. ‘The limelight has in recent years been on Ku-band, but what C-band can deliver is a very solid, reliable service. Though it might not be the volume part of the market, there is still ample opportunity for a new antenna not based on designs rehashed from twenty or so years ago. The v240C was also a logical move in terms of rounding out our product portfolio.’

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The v240C is Intellian’s first C-band antenna. It was also the first to be designed from scratch at the company’s new research and development centre, located an hours drive south of Seoul, South Korea. The 6600m2 fourstorey facility, which was opened in May 2010, houses the company’s quality control, engineering, product development, RF design, mechanical design engineering, production, purchasing and administration teams.

The centre is fitted out with a vertiable array of apparatus enabling Intellian’s engineers to reproduce in-house the harsh environmental conditions that antennas will encounter and must survive at sea. It has a field testing lab furnished with extensive window access to the sky for convenient antenna development and testing inside the building; four labs with vibration machines that conduct shock and ageing tests, along with equipment that tests hardware against temperature, humidity, salt, mist and other environmental elements.

With increased manufacturing capacity, the antenna production line at the Innovation Centre can churn out up to 1000 units/month from across the company’s product range, including TVRO and Ku-band as well as the new C-band design. However, according to Comyns, business has been so good in the last twelve months that the company is looking to further expand the facility.

A distinguishing feature of the v240C is automatic polarisation. On most existing C-band antennas, if the vessel moves between different polarisation zones, a crew member armed with toolset would have to climb into the radome and manually adjust the feedhorn to match the prevailing polarisation.

Generally speaking, linear (horizontal/vertical) polarisation is predominant in the Americas, while circular is used across Europe and the Middle East. Over Asia-Pacific, it tends to vary. The type of polarisation used depends on the amount of band-

Flexible mesh reflectors are a bit of a Catch-22. They weigh less but donʼt have the same reception performance as a solid reflector width available on the satellite transponder and the number of users in the region. For example, circular polarisation is preferable in regions with a high population, in order to use the available slots on a transponder with maximum efficiency.

For cruise ships, which often deploy C-band to take advantage of its higher bandwidth, this did not present too much problem.

Explains Comyns: ‘Passenger vessels tend to move with the seasons, spending the summer around the Mediterranean and then migrating south to the Caribbean in winter, for instance.

Because they operate in a single region for extended periods, switching polarisation is required only infrequently. Furthermore, many cruise ships gave several C-band TVRO, C-band and Kuband VSAT antennas working simultaneously to maintain fault tolerance.’

The situation for merchant vessel is quite different. A ship going from Rotterdam, around the Cape of Good Hope and on to Australia would require switchovers several times each passage. It is in these circumstances, automatic polarisation is a great advantage.

When the vessel is about to enter a new region, the antenna control unit accesses the polarisation requirement from its inbuilt satellite library and will mechanically adjust the polarisation in the antenna with motors.

The end-result is seamless operation.

A criticism often made of Cband antennas is that their bulk and weight result in significant costs and vessel downtime dur-

Two-axis stablised antennas donʼt perform well on or near the equator as they get confused

ing installation. Comyns notes however that a crane and/or other heavy lifting gear are required for nearly all VSAT systems. Even a small 60cm Ku-band antenna weighs more than two people can safely lift to place on its pedestal, he says.

Nonetheless, this does not mean Intellian has quietly ignored the problem. On the v240C it has replaced the conventional metal reflector with one constructed from carbon-fibre. This alone has resulted in a weight loss of some 360kg. This approach differs to that taken by other manufacturers that opted to use a mesh reflector to lighten their designs. ‘Flexible mesh reflectors are a bit of a Catch-22.

They weigh less but don’t have the same reception performance as a solid reflector, so to compensate a larger dish size is required,’ explains Comyns.

The v240C features a threeaxis stabilised antenna platform with unlimited azimuth capability that ensures reliable satellite access and no down time due to cable wrap and rough seas. ‘Twoaxis stablised antennas don’t perform well on or near the equator as they get confused. They find it difficult to reconcile which direction to point, akin to the way a magnetic compass held at the North Pole can appear to give spurious readings.

‘Unchecked, this can lead to the attaching cables wrapping themselves around the antenna.

Untangling the system means the line of sight to the satellite is lost and must be reacquired. For anyone using the link to access the Internet or some such, this results in a temporary outage.’

To overcome this, Intellian’s v240C can reach ‘over-the-top’ elevations up to 120deg. It can also manoeuvre to negative ones – up to -15deg – to solve another traditional problem area: high latitudes. ‘If the vessel is navigating, say, near the top of Norway, the antenna is typically pointed just above the horizon. If the ship rolls away, the automatic stabilisation requires a negative elevation to maintain line of sight.’

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Inmarsat has played a central role in the maritime industry for over three decades, not only delivering its original remit of safety services, but also providing voice and data that are used by everyone from merchant vessels to the Volvo Ocean Race yachts.

Until now, these services have been delivered in L-band.

In August last year, the company announced a US$1.2bn investment in a new constellation of three Ka-band satellites. From 2013, once the three Inmarsat-5 generation Boeing 702HP satellites are in position, we will be able to offer ultra fast maritime broadband with speeds up to 50Mbps to terminals as small as 60cm.

This is the first time a commercial operator has utilised Kaband to deliver a seamless global satellite service. It will also allow us to free up additional capacity to enhance our existing portfolio of L-band services. We see a future where mobile satellite services are delivered through a combination of L-band and Kaband satellites, harnessing the strengths of each to offer an un26

MITE June/July 2011

Former head of Globe Wireless, maritime satcoms veteran Frank Coles was recently recruited by Inmarsat to oversee the market introduction of Global Xpress - GX. Here, he divulges how GX will complement Inmarsat始s existing services

A computer rendering of an Inmarsat-5 generation Boeing 702HP Ka-band satellite

rivalled package of services based on speed, price and portability.

Earlier this year we began the task of accelerating the GX programme with the acquisition of Norwegian-owned Ship Equip, a leading provider of VSAT maritime communications services to the shipping, offshore oil and gas and fishing markets. They give us over 900 vessels who are likely to be early adopters.

Ship Equip has been successful in sectors where Inmarsat still has room to grow or to date has not had a product for. The cruise and offshore energy market, in particular, have been dominated by VSAT but Inmarsat believes it is to these sectors that the enhanced capacity and speeds available from Global Xpress will most appeal.

Inmarsat plans to transfer customers quickly from Ku-band on to Ka-band. It does not anticipate the need for a bridging period when ships operate the two systems in parallel.

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SingTel offers cash-rich owners free C-band

Frank Coles will oversee the launch of Global Xpress

EMBLEMATIC OF the intensifying competition between satcoms companies serving the maritime market, SingTel is offering two years free airtime on its C-band VSAT service in an effort to drum up new business.

Shipping companies that have enough cash floating around to splurge out on an antenna before the end of June do not have to pay the normal airtime charges on SingTelʼs 128kbps service for a full 24-months.

The Singaporean telco announced the special deal on the launch of a new crew welfare webportal. Called crewXchange@singtel, this dedicated website lets users subscribe to news feeds, access emails, and chat with their friends over various messenger platforms. In addition, shipping companies can set up private chat rooms for work related matters.

Optimised to cater to the bandwidth limitations typically found onboard vessels, the ʻlightweightʼ site ‒ crew.singtel.com ‒ is available free of charge to all SingTelʼs maritime broadband customers. SingTel calculates that almost 10 000 seafarers will therefore be able to benefit from the service.

The Global Xpress network will allow customers to seamlessly cross satellite spot beam boundaries, providing the vessel with uninterrupted connectivity, thereby overcoming many of the disadvantages associated with today’s Ku-band VSAT. Although there has been a gradual improvement in the coverage of Ku-band, it is still not global in the sense of Inmarsat’s global capabilities. That said, for some users contemporary Ku-band is sufficient, and of those many deploy a FleetBroadband termi-

nal to patch up the shortfall in coverage.

Concerns about the potential for weather-related disruptions have been addressed by selecting technology that is already employed by commercial services in the US By their nature, higher bandwidth frequencies, including both Ku- and Ka-band, tend to be more susceptible to rain fade than L-band. To compensate for this, we will be making specific changes to the satellite airinterface to make it more resilient. The new satellites will

have a number of spot beams, so we will have more options to illuminate specific areas.

While Global Xpress is the future bedrock of Inmarsat’s maritime business, L-band and FleetBroadband will remain central to successful maritime communications and the company’s growth. Come 2014, with two global constellations under the control of one operator, we will be in the unique position to provide the right solution to every sector and customer type in the maritime market. Furthermore, with Stratos and ShipEquip in the fold, we can call upon domain knowledge to gauge and properly understand customer needs.

Of course, large data consumers will immediately find the new service attractive because they are already paying for broadband access and are familiar with these types of services.

But, at the same time, a large part of the market still won’t need the capacity GX is capable of delivering and will continue to be well served by FleetBroadband. As costs for both hardware and monthly service decrease, Global Xpress is likely to become attractive to a wider group of customers. * Inmarsat has obtained up to US$700M funding to build its next generation Inmarsat-5 satellites, the cornerstone of its Global Xpress programme.

The agreement was signed with the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The financing will be available for 4 years and then be repayable in equal installments over a further 8.5 years.

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TELEPHONY

Inmarsat is all talk Inmarsat has developed a multiple voice calling capability for FleetBroadband that will allow up to nine – or rather one plus eight – simultaneous voice calls through a single terminal.

Becoming part of the standard FleetBroadband service, the multi-voice capability – which is scheduled to come online this autumn/winter – will offer additional telephone lines, each with their own +870 telephone number, to support up to nine concurrent voice calls. It will work on existing FleetBroadband terminals with just minor modifications needed, depending on the terminal.

Inmarsat’s director of maritime James Collett said: ‘Ship owners and managers can now access multiple telephone lines from a single terminal, allowing them to assign telephone lines for specific requirements, and also to more easily separate the business and operational communications needs from those of the crew.’

You might well ask why wasn’t this possible in the first place? According to Collett, it comes down to how FleetBroadband evolved as a ‘marinised’ spin-off from the company’s terrestrial BGAN service. The specification for BGAN anticipated a single user roaming around remote locations, rather than the team environment found on ships.

To overcome this design limitation required an imaginative technical solution - one that could almost be described as a hack. The nine lines actually comprise of 1+8 lines. The ‘1’ is the standard circuit-switched voice line pre-existing from BGAN, while the other ‘8’ are actually VoIP lines.

To be fair, Collett was keen emphasise they are not VoIP to the user, but only when being transported over Inmarsat’s net-

Up to nine crew can now talk simultaneously over a single FleetBroadband connection

At Nor-Shipping, Inmarsat launched a slew of new voice-related services and hardware, starting with a multi-line service for FleetBroadband work. They are terminated as conventional circuit-switched calls. It does however raise an interesting question (which unfortunately goes beyond the scope of this article): is it any longer necessary to make the differentiation between VoIP and circuitswitched telephony?

Pricing of the multi-voice capability will be in line with the recently announced suggested retail price of US$0.55/min for FleetBroadband voice calls. The SRP applies to existing and new activations, and for both pre-paid and post-paid.

Red-button call-out The Inmarsat Voice Distress service utilises FleetBroadband to provide priority call access interrupting all non-distress calls as soon as the red distress button is pushed. The caller is then connected to an operator at one of three Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres (MRCCs) strategically located around the globe. It is important to note that at present the service is not approved under SOLAS regulations.

Inmarsat’s head of martime safety services, Peter Blackhurst, commented: ‘Inmarsat has, throughout its existence, strived to provide the broadest and most efficient means of enabling the seafarer to make contact with the authorities in times of distress or trouble. He added: ‘We are also working towards bringing the system to IMO in order to establish it as a full part of the GMDSS in the future.’

The first device to work with the new service is the Sailor 3771 Alarm Panel from Thrane & Thrane.

FleetPhone satphones Inmarsat also announced that the commercial introduction of the new entry-level voice service developed specifically for the marine environment. The satcoms giant partnered with Beam Communications to produce the new FleetPhone, which will be available in two flavours: the Oceana 800 and Oceana 400.

The Oceana 400 is a simple below-deck unit with IP53 (rainproof) rated enclosure. It features a POTS/RJ11 interface, enabling five standard corded/cordless phones or integration to a PABX system, which makes it easy for captain and crew to make calls at anytime.

Meanwhile the more high-spec Oceana 800 is an all-in-one IP54 rated terminal, with integrated Bluetooth for voice communications, colour display for phonebook and SMS access, a side SIM port for the use of temporary SIM cards, an active privacy handset, and in-built speakerphone. In addition, the Oceana 800 features a dedicated internal GPS receiver that can provide tracking and instant messaging with a single button press.

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The line on GSM has cleared New rules adopted by the European Commission last year and now implemented by most member states should make easier for passengers and crew on ships navigating EU territorial waters to make mobile phone calls or send and receive text messages when they are out of range of land-based mobile phone networks.

For several years now, passengers or crew wishing to use their mobile phones onboard had two options. The first was to wait until the ship was close enough land and pick up a signal from an incumbent national mobile telco. The second was to use (if available) the ship’s own satellite-assisted mobile network.

Regulations mixed-up Although the technology enabling vessel-centric micro mobile networks – based on small pico-cell base stations with a satellite backhaul – is well-established, the regulations concerning its use suffered from a lack of clarity, especially in areas where 30

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The rules on where shipboard mobile networks can and cannot be used have been harmonised across the EU

Ferries fitted with independent networks for mobile phones can now operate them as close as 2nm from shore

the ship’s mobile network may interfere with terrestrial networks.

To avoid dealing with 27 different sets of national legislation and treading on the toes of big telcos, the general rule-of-thumb for ships fitted with a micro mobile network – what EU lawmakers refer to as MCV capabilities – was to turn them off when entering territorial waters of individual countries, ie 12 nautical miles from shore.

This compromise arguably resulted in a worst-for-all situation. Because many European ships – particularly ferries – spend a high proportion of their time within territorial waters, it created a disincentive for ship operators to install MCV in the first place. Meanwhile passengers ended up frustrated at being unable to make calls between the 12nm boundary until they are close enough to shore to get a strong enough signal.

The new European rules harmonise the technical and legal conditions for onboard commu-

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Ships put on speed-dial nication services across 27 nations. They create legal certainty for telecoms operators that wish to offer maritime mobile services to their customers, and ensure that shipboard mobile services do not interfere with land-based ones (such that a mobile user on the coast could inadvertently roam on to the ship’s network).

Authorisations liberated Moreover, the Commission has adopted a Recommendation that EU countries liberalise their authorisation regimes in a way that any shipboard services operator authorised in one country can provide services in the territorial waters of other EU countries without the need for further licences.

The move could potential pave the way for a new generation of GSM-enabled applications. Continuous connectivity allows real-time monitoring of transported goods.

Remote sensors might for example take advantage of the mobile service to regularly send back container temperature and humidity readings.

Onboard MCV systems can deliver the same range of services (voice calls, text messages) normally provided on a landbased mobile networks, but at a higher cost (owing to the need to use satellite) and with less capacity for advanced services such as mobile data.

A major headache for those companies, such as Norwegian firm Maritime Communication Partners (MCP), providing MCV systems and services has been that current regulatory regimes diverge between EU Member States both in terms of technical and operational conditions for the use of radio spectrum and with respect to the types of authorisations.

Framework defined Since late 2004 MCP actively contributed to two working groups – spectrum engineering (SE) and regulatory affairs (RA) – of the European Conference of Postal & Telecommunications

MARLINK IS on the verge of launching Direct Inward Dialling (DID) to ships on its Sealink/WaveCall VSAT services. The DID service will provide local telephone access to vessels at the same cost as calling your local taxi office to book a cab.

Company staff at the shore-based headquarters can call a vessel using an allocated local number which is charged at the prevailing local tariff. This eliminates the premiums telcos place on international calls. Previously Marlink clients would have dialled a Norwegian number, allowing voice traffic to be fed through the companyʼs Eik teleport and onwards to the vessel.

With DID, however, a shipping company based in, say, Hamburg can contact a vessel by dialling a local number starting with 040. Marlink says it has set up local numbers for more than 4000 cities, based in 50 plus countries.

The service is not based on a dial-in automated switchboard. There is no access code or PIN to remember. Instead, each vessel gets its own private line. Furthermore, vessels can be reached from multiple local numbers from different locations, in cases when corporate HQ and branch offices are situated in more than one country.

It should be noted that the DID service does attract its own fixed monthly charge. But with no additional per-minute fees (and or limits on call duration), the service could prove appealing to ship operators looking to manage their communications costs more efficiently.

Administrations (CEPT) to develop a revised framework for the use of GSM onboard vessels.

The first draft was approved in 2008 by the ECC, substantially preparing the ground for the EU commission to accept the harmonised framework under the aegis of decision EU/166/2010.

Member states were given twelve months to implement the new framework and make available at least 2 MHz of spectrum in the 900 and 1800 Mhz GSM band for systems providing MCV services.

The framework defines technical and operational requirements that protect the terrestrial operators against the possibility of interference from the GSM system onboard vessels and ensure that the passenger’s phone will attach to and use the terrestrial networks if there is satisfac-

tory coverage from ashore. Two of the more complex aspects relate to: 1) building a radio network with optimal coverage to comply with the radiation and sensitivity requirements given (Max MS Power from the mobile phone, the maximum radiated power from the BTS/antennas and the AccMin requirements) 2) implementing a regulatory database for the operational requirements and the baseline for each and every country.

Baseline maps The decision defines the ‘operating’ area to be 2nm outside a country’s baseline. However, the baseline reference is not absolute as there are several ways it can be drawn: a) Low water baseline: most widely used, low tide line along the coast; b) Straight baseline: used when the coastline is deeply indented or a fringe of islands exists along the coast; c) Archipelagic baseline: may apply to a nation consisting of a group of islands. Straight baselines are drawn from the outermost islands and all enclosed waters are classed as national waters; and d) some countries have a implemented a combination of low water and straight baseline along the coast. In such cases, it is necessary to know a vessel’s position along the ship to determine which baseline is used.

Therefore, operating a GSM service onboard ship requires GPS positioning and access to a database of the relevant baseline information. MCP developed and implemented such a repository in order to offer their ship owner clients (and their passengers) seamless mobile connectivity from port to port.

MCP states it is now heavily involved in discussions taking place within the Asian Pacific Telecommunications (APT) forum, where similar regulatory framework is currently undergoing study.

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Revised STCW could boost CBT uptake A raft of major revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention), 1978, and the STCW Code were adopted by the IMO in June last year at a special Diplomatic Conference in Manila, the Philippines.

Known commonly as the Manila amendments, these changes are set to enter into force on 1 January 2012 and collectively represent an important milestone in the ongoing efforts of the shipping industry to enhance safety at sea.

The STCW convention was last revised in 1995, and there have been many changes to shipping, not to mention the wider world of technology, in the subsequent 15 years. Hence the time was right for a wholesale review.

The scope of the amendments is wide-ranging and their implementation will have a significant impact on many areas of ship operation, including training. Indeed the Manila amendments represent a vital first step in recognising the role of new 32

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The Manila amendments represent a vital first step in recognising the role of new technology, and distance learning methods, in the training of modern day seafarers technology, and distance learning methods, in the training of modern day seafarers. The amendments could also act as a catalyst to accelerate the adoption of onboard training, including computer-based training (CBT) systems, to the mutual benefit of shipowners, ship managers and seafarers.

Electronic recognition Among the amendments adopted in Manila are specific, new requirements relating to training in

Flag states are not always in complete agreement with one another as to how regulations should be implemented and this is a headache for ship owners and operators, as well as for training providers Roger Ringstad, Seagull AS

Hands-on training: STCW paves the way for more computer-based tuition

modern technology, such as ECDIS, and the introduction of modern training methods, including distance and web-based learning, for the first time. There is also a focus on ‘new’ training methods such as simulator-based training and e-learning. Demonstrating competence by approved simulator training is now included in more of the competence areas and there are 84 specific references to this in the document.

Head of IMO’s marine training and human element section Captain Ashok Mahapatra has highlighted a number of other impacts on training regimes. He pointed out, for instance, that companies will be responsible for refresher training onboard ships, with the Manila amendments setting out requirements for the demonstration of continued competence in areas of basic safety training (BST).

The revised STCW requires continued proof of BST competence every five years, making an allowance for the assessment

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of competence ashore for those areas that cannot be assessed onboard. There are also provisions for environmental pollution awareness training, security training and training based on general anti-piracy related information.

The Manila amendments further reorganise and update the competence tables for engineers to meet emerging and contemporary technologies and to set specific competence requirements for personnel serving onboard different types of tankers, including guidance relating to CBT. Captain Mahapatra listed what he considered to be the key benefits of the STCW amendments and these included the introduction of training in modern technologies and the acceptance of modern training methods.

However the IMO is reserving judgment as to what the future holds. As one spokesman put it: ‘The actual impact of specific amendments on training, and training providers, will be something that will only be seen once the amendments take effect.’

Positive response Shipowner groups have responded positively to the amendments and to the impact they will have on seafarer training regimes which could represent the beginning of a period of significant change in this area.

James Langley, senior advisor for the International Shipping Federation (ISF) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), says: ‘The industry has perhaps not embraced CBT as much as many people expected, but the STCW amendments might mark the start of something different.’

Langley draws attention to the requirement for refresher training which has not been included in STCW before, an area where CBT could well have a role to play: ‘For example, it might be possible for an online assessment to see if a particular crew member needs to demonstrate further competency and undertake refresher training.’

Onboard training makes sense for shipowners and seafarers as it is less costly and less disruptive. It is one way of ensuring a happier crew James Langley, ISF/ICS

He continues: ‘Onboard training makes sense for shipowners and seafarers as it is less costly and less disruptive. It is one way of ensuring a happier crew, as seafarers appreciate the ability to have training onboard rather than ashore and it might provide a simpler way of getting additional training, aiding continuous professional progression.’

The ICS/ISF and their members are now starting to discuss the implications of the Manila amendments with administrations, with a view towards ensuring a unified, common interpretation. Langley says: ‘Once administrations have set out their position, then shipowners will be better able to develop onboard training strategies around the revised STCW requirements.’

Overall though, Langley cautions against thinking that the implementation of the revised STCW next year will have an instant impact on current training practices. ‘This is a stepping stone, not a major step forward, certainly as far as onboard training using CBT is concerned,’ he suggests.

Nonetheless, leading maritime training providers are hopeful that the new regulations will give a decisive impetus to more modern, cost effective and crew-friendly methods of training. Roger Ringstad, managing director of Seagull AS of Norway, says: ‘This is a significant piece of regulation. While it is an evolution from past STCW versions, there are areas where it will have a particularly high profile impact, such as ECDIS training.’

Able seafarers Seagull has also noted that there will be new certification requirements for able seafarers. ‘Up to now onboard competence verification has largely been restricted

to officer level. However our reading of the amendments is that there will be an extension to include able seafarers as well,’ says Ringstad. He continues: ‘Certainly we expect this regulatory initiative will open up a greater requirement not just for training, but for re-training as well. It is perhaps not a revolution, but in some areas we will see a much greater focus on onboard CBT and distance-based learning as a result of the changes made through the amendments.’

Seagull is now actively preparing to meet the changing requirements of shipowners and operators in the wake of the revisions. Ringstad notes: ‘We started last year a systematic review of all our training modules to see where revisions might be necessary.’

Updating the company’s existing range of CBT modules will be a gradual process. But, as Ringstad points out, the revised STCW has a fairly wide implementation window stretching from 2012 to 2017.

Common implementation One area of concern that is highlighted by Seagull is the need for flag states to harmonise their approach to the revised STCW. ‘Flag states are not always in complete agreement with one another as to how regulations should be implemented and this is a headache for ship owners and operators, as well as for training providers such as ourselves. In the past we have seen regulations implemented differently from one flag state to another, and we hope this will not happen in this case.’

While regulations are an important driver behind the greater adoption of onboard CBT and distance learning, there are other factors which are also likely to encourage more shipowners and operators to embrace this approach: ‘If you do training onboard you can use the actual equipment concerned, which has to be seen as a plus, and companies like Seagull can provide the necessary structure,’ says Ringstad.

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Transas crane simulator lowers risk Spainʼs Balenciaga Shipyard has taken delivery of a new crane simulator from Transas Marine, which is supposed to enable safer and more cost-effective training for the workers operating the yardʼs 160t berth gantry crane.

Introduced in 2006, the crane is used to move the large ship construction blocks which have been pre-assembled in the workshops. The procedure is complex and poses considerable risks if not carried out properly.

To reduce the risk of something going wrong, the yard has implemented a policy whereby crane operations are planned and practiced in advance with the aid of computer simulation.

The simulator helps to investigate physical capability of a crane and ropes to lift a particular hull construction segment. Using Transas simulation,

balance correctness is calculated when connecting ropes to cargo to prevent ropes twisting and cargo capsizing. Trainee operators can also practice collision avoidance of cargo with surrounding objects. Especially notable is the fact that virtual

Trainees can learn how to avoid colliding cargo with surrounding objects

representations of the actual construction segments from the vessels being constructed are imported into the simulation

scenarios to ensure the training is as realistic as possible.

According to Transas, the distinguishing feature of the implementation is that Balenciaga Shipyard is able to load and display user-created components. The key objective is to obtain an understanding of components dynamics and determine the best mounting point.

The crane simulator was integrated with an existing Transas NTpro navigational and manoeuvering simulator (also used for new building projects), so they can share the same visualisation engine, which is said to have reduced the cost of implementation.

Balenciaga Shipyard can build ships up to 90m long, encompassing a diverse portfolio of tug boats, offshore support vessels (stand-by rescue, PSV, ROV support, dive support, AHTS), fishing vessels, cargo vessels, ferries and product carriers.

BIMCO goes the distance with Videotel

Intermanager says crew should decide for themselves

BIMCO has linked up with maritime multimedia training provider Videotel to produce and launch a new BIMCO eLearning Diploma Programme (BeDP).

Videotel was tasked with developing a web-based ʻlearning management systemʼ to deliver the distance learning course to a wide range of end-users working both on land and at sea.

As the largest of the international shipping associations, BIMCO ‒ the Baltic and International Maritime Council ‒ believes the demand for effective training and education within the maritime industry has never been greater and will continue to grow.

Web-based e-learning makes it possible to deliver this knowledge in a practical and affordable way to the employees of BIMCO members wherever they are in the world. It obviates the need for classroom hire, travel and hotel expenses.

Using the new programme, maritime students will be able to access training provided by online specialist experts and tutors

Decision-making needs to go back to the hands of crew and away from shore-based managers. And the onus is on the industry at large to use modern communications tools and training facilities to make this happen. This was the message InterManager president Alastair Evitt wanted to drive home at the CMA Conference in Connecticut, USA last month. ʻI regret to say it, but in many cases shipboard management teams have to be retrained to think for themselves, to understand the commercial issues and to have an awareness of product and service delivery,ʼ he told delegates.

Taking part in the round table debate on the current state of the industry, Evitt outlined issues affecting the recruitment and retention of quality seafarers. He described how contemporary maritime legislation and practices are ʻdriving decision making from the bridge and control room of the vessels to the respective shore-based

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carefully selected by BIMCO from the shipping world. The diploma course will be aimed at students and young people entering a trainee or internship programme, staff from shipping companies, agents, brokers, banks and other financial institutions, legal firms, insurance companies or government organisations wishing to learn more about the shipping industry. BeDP will also benefit shipping practitioners wishing to refresh and revise their shipping knowledge and seafarers wanting to broaden their knowledge.

Notably, the e-learning programme will be backed-up by online forums and workshops.

Course meetings are held online at designated times with tutors providing targeted guidance and instruction. Each training module represents approximately three monthsʼ training ‒ about 30-40 study hours ‒ followed by a final, written examination leading to the award of a BIMCO Certificate. Four certificates can be combined to achieve the BIMCO Diploma.

management office.ʼ He concluded with a plea to the shipping industry to attach greater importance to officers and crew training: ʻIt is incumbent upon the industry to use modern communications and training facilities to return the responsibility for onboard management to the vessels ‒ where it rightfully belongs ‒ and in doing so restore the pride and self respect of those serving at sea.ʼ Referring to the situation in the UK, Evitt, who is also managing director of Meridian Marine Management, says he has noticed a marked rise in the number of enquiries for cadet positions since the recession began and also following increases in university tuition fees.

Urging the industry to re-introduce management training, Evitt said: ʻThe maritime cluster is dependent on high quality candidates passing through the system. The attraction of quality entrants and training them accordingly is a long term investment. Officer training must be seen as university-equivalent vocational training.ʼ

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Dual lamp projector offers higher fidelity dawn/dusk visualisation Shipʼs bridge simulators at two American locations are now offering a more lifelike training experience ‒ whatever the time of day being recreated ‒ thanks to newly upgraded projectors.

The simulators, located in Paducah, Kentucky and Houston, Texas, are run by the Seamanʼs Church Institute, which approached Display Solutions ‒ a local integrator for Norwayʼs projectiondesign ‒ to upgrade its hardware after experiencing a number of challenges with its previous systems. ʻThe simulators we were tasked with upgrading were becoming difficult and expensive to service. In addition, there were challenges when displaying low-visibility and night-vision training scenarios,ʼ explains Ken Boyd, president of Display Solutions. ʻTo address these issues, we chose projectiondesign F32 DLP projectors with dual lamps and

an adjustable lens iris that can be controlled remotely via a LAN connection. While the projectors are capable of putting very high brightness per channel on the screen ‒ resulting in superior daytime scenes than were previously possible ‒ they also have the capability to turn one lamp off and put the second lamp in a ʻlow powerʼ state. Combining this with the closing of the lens iris changes the light output of

The F32 projector is said to offer higher contrast ratios for lowlight conditions

each projector for superb nightscene visualisation.ʼ ʻAs well as the F32 projectors, Display Solutions took care of the necessary image warping and blending, and equipped the system with projectiondesignʼs

ProNet asset management software for remote monitoring of projector health. Cabling was renewed where necessary to connect the projectors to a new Kongsberg image-generation system, but other AV elements of the simulators were left intact at SCIs request.ʼ Both locations offer ʻtwin bridgeʼ simulation using a pair of sevenchannel, edge-blended displays, meaning that 28 projectors were required in total across the two sites.

The projector upgrade has transformed the performance of the simulators in more ways than one, according to Boyd: ʻSCI is now benefiting from improved brightness for day scenes, improved black levels for night-time visualisation, higher contrast ratios for dusk and dawn scenes, less down-time due to reliability issues, and lower life-cycle costs. Daily monitoring through ProNet also allows maintenance to be scheduled in concert with student training, which further reduces down-time.ʼ

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With ECDISPLUS, you can be assured of the latest ECDIS equipment, cost effective supply and management of charts, real-time updates and IMO-approved ECDIS training. All of this comes with total flexibility to choose your provider, worldwide installation and an unrivalled global support network. ECDISPLUS offers the only complete ECDIS Solution for your needs, making every voyage smarter.

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Station711 brings Swire Pacific online Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) has settled on a FleetBroadbandbased satcoms solution for the majority of vessels in its fleet.

The contract for equipping the Singapore offshore operatorʼs 60 vessels (from a fleet of 74) was awarded to Station711, the mobile satellite services arm of RRsat Global Communications Network, in collaboration with local service company SMTS. Before signing the deal, SPO spent some three months testing Station711ʼs solution hardware ‒ including their smart@sea gateway ‒ on one of its newest vessels to ensure that it would meet their anticipated requirements. The special gateway, in combination with a shore-side unified POP, delivers crew calling and data services, on-the-fly optimisation (compression, caching, filtering and other acceleration tweaks) for

IP traffic, VoIP and security. The POP, or point-of-presence, allows the satcoms services on all vessels to be managed from a single location.

For the SPO test vessel, the gateway was configured to control the onboard LANs for operations and crew welfare, comprising seven PCs and three VoIP phones (for pre- and postpaid use) and wide-area support for the FleetBroadband 500.

In addition to the gateway, the three-year agreement incorporates Sailor FB500 terminals, a tailored fleet-wide airtime package from Inmarsat, and ongoing maintenance and support services from both SMTS and Station711. (The former will also provide the turnkey solution for the installation of the terminals and onboard LANs on Swireʼs vessels).

Swire ships join the Internet age

Indian operator ramps up its fleet satcoms The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) is installing FleetBroadband across its entire fleet. The 156 vessels ‒ from tankers, product and chemical carriers to boxships ‒ owned and managed by SCI will also have access to a variety of value-add communications services from Stratos Global, the company that won the contract.

These include AmosConnect 8 email and messaging system, AmosConnect CommCenter for crew social communications and Blue Ocean Wireless (BOW) GSM calling. SCIʼs Kailash Gupta says AmosConnect 8 will also serve as the primary ship-shore communications channel for a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) and planned maintenance system the company is presently implementing.

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Maersk Tankers expands CommBox roll out Maersk Tankers is rolling out the CommBox Ship/Shore Network Manager from KVH Industries with a view to increasing the efficiency of and lowering the cost of communications aboard 70 vessels.

So, together with 50 CommBox-equipped vessels that the division of the shipping giant AP Moller Maersk brought onboard through its acquisition of Broström Tankers last year, Maersk Tankers will be relying on KVHʼs hardware (acquired from Virtek) onboard 120 vessels for least cost routing and to coordinate file transfers, e-mail and Internet access for both business and crew use.

Managing director of KVHʼs Norwegian office Morten Aasen says the systemʼs QuickWeb and QuickCrew software modules will result in better Internet access for crew. They will also benefit from ʻfloating email accountsʼ that travel with them even if they switch vessels.

Navibulgar finds value in Iridium OpenPort Bulgarian bulk carrier operator Navigation Maritime Bulagare (Navibulgar) reports significant cost savings and greater management efficiencies since retrofitting its fleet of 45 bulk carriers with Iridium OpenPort last year. ʻThe OpenPort data connections are an important tool for management of vessel operation, monitoring and control, which leads to cost reduction and higher profitability,ʼ said Alex Alexandrov, director of purchasing, IT and communications for Navibulgar and managing director of its subsidiary Navibulgar Services. ʻWe have

also managed to develop and implement sophisticated ship management software solutions enabling us to manage our vessels more efficiently.” ʻWe can conduct proper analysis and measure key performance indicators ‒ making it possible to take the necessary corrective and preventive actions in a timely manner,ʼ said Alexandrov.

Our aim is for each ship to be an extension of the office, and with our current communication solutions based on Iridium OpenPort we are very close to achieving that,ʼ he added.

P&O Ferries selects Sperry alarm monitoring system Sperry Marine has won a contract from P&O Ferries to supply a machinery automation and alarm system for the Pride of York. The vessel will be retrofitted with Sperryʼs latest VisionMaster Alarm Monitoring System as a key element in the shipʼs life-extension program. Consisting of more than 1100 sensor interfaces, 10 I/O outstations and seven user workstations, the system will provide automated monitoring and control of the shipʼs propulsion engines, generators, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, ballast tanks, bow doors and other onboard systems, as well as central alarm management. ʻThe scalable, open-architecture design of the machinery automation and alarm system, based on standard commercial-off-the-shelf components, makes for easy retrofit on existing ships such as the Pride of York,ʼ said Sperryʼs Hans Rasmussen.

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E N G I N E A S A W E A P O N IV

Battle-winning Naval Engineering: Uniting weapon and marine systems

Official publications

Monday 12 – Tuesday 13 September 2011 University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, London Organised by The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology

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Enquiries John Saunders, The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) 80 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5BJ, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2655 Fax: +44 (0)20 7382 2667 Email: john.saunders@imarest.org

Web: www.imarest.org/events

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Marine Engineering Practice Series

Fuel costs have became the dominant component of ship operating costs since OPEC’s swingeing oil price increases in the 1970s, and they continue to increase remorselessly. This has led to intensive development programmes by engine builders to improve efficiency, resulting in the current high levels. Now efforts are being made to minimise a ship’s overall fuel consumption by integrating the production of main propulsive power with the generation of its electricity requirements.

This book describes two types of turbine which are used to drive a generator in various recovery systems – firstly the wellestablished combination of a turbine running on steam from a recovery boiler which extracts heat from the engine exhaust gases; the other type is termed a ‘power turbine’ and is operated by main-engine exhaust gas

by Don Nicholas

ISBN 978-0-9565600-1-8

BSc, MIMechE, FIMarEST

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which is surplus to that required for the turbochargers. When both types are used in a comprehensive heat recovery system an additional 9.9% of main-engine power can be achieved without burning any additional fuel, with obvious cost savings per annum.

Various arrangements for this are described in the book as are aspects of steam turbine construction and operations, a necessity now that there is a general lack of knowledge in this area since diesels for main propulsion have become the norm.

CONTACT PUBLICATION SALES: LORRAINE JORDAN lorraine.jordan@imarest.org TEL: + 44 (0) 207 382 2606 FAX: + 44 (0) 207 382 2669

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