Maritime IT & Electronics (April/May 2012)

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April/May 2012

Titanic radio room revealed Inmarsat price hike controversy Digital chart confusion

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Published by

CONTENTS

APRIL/MAY 2012

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Comment

CREW WELFARE 12 Making a port call

NEWS FOCUS 22 Ten years of innovation

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News

Ports remain reluctant to lay on WiFi for passing seafarers 13 Coming of age To date, shipowners have been unconvinced by VoIP. Is it about to come of age?

Nexans has designed cables that tolerate extreme conditions 23 Data tsunami Cruise ship operators should expect major growth in mobile data

SAFETY 14 Crossed wires

DISPLAYS 24 Crash-proof engines

Radio played a pivotal role in mitigating the Titanic disaster 18 Shipping faces new risks

Software failure is not an option when designing the control systems for ship engines

It still takes a disaster to spur on safety improvements 20 Probing fatigue Officers始 brains scanned to get to the bottom of fatigue

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OPINION Why so convoluted?

7 Why is buying digital charts so complicated, asks Mike Robinson

SATCOMS 8 Inmarsat antagonises Revised tariffs for FleetBroadband have sparked outrage 10 Holding to account Why Greek IT managers openly object to Inmarsat始s price hikes 11 Satcoms update KVH opens a new six-legged antenna testing facility

Burning brightly New display technologies offer a brighter picture at the expense of shorter life

Aldgate House, 33 Aldgate High Street, London. EC3N 1EN. UK 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: peter.marpuri@imarest.org Graphic Designer: jo.cooper@imarest.org Publication Sales & Subscriptions: lorraine.small@imarest.org Publisher: Derek Wood derek.wood@imarest.org Visit MITE online: www.imarest.org/MITE

NAVIGATION 28 e-Navigation underway The issues explored and roadmap decided aboard the Crown of Scandinavia 31 Alarming inexperience Half of bridge officers have used ECDIS at sea before finishing their training

DIVERSIONS 32 Return of the drones Unmanned autonomous or semi-autonomous remotecontrolled vessels reconsidered

The content of this journal is recorded in the IMarEST Marine Technology Abstracts available on CD-ROM and in the SciSearch and Research Alert databases of the Institute of Scientific Information, USA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Copyright 漏 2012 IMarEST, The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology 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

Has Inmarsat overstepped the line?

Kevin Tester Inmarsat has really managed to set the cat among the pigeons with the introduction of a new tariff for its pioneering FleetBroadband service. The upwardly revised pricing regime has angered many ship owners and operators who have not only come to rely upon Inmarsat’s communication services but have also factored its costs into their budgets.

But before examining the factors fuelling this discontent, it is worth taking a quick reality check: satcoms is cheaper today than it has ever been in the past and in terms of bang for buck continues on a downward trend, thanks largely to technological progress but also due to increased expectations.

That said, whether due to economic shocks or simply inflation, there are always occasions when markets have to realign.

Put more simply, prices always go up, eventually. The question is whether Inmarsat has misjudged the timing for trying to instigate a realignment.

Infinite permutations Anyone who has ever researched buying a new mobile phone knows that choosing a price plan is never easy. There seem to be an almost infinite number of permutations involving bundled voice minutes, bundled data, international roaming, handset upgrades, insurance and other bolt-on services.

For the phone companies, this makes good business sense.

The idea is to manipulate each customer into paying the maximum he/she is willing to pay.

Customers can then accommodate periodic price increases by

adjusting the contents of their plan accordingly.

Unless, that is, the phone company decides to withdraw certain bundles completely.

Which is exactly what Inmarsat stands accused of doing. It has reduced customer choice by deleting its cheapest plan and imposing increases of between 20-40% (depending on how you do the math) on its most popular lower-end packages.

Its general argument is that larger (and more expensive) packages have become more economic. And that ship owners can use the extra data available to improve operational efficiencies elsewhere in their business, for example, downloading more accurate weather charts etc. In short, you have to speculate to accumulate. There is certainly some truth to this logic. It’s also true that satcoms bills represent only a small fraction of overall OPEX. Bad timing Yet it must have known that such a policy wouldn’t endear itself to its customers at any time. It might just have got away with implementing the new tariffs at the top of an economic boom, but instead it chose to act in the midst of a double-dip recession.

Either way, it seems to have underestimated the upsurge in discontent that has been voiced on online discussion groups and at conferences – which is ironic for a company that is often espousing the value of social networking and communications.

The company further aggravated matters by implementing the new tariff on existing customers rather than just new business. But the biggest criticism is

Editor saved for across-the-board increases to its legacy ‘Existing & Evolved’ services and in particular Inmarsat-C which facilitates emergency telex communication for the legally required GMDSS. In an open letter to Inmarsat (published in this issue, p10), AMMITEC, the Greek association of IT managers, contends this constitutes a ‘blatant abuse of monopoly power’ since Inmarsat is, at present, the only provider of GMDSS communications to be endorsed by IMO. It is worth noting in this regard that Iridium has long wished to gain the status of an official GMDSS communication provider but its application appears lost in IMO’s Kafka-esque bureaucracy.

There are positive signs however that this could finally be about to change, since COMSAR, the IMO subcommittee responsible for such things, has drafted new Guidance for prospective providers at its annual session in March which will be submitted for approval this summer.

Backdoor closed Iridium’s executives might yet have more reason to cheer. One of the inferred explanations for the forced phasing out of the smaller, cheaper tariff plans is that Inmarsat was none too pleased by competitor VSAT providers taking to bundling FleetBroadband with their offerings – as an emergency connectivity backdoor when ships sail outside Ku-band coverage areas.

Especially since Inmarsat itself intends to enter the VSAT marketplace with a Ka-band service scheduled for 2014.

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NEWS

IMO sets timetable for GMDSS revamp A draft timetable to bring the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) up to date, to allow modern technologies to be incorporated into the system and to enhance and improve safety of life at sea, was agreed by IMOʼs Sub-Committee on Radio-communications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR) when it met for its 16th session this March. The draft work plan, including the timetable, for the revision and modernisation of GMDSS will be submitted to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 90) for approval.

Evolving technology will continue to drive change in the maritime communications system. The Sub-Committee agreed on the many reasons for a review, including the fact that the GMDSS ‒ which was adopted by means of amendments to SOLAS in 1988 and fully implemented by 1999 ‒ needs to be modernised to include new technologies, otherwise ship operators may find

themselves carrying obsolete equipment for the sole purpose of meeting a SOLAS requirement. The benefits that are expected to emerge include enhancement of safety and security in general, and navigation safety in particular, environmental protection and general communications for the industry.

The plan envisages a fully comprehensive review of the GMDSS requirements contained in SOLAS Chapter IV (Radio-communications), to take place over a three-year period (2013‒2015), followed by a further two-year period (20152017) for the GMDSS modernisation plan, to be succeeded by the development of legal instruments, revision/development of relevant performance standards and an implementation period.

A correspondence group was set up to begin the review of the GMDSS, after the approval of the Work Plan by the Maritime Safety Committee.

GMDSS equipment is in need of modernisation

The Sub-committee also agreed a draft MSC circular on Guidance to prospective GMDSS satellite service

providers, for approval by the MSC. The guidance provides additional information to complement that provided in resolution A.1001(25) Criteria for the provision of mobile satellite communication systems in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).

Marlink ups Ku-band capacity, reserves bandwidth on Ka- bird

Intellian offers DIY upgrade options for switch to Ka-band

Marlink has increased the bandwidth capacity for Ku-band VSAT data services it gets from satellite operator Telenor and signed up for Ka-band capacity, due to come online in 2014. The extra capacity was negotiated when it came for the maritime VSAT provider to renew its contract for another three years.

Utilising Telenor Satellite Broadcastingʼs capacity on the Intelsat 10-02 satellite, Marlink says it will be able to comfortably meet future demand from its maritime clients ‒ including offshore, merchant marine and passenger ship operators ‒ in the busy oceanic areas of the Nordic, European and Middle Eastern regions.

Located at the orbital loca-

Intellian has launched a new Ku-band VSAT antenna, the v110GX, which can be upgraded to work with Inmarsatʼs Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band service when it comes online around 2014.

The modular GX conversion kit includes an adapted BUC/LNB (block up convertor/low noise block) assembly, feed assembly and antenna control unit (incorporating the modem). A revamped pedestal design and new mounting architecture is supposed to make conversion to Ka-band as straightforward as possible, by allowing the RF module and feedhorn inside the radome to be replaced manually.

The GX BUC/LNB assembly is attached to the rear side of the

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tion, 1° W, Intelsatʼs 10-02 bird is capable of delivering high data throughput at latitudes above 60° N, a geographical region that is crucial for many of Marlinkʼs customers. The renewed agreement is said to provide significant Ku-band capacity on Spot 2 of the satellite and almost 200 MHz Ku-band on Spot 1.

In a further move to create a flexible growth path, the agreement with Telenor also confirms an option for Marlink to use the Ka-band payload of the new THOR 7 satellite which will be operational in early 2014. This should provide enough capacity to support the increased demand anticipated from maritime customers in the coming years.

reflector, with no requirement to re-balance the system. Once the ACU is replaced and power is supplied, the system will be immediately ready for Global Xpress operation. The entire conversion can be done in the field with minimal time and expense.

Other features include a facility for remote control and monitoring of the antenna; a gyro-free satellite search function (for locking onto the satellite without requiring separate input from the shipʼs main gyrocompass); and a triple axis stabilised pedestal that offer unlimited azimuth, enhanced elevation range and cross-level (to ensure service quality at high latitudes and in extreme operating conditions).

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NEWS

Orbit showcases Ka-band kit

Unleashing innovative ideas

Against the backdrop of Satellite 2012 in Washington, Orbit showcased its latest innovations in the maritime VSAT space, namely the brand new OrSat 300 and the breakthrough OrBand system.

The OrSat 300 is intended as future-proof solution for bridging the gap between current Ku-band and forthcoming Ka-band VSAT services.

The 1.15m/45” dish, which will be commercially available from this summer, is built to support a wide range of configurations with different RF packages ‒ for Ku- or Ka- or X-band ‒ and BUC power levels.

Meanwhile, OrBand, released in mid-2011, is a smaller than average C-band maritime VSAT system that was designed from the outset to deliver enhanced RF performance, and support multiple optional RF feeds.

Compliant with EutelSatʼs standard-M characterisation and Anatelʼs homologation certificates, the OrBand features 2.2m/87" dish and a 2.7m/106" radome, which takes up 40% less deck space than industrystandard 2.4m/95" dish and 3.8m/150" radome systems. This means it is small enough to be shipped as a single, fully assembled and tested unit in a standard 20-foot container and, according to Orbit, can even be erected in a single day. This compares favourably vis-à-vis the two to three days that are usually required to complete the work. Consequently, OrBand can be installed while ships are on routine port calls, substantially driving down operational costs and eliminating the need for vessels to await dry dock. ʻWith almost 100 systems ordered by more than 10 customers, OrBand has proved to be a real game-changer in the C-band maritime VSAT market,ʼ said Avi Cohen, Orbit president and chief-executive.

The doors to the 11th Conference for Computer and IT applications in the Maritime Industry (COMPIT) are set to open 16 April in Liege, Belgium. This yearʼs event is expected to attract more than 80 specialists from around the world, when speakers from industry, academia and other research bodies unleash another collection of ideas on subjects as diverse as propulsion efficiency, risk-based design and underwater robotics. ʻThe ongoing quest for energy efficiency is continuing to drive the development of IT applications in the maritime sectorʼ, explains Prof. Dr. Volker Bertram, who is once again charged with organising the event. ʻComputational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a key technology in this respect.

Technology leaders are coupling CFD to formal optimisation to

create fuel efficient designs for hulls, propulsion improving devices and propellers. Several companies are spearheading developments in monitoring and decision support tools for ship operators, with a focus on fuel efficiency and emissions compliance.ʼ Meanwhile the emergence of risk-based assessment in IMO regulations and classification rules has sparked the development of a new breed of IT tools to manage both design and operational procedures, notes Bertram.

This yearʼs event will also shed light on how advances in individual and swarm intelligence, when deployed on underwater autonomous vehicles, are opening new applications in surveying, hull cleaning and search tasks, in the offshore, oceanographic and naval fields.

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NEWS

NEXT online in 36-months

Transas PAYS it forward

Iridium says its NEXT generation constellation will be operational in less than 36 months. Having recently finished the satellite preliminary design review phase, the NEXT Mission Team will now turn to constructing engineering model units that will be used to verify the design and performance of the system prior to full construction start in 2013. Below is a top-level, year-by-year summary of what to expect in the in the evolution of the Iridium NEXT constellation: 2012: Detailed hardware and software design culminating in the Space Segment Critical Design Review (CDR) in early 2013 2013: Initial space and launch vehicle hardware production and extensive performance testing to ensure it meets its requirements 2014: Satellite and launcher/dispenser level qualification testing and the initiation of satellite low-rate production in preparation for the first launch 2015: First year of launching and integrating Iridium NEXT satellite vehicles into the Iridium constellation; transition to full-rate production 2016: Second year of launching and integrating the Iridium NEXT satellite vehicles 2017: Planned complete constellation replacement with Iridium NEXT fully operational

Following in the footsteps of Datema and more recently Navtor, Transas has decided now is the time to try and make the navigatorʼs world a better place by announcing its own Pay-AsYou-Sail (PAYS) service for distributing electronic charts. The ECDIS manufacturerʼs new service has already received the green-light from UKHO, PRIMAR and IC-ENC subsequent to sea trials and verification by DNV, the Norwegian class society.

Traditionally navigators had to select and purchase charts prior to each voyage using what is commonly called pre-licensing method. With Transas PAYS solution, the vessel is given a license and access to install, view and pre-plan using official (S)ENCs without additional cost.

Vessels only pay for charts actually used for navigation monitoring. In other words, only charts that have been displayed on the screen together with ships position or generated navigational alarms. In principle, this is ʻbest scale charts onlyʼ, not all charts

Thome attracted by large package Singpore ship manager Thome has opted for a Very Large Allowance package from Inmarsat to satisfy the varying data and communication needs of ships in its varied fleet. Most vessels will be equipped with FleetBroadband 500 terminals (up to 432kbps), while the remainder will be kitted out with smaller FB 250 models. Distribution partner for the deal, AND Group, will also be rolling out its IPSignature2 communications management software. ʻWe selected FleetBroadband because of its scalability,ʼ says Ryan Dalgado, procurement manager at Thome Ship

Management. ʻThe deal weʼve struck incorporates plans for heavy users within our fleet and smaller packages for less intensive use. It gives us options for all vessel types, and with a large and diverse fleet like ours, that level of flexibility was very attractive,ʼ he explains.

ANDʼs IPSignature2 will be employed to analyse and control the use, and thereby cost, of data services to and from vessel, whether generated by email, generic web-surfing or other net-enabled applications. It compresses and optimises data transfers, wherever possible, to obtain the greatest network efficiency.

Sky-free tests underway The US Coast Guard and UrsaNav are carrying out on-air tests of a low frequency positioning, navigation and timing system from a former Loran Support Unit site in New Jersey. The tests are part of an ongoing programme to develop a ʻsky-freeʼ alternative to the Global Positioning System (GPS), over-reliance on which has become a cause for concern in recent years.

Additional on-air tests are planned throughout the United States.

Broadcasts will test several different frequencies, waveforms and modulation techniques using ʻevolutionary, state-of-the-art technologyʼ.

Broadcasts will be received at both on-shore and off-shore locations.

The US Coast Guard decommissioned its network of low-frequency Loran transmitters in 2010 in a widely criticised move to save some pennies. The fact it is now investigating the potential of evolved variants of the low-frequency technology suggests it might now be rueing that decision.

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and scale bands under the keel.

The unique aspect of its PAYS solution is that the recording and reporting of charts used is done by extracting data from Transas Navi-Sailor 4000 ECDIS logbook.

Transasʼ PAYS implementation uses the companyʼs gateway firewall device to ensure data relating to licensing transactions, corrections and chart reports are transmitted securely between the vesselʼs ECDIS console and the shore-based chart server. ʻWith the official Transas Admiralty Data Service (TADS) SENC-service developed in cooperation with the UKHO, Transas ʻPay As You Sailʼ gives the vessel access to the most cost and time efficient (S)ENC service on the market and the best (S)ENC coverage available for navigation and planning. Besides the vesselʼs internet connection, no extra communication equipment or tracking service is needed,ʼ says Anders Rydlinger, Transasʼ head of marine navigation product development.

Free outgoing calls Inmarsat has launched free shore-to-ship priority voice calling for rescue co-ordination centres (RCC) over its FleetBroadband and legacy services, including Inmarsat B, Fleet F77/55/33 and Mini M. The service allows officially recognised maritime rescue centres to place a priority voice call to any ship equipped with Inmarsat equipment, with the space segment of the call being free of charge. ʻSafety communications remain at the heart of Inmarsat, and this latest addition to our portfolio goes one

step further to making marinersʼ lives safer,ʼ said Peter Blackhurst, Inmarsat head of maritime safety services.

It is more than two years since Inmarsat launched its free-of-change emergency call out service for users of FleetBroadband. Unlike the companyʼs legacy services, FleetBroadband isnʼt GMDSS compliant out-of-the-box. To address this, it wired up 505 ‒ selected for its similarity to SOS ‒ to let mariners immediately contact a RCC in the event of an emergency.

NEWS IN BRIEF GE Satcom has changed ownership and become Signalhorn. The formal rechristening took place in February and includes the entire GE Satcom or Satlynx group of companies located in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and other key locations.

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OPINION

Oh, why so convoluted?

RENCs, S57, S63, encryption, permits, licences, IHO, SENC distributor, HOs, VARs, SENC, AIO, large/medium/small cells, PRIMAR, folio, qualified distributor, 3/6/9/12 month licences, updates, official, unofficial, CMAP, CM93, ARCS, TX97, trial license, Jeppesen PRIMAR, Pay As You Sail (PAYS)... these are just a few of the terms that someone today buying electronic charts (ENCs) needs to understand.

Then you must decide who to buy from, and ensure you understand exactly what you're buying; not so easy as some suppliers have confusing product offerings. Take Jeppesen for example: they produce CM93, an unofficial chart service, but through the Jeppesen ENC service they also provide ENCs in both SENC and non-SENC format (and they name their SENC format CM93 - confusing as it’s also the name of their unofficial service), and furthermore, with the Jeppesen PRIMAR service, they also supply a mixed official/unofficial service. Likewise, in terms of PAYS services, there are now at least four available, all slightly different. Confusing ... definitely ... especially when you consider how simple it is to buy paper charts!

And, if you think it can’t get any more confusing, just take a look at ENC pricing – it makes mobile phone tariffs look positively simple. So, why is it so complicated? Well, there are many reasons, but I want to focus on just one.

For decades, mariners have purchased paper charts. There’s never been the concept of differential pricing based on chart size, paper charts haven’t needed to be

Why have we made buying digital charts so complicated asks Mike Robinson, in the first of a new regular column for MITE free for planning and only charged for when actually used, there's never been a paper chart rental market, and unofficial paper charts are non-existent... so why is this?

Well, it’s simply because the customer sees the basic cost of paper charts as being reasonable and therefore the type of fancy mechanisms used to try to reduce the perceived cost of ENCs haven't been required, nor have unofficial charts.

I firmly believe that the introduction of shorter license periods, differential pricing for smaller charts, and PAYS services, are merely the industry's attempt at addressing the symptoms as nobody has actually succeeded in addressing the actual problem, that being that digital charts are significantly more expensive than paper charts.

So are they really? Well, UKHO's AVCS service has the best value, and the most extensive ENC coverage, of any service and to buy every ENC for a year would cost around £100k.

In comparison, the complete series of BA paper charts would cost £75k. Let's say to get equivalent coverage you'd need another 8000 larger scale charts from other HO's at an average cost of £15, the total cost would be £200k. However, you'd own the paper charts and can use them until the next new edition is published and given the average time between new editions is around four years, the like-for-

like cost of paper charts reduces to £50k and therefore ENCs are, in reality, double the cost.

It shouldn't therefore be surprising that unofficial digital charts exist, or that complicated mechanisms have been developed to make the cost of ENCs appear lower to the mariner, however, using a PAYS service, or by buying shorter licenses, you might actually end up paying significantly more.

So why hasn't the underlying problem been solved? Well, it's not that easy as it would require co-ordinated action from the IHO and its member states and, as an esteemed retired Admiral once said to me: ‘There's more politics in hydrography than hydrography.’

So what is required? First, irrespective of the fact one could argue that the problem is that paper charts are too cheap, all HOs should agree to provide their ENCs on terms that would allow them to be sold at a price equivalent to that of their paper charts, after taking into account new edition frequency.

Second, in addition to any other options they offer, the IHO should require RENCs to provide a unified simple pricing/licensing option. Finally, the IHO should require its members to either join a RENC, or alternatively, provide their ENCs directly to end-user ENC service providers using the same simple pricing/licensing option.

If this happened, then ENC pricing could be simplified and be at a level the customer perceived as reasonable - then there would be no need for differential pricing, no need for 3/6/9/12 month license options, no requirement for complex PAYS services, and no need for unofficial data.

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SATCOMS

Inmarsat price hikes antagonise industry The most eye-watering changes will be to the entry level Standard price plan. This monthly post-paid roll-over package bundled with 10Mb will now cost over $200 before any excess out-of-bundle charges, while the smaller 5Mb offering has been phased out altogether. Meanwhile, 25Mb and 50Mb quarterly roll-over packages have rocketed by more than 40%. Significantly the revised rates – which come into effect 1 May – will apply to existing subscribers as well as new activations.

Retroactive price increases are never popular. Ship owners who adopted FleetBroadband based on its original value proposition will now be presented with a significant hike in their running costs, which isn’t going to curry favour especially in current economic conditions.

The company quickly reacted to quell the discontent by issuing an explanation of the new pricing strategy. This highlighted a price reduction in midlevel, 1-5Gb and Very Large Allowance (VLA) plans to ensure its ‘core customer base’ benefits from reduced per-Mb price.

It also emphasised a shift in focus from ‘money bundles’ (where a package included x dollars worth of voice calls) to ‘data allowances’, reflecting the increasing demand for IP data and citing a need to fall in line with industry-wide convention. The hike in the Standard plan was justified by the value it provides as a highly reliable pay-as-you-go utility. The company openly admits that regular customers of the Standard plan would get a better deal by migrating to a higher level plan.

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Inmarsat has revised the tariffs for its popular FleetBroadband service sparking outrage among its shipping industry customers ‒ especially those who donʼt use much data

Finally it points out that increased pricing on non-FleetBroadband legacy services (such as Fleet 77 and Inmarsat-C) which operate on the deprecated I3-generation satellites is necessary to cover the overheads of maintaining these older networks as more customers switch to FleetBroadband. It is worth mentioning here that Inmarsat-C is a component of GMDSS and thus a legal requirement, to which there are no alternatives.

But while it would be easy to claim the company is abusing its ‘monopoly’ position in the maritime market, the actual picture is never quite as black and white (Apart from not being a constructive argument, Inmarsat’s dominant position is rather less assured than it was in years gone by). But for all intents and purposes, the overall intention seems to be to move ship owners away from pay-as-you-go rollover plans and on to higher volNEW COSTS FOR LOW DATA USERS* Monthly use

30Mb

60Mb

90Mb

Equivalent daily use 1Mb

2Mb

3Mb

150Mb 300Mb 5Mb

10Mb

FleetBroadband

300

540

972

1200

1700

Inmarsat Fleet

540

1080

1620

2700

5400

Inmarsat B

750

1500

2250

3750

7500

49

69

129

248

349

KVH mini-VSAT

*Prices in US dollars. Hardware costs must be added for total monthly bill

ume subscription data plans.

So the changes will particularly hurt vessel operators who manage perfectly well getting by without sending huge volumes of data each month. The majority of shipowners in fact use between 50-100Mb/month, so having to switching to plans that only become cost-effective at volumes much more than that would appear to be a false economy.

Inmarsat knows many of these owners appreciate the straightforwardness of its products and services. They value the simplicity of installation and ease of operation - despite efforts

by VSAT providers to up their game. The cost of installing and operating VSAT has fallen significantly in recent times. For instance, KVH is touting a $49 monthly rate for 50Mb (plus $500/month equipment lease costs over three years). Not long ago it announced its dual Ku-/Cband antenna, designed to overcome the coverage limitations of a Ku- only solution. And its hardware is getting more compact and easier to install too.

But it is still perceived as an ‘complex’ solution and therefore cannot match FleetBroadband for ‘plug-and-play’-ability and reliable ‘just-there’ worldwide coverage. That said, ship owners will only value the convenience of FleetBroadband up to a certain point. So the challenge for Inmarsat as it increases its tariffs is not to overstep the mark It is questionable whether vessels - particularly those in non-merchant marine segments that routinely transmit only one or two megs daily (about 3060Mb/month) will ever contem-

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SATCOMS

plate VSAT. If they do decide to vote with their feet, it is Iridium that is most likely to benefit.

It is notable that Inmarsat has not presented any viable contingency offerings for, say, fishing vessels, workboats and other smaller tonnage, segments that were attracted by the convenience explained above as well as the pay-as-you-go post-paid service model. Of course, this might change in the future but by then the damage would have been done. It will be difficult to regain the confidence of dissatisfied customers.

For the very bottom of the market, the company will retain the ‘Fishing and Leisure Allowance’ plans, which start at around $60/month with 5Mb data and 30mins voice inclusive.

But exceed the bundle quotas, then each additional Mb costs $20. If the customer transmits 10Mb data - hardly excessive by today’s standards - then he will have to fork out $300-plus for the privilege!

Avoiding the runaway costs on this kind of plan requires a pro-active reseller that spells everything out and sets up appropriate dashboard restrictions to limit and block unnecessary/non-essential usage - Windows updates being the classic example.

Another lamented aspect of the tariff change is the withdrawal of inclusive voice minutes. Having to pay for voice separately could add significantly to a vessel’s monthly satcoms outlay. The obvious answer here would be to consider VoIP solutions. While off-the-shelf consumer-grade products like Skype are not suited to use over satellite links, there are maritime-optimised offerings such as those from Horizon and Vobal.

These specialised products use more efficient codecs to reduce overhead (ie, bandwidth consumed) and are supposed to be more tolerant of latency.

That said, to date experience of VoIP at sea has been mixed. It has been claimed for example that one of the reasons Maersk decided in favour of VSAT was because of latency problems running VoIP over FleetBroadband.

Assuming the technology does perform as it should, when a certain amount of voice minutes were included in Inmarsat’s

Under the revised tariffs, shipowners will now have to pay separately for voice calls

Hardware cost

Retail

36-months

Inmarsat FB150

7500

208

Inmarsat FB250

12 500

347

Inmarsat FB500

19 000

528

KVH mini-VSAT V3

17 000

472

KVH mini-VSAT V7

33 000

917

*Data supplied by KVH

tariffs, the cost benefits of deploying a VoIP solution were marginal at best. The cost of data consumed making a VoIP call was finely balanced with simply placing a circuit-switched (fullyterminated) voice call. Now that voice minutes are excluded however, the scales may now tip in favour of more widespread VoIP usage.

There could be an altogether different reason for raising costs for low-usage FleetBroadband customers - and it goes back to VSAT. As reported in previous editions of MITE, it has become common practice for resellers of VSAT services to include a FleetBroadband terminal in their installations. It functions as fallback source of connectivity if a vessel sails outside its Ku-band coverage footprint, or can act as an emergency backdoor in the event of the antenna malfunctioning in some way that requires it to be reset remotely by land-based specialists practiced in such arcane arts.

Depending on how much this so-called ‘out-of-band’ connectivity is activated, significantly ramping up the costs of such occasional usage could make the overall financial case for VSAT less attractive vis-a-vis Inmarsat’s own very large allowance (or similar) plans.

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IT managers hold Inmarsat to account The group regards the ~15% increase on Inmarsat-C telex communications, which are a legal IMO requirement on all merchant vessels, and for which there is no alternative, as an unacceptable abuse

by Inmarsat of its monopoly status. As such, it should be referred to Inmarsat’s regulator IMSO and IMO COMSAR. The organisation goes on to argue that the ~15% increase on Existing & Evolved (E&E) communications systems – in particular Fleet F77 – is a blatant push to remove existing users with ‘older’ equipment, from the I3 satellites and force migration onto the I4 platform.

‘This “economically imposed migration” is five years earlier than is normal for such a hardware migration, especially as no end of life for Fleet services has been announced to date. Being GMDSS capable, Inmarsat is obliged to give at least five years notice prior to closure. In lieu of this, migration by stealth will not be tolerated.’

This action is construed as a move either to allocate existing spectrum bandwidth to new revenue streams or force customers into unwanted, overpriced and lengthy contracts for the newer products. ‘It is both morally questionable and potentially anti-competitive,’ the letter states.

The new FleetBroadband pricing regime will result in ‘an unsupportable rise in costs on an industry already operating at little or zero profit margin on daily rates’, it goes on to say.

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AMMITEC, an association representing IT managers working in the Greek maritime industry, has issued an open letter that raises its objections to Inmarsatʼs revised pricing structure

to Fleet-77 from Sat-B, were implemented with a ‘stable and sustainable model that led to a balanced implementation and cost models’.

Earlier roll-outs gave the industry time to cost plan with a project system life of approximately 10 years. ‘Many shipping companies selected FBB equipment based upon the original pricing model and now the facts are changing. Now IT managers have to re-evaluate the ROI and costs of FleetBroadband under the newly imposed scheme.’

AMMITEC is concerned too that the retro-actively imposed price revision sets an unwelcome precedent. It goes on to ask how Inmarsat can justify raising the base subscription levels on Standard FBB plan by three times their current rate and raising for the per MB cost when they clearly realise most merchant vessels operate on this plan. In its view, the move is designed ‘to raise revenue at the expense of their customer base which at this time is relatively captive.’

Furthermore, the group believes the substitution of the money bundles with data allowances will lead to a further

20-30% cost increase, depending on the amount of voice for each vessel. ‘We all know that most companies spend only 50-60MB out of the 125MB of the previous entry plan, but they could consume the rest of their money bundle in voice minutes. Now because voice is not included in the entry plan, there will definitely be an increase in monthly invoices, of approximately $150$200. This gives an [overall] increase of almost 30%. There will also be a considerable amount of unused data being charged for, with an average unused amount of between 150 and 140Mb per vessel. We could, therefore, be paying effectively $700 for 50MB, which equates to $14/MB!’ Finally it makes the point that the alteration in the billing increments for Fleet, mini-M and other legacy E&E systems, which were forced upon customers last year, led to a price increase of around 6%. How, the group wonders, will a further 2030% increase help Inmarsat retain customers in difficult economic times especially with new satcoms technologies emerging.

In summary AMMITEC finds the handling of the tariff revision to be ‘in blatant disregard of the long-term loyalty and trust that up until a few years ago the majority of the shipping world had held Inmarsat and its maritime offerings in’.

The group closed its missive by inviting Inmarsat to openly discuss these issues within the Greek maritime community and the wider maritime community who are all as equally affected.

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Hexapod with a clear view VSAT PROVIDER KVH has opened a new testing facility, which houses a custom-made hexapod motion simulator, at its global headquarters in Rhode Island. Construction of the facility began in 2010 and was completed in 2011, creating a dedicated space with a perfect view to real satellites so that advanced motion testing of antennas can be carried out.

The observatory is equipped with a specially-commissioned curved wall of windows that offers a clear line of sight to satellites in geostationary orbits to KVH antennas. The facility has a cantilever roof, which uses a beam anchored at only one end of the structure. This singlebeam support ensures that the arced windows on the opposite wall have no corner columns or other obstructions.

KVH also used polycarbonate windows to ensuring clear reception of satellite transmissions. Standard glass windows contain traces of lead, which cause interference, so the company opted to use translucent polycarbonate instead to more accurately replicate the outdoor conditions in which fielded systems operate. ʻThe design and location of the building lets our engineers test products efficiently and thoroughly in a controlled environment,ʼ says Jeffrey Greer, VP of operations. ʻThe rectangular shape of the building, with its

The hexapod simulates tumultuous motion

arced radius of windows, provides a full, clear view of the Clarke Belt*,ʼ he explains.

Antennas destined for KVHʼs portfolio are routinely subjected to testing procedures, such as vibration, humidity and motion simulation tests, and the new hexapod ‒ or Stewart Platform ‒ allows even greater flexibility for these operations. ʻOur bespoke hexapod allows us to test our products like no one else,ʼ says Robert Balog, senior VP of engineering. The motion simulator uses pistons to individually control the length of each of the six legs, thereby replicating the tumultuous movements experienced on yachts and commercial vessels, especially during bad weather.

This process helps to ensure that fielded antennas are capable of maintaining a lock on the satellite without any malfunctions due to vigorous or unexpected movement. * The Clarke Belt is the part of space about 36,000km (22,000mi) above sea level, in the plane of the Equator, where near-geostationary orbits may be implemented.

Imtech will look after everything IMTECH MARINE is looking to position itself as a one-stop shop for the commissioning and on-going maintenance of VSAT systems.

The Dutch systems integrator has signed agreements with three major antenna manufacturers ‒ Intellian, Jotron and Thrane & Thrane ‒ allowing it to supply, install, arrange airtime and service the systems from

any its 80 branches around the world.

The company already had relationships with these manufacturers through its subsidiary Radio Holland.

Specifically, the agreements relate to Thrane & Thraneʼs Sailor 900 VSAT and Sat TV; Jotronʼs B120 VSAT antenna; and a range of Intellian VSAT and TVRO products.

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Making a port call While the idea sounds simple in principle, bringing WiFi, or its bigbrother WiMAX, to ports for the benefit of transient seafarers has failed to catch on in practice. The International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW) wanted to find out the reasons why and last year it carried out one of the largest investigations into the subject to date.

The research managed to gather feedback from 72 ports, around 10% of ports worldwide.

Of those responding to the survey, just under a third said they had port-wide WiFi and one-inten had port-wide WiMAX. A quarter of those ports with neither technology in place at the moment, reported they had plans for the technology in the future.

Of those ports with wireless networks already up and running, around 60% allowed seafarers access to the network, with 38% of those doing so without charge.

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Ports remain reluctant to roll-out WiFi, despite it being a well proven technology and one that would markedly improve seafarer welfare not implementing port-wide wireless technology was a lack of demand, followed by concerns about security and the cost of installing and ongoing operation and maintenance. Security also ranked highly as a reason for not allowing access to existing networks. That said, the research team found examples of ports that had successfully managed the security issues.

The cost of installing portwide WiFi or WiMAX was found to vary considerably dependent upon the ports’ size and topography, the choice of technology and the existing degree of infrastructure. The research also identified opportunities for generating modest amounts of rev-

Ports could do more to improve seafarer welfare

enue from port WiFi and WiMAX. Other reasons offered for a lack of access included problems finding a commercial partner to provide a WiMAX signal, as well as fears that port-wide wireless threatens the viability of existing welfare organisations. This latter aspect was explained either in terms of the technology discouraging seafarers from using seafarer centres, or in terms of welfare workers selling seafarers fewer phone cards.

The research found that a number of welfare organisations viewed technology such as WiMAX as providing an opportunity to better meet the needs of seafarers. Evidence that port-wide wireless technology can add to rather than threaten welfare organisations’ revenue were also identified.

In ports with existing portwide WiFi or WiMAX, the research identified issues relating to i) the range and reliability of signal strength and ii) seafarers’ access to the hardware required to connect

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to port-wide wireless networks, which both affected seafarers’ ability to make use of this technology.

WiFi has a smaller range, requires cable to pipe data to a central switch to the outside world, but off-the-shelf components reduce its cost. WiMAX on the other hand has a much extended range, the local receivers can act as transmitters (obviating the need to lay cable), but has higher upfront costs.

With regard to user-end hardware requirements, there are two components that deserve consideration: firstly, seafarers without personal laptops are reliant upon limited access to ship computers.

Secondly, WiMAX networks typically require a special adaptor – commonly referred to as dongle – for each computer that wants to connect to the internet. Port agents in Singapore have taken to distributing these to every ship that visits the port. But crew welfare has always been taken very seriously in the rich city state; whether other ports would be as generous is uncertain.

Overall, the research found a number of practical impediments to the proliferation of port-wide wireless technology and seafarers’ access to it, as well as a ‘bottom line’ culture among ports in which the needs of seafarers, while not disregarded, were peripheral to port operations and planning.

The argument could also be made that as more and more vessels are equipped with broadband satcoms, so the need for public infrastructure diminishes. If a crew member’s personal laptop is already set-up to use their ship’s private on-board facilities, switching to another network could prove inconvenient. Or they might prefer to use a separate local 3G dongle. The options are manifold.

But unless ship owners and operators become more vocal in letting ports know they want these WiFi or WiMAX services, ports will be unable to gauge demand or make investments decisions. As an IT manager at Associated British Ports put it: ‘We are not against it.

It’s just never come up’.

Is VoIP about to come of age?

WHILE PRICES may have fallen over the years, making calls on a satphone is still ‒ relatively speaking ‒ an extravagance, particularly for the majority of crew manning the worldʼs merchant fleet. The keyword here is relativity. Call rates may have dropped, but this has been against a backdrop of a general fall in the cost of communications precipitated by the emergence of new technologies. This has resulted in more choice for crew ‒ why place a voice call if a text or email will suffice? ‒ and undercut the earning capacity of traditional communication providers.

Earlier this year Vobal Technologies introduced its On-Net telephony service, designed to allow commercial ship owners or operators to replace conventional circuit-switched voice calls with unlimited VoIP enabled calling for a low, flat monthly fee. Vessels equipped with Vobalʼs S3 Maritime GSM or S2 VoIP services can reduce their operational calling rates from dollars, to cents, says the company, which recently celebrated becoming an Inmarsat Certified Solutions Provider.

Vobal launched its S2 VoIP product with multi-voice capability in 2011 to meet growing market demand for additional voice lines. This allows the vessel operator to segregate calling for vessel operations from the personal requirements of crew. ʻThe On-Net telephone service is a maritime communication industry first,ʼ claims John Nix, the companyʼs founder and chief-executive. ʻAfter integrating the service into their corporate telephone systems, placing a call to a vessels is as simple as dialling an office telephone extension number.ʼ Vobalʼs S2 and S3 products are designed specifically to work over Inmarsat FleetBroadband, but are also compatible with other satellite services capable of providing a standard IP channel. They provide up to eight concurrent voice calls, unique international DID numbers for each line, integration with vesselʼs switchboard or analogue phones and crew GSM mobile phones.

The S3 base station server establishes a self-contained 900Mhz GSM network that runs on top of Vobalʼs VoIP transport network. Coverage typically extends 6-8 decks, so should provide an adequate signal throughout the crew tower in most ships. Wider coverage can of course be arranged with the aid of additional hardware.

The S3 supports up to seven handsets talking simultaneously, though thereʼs no practical limit on the number of handsets that can be attached to the network and send SMS messages. A nice little side benefit is that crew can utilise the system for free internal calls and texts, ie to their colleagues working elsewhere aboard ship.

The smaller S2 VoIP server supports dedicated incoming and outbound lines for shipʼs business and ʻopen phonesʼ, ie pre-paid PIN-based calling for crew, not unlike a pay phone.

Up to two lines are available out of the box, though this can be expanded to eight. ʻDespite all the advances in maritime communications, voice calls to Inmarsatʼs ocean code +870 numbers often cost several dollars per minute. Alternative single or two-stage dialling platforms require complicated dialling schemes and PIN codes, often with only marginal cost savings,ʼ comments company COO Ronnie Raviv, adding that On-Net is a low cost means to overcoming those shortcomings.

Vobal prides itself on the exceptionally efficient bandwidth utilisation of its technology. From the outset the company recognised that out on the high seas bandwidth is a precious commodity. The entire solution was designed from the ground up not to waste this scarce resource.

Requiring only 6kbps fully loaded (ie voice plus overhead) means that it consumes less than 1Mb of data for 20mins of voice traffic. To date, the company has deployed its solution on commercial merchant ships, offshore oilfield support vessels and even small cruise ships, where it is serving both crew and passengers.

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How wires crossed aboard the Titanic Due to an unfortunate set of coincidences, combined with a failure to follow protocol, the distress signals sent by the Titanic’s radio-officers (R/Os) after hitting an iceberg on 14 April 1912 were not picked up by the Californian, which was only a dozen or so miles from where the tragedy struck. Mercifully they were received by the Carpathia, which eventaully managed to rescue many of the survivors.

The ‘unsinkable’ Titanic was equipped with a then state-ofthe-art Marconi radio set: a rotary spark transmitter, powered by a 5kw alternator that fed off the ship’s lighting circuit, a four wire antenna hoisted 250ft in the air between the ship’s masts, and

The Titanic was kitted out with the most advanced radio equipment of the day, which played a pivotal role after disaster struck even a battery powered emergency transmitter. All this technology guaranteed a daytime transmission range of 250nm, but could reach as far as 2000nm at night.

At the time, most ships were fitted with a standard 1.5kW set.

This typically offered a daytime transmission range somewhere between 70 and 300nm, according to the height, length and shape of the aerial, factors in turn determined by the dimensions of the ship. Again, consid-

Iceberg

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Map showing the relative location of vessels and icebergs in proximity to the Titanic

erably longer ranges were possible at night, owing to more favourable atmospheric conditions. The sets were designed to operate on wavelengths of 300m and 600m, with a simple changeover mechanism; the receiving apparatus provided for tuned reception on all wavelengths between 100 and 2500m.

DC power was obtained from the ship’s mains and led to a ‘rotary converter’, which supplied alternating current to the terminals of the set. Emergency power was available from a battery back-up in the event of the ship’s supply failing.

Both Olympic and Titanic were originally scheduled to receive the standard 1.5kw apparatus. However, just days before Olympic’s maiden voyage in June 1911, Marconi’s new 5kw ‘plainspark’ apparatus was delivered and installed on board in a hastily-modified ‘Silent Room’.

Titanic, several months in construction behind Olympic, had the luxury of a radio room laid out specifically for the 5kw apparatus. Furthermore, such was the progress in finessing the technology, Titanic received the additional benefit of a rotary spark discharger.

With more power to hand, Olympic’s transmitter range was officially listed at 350nm, while Titanic’s range was listed at almost double that, 650nm, thanks in large part to the musical note of the ‘rotary spark’ apparatus enjoyed over that of the ‘rough spark’ produced by the plain spark apparatus.

In charge of all this equipment were the Titanic’s two radio operators, John Phillips and Harold Bride, who while techni-

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cally employed by the Marconi Company, in practice, received their pay-cheques from the White Star Line.

Phillips and Bride spent the day completing the installation and adjusting the equipment.

They exchanged test calls with coast stations at Malin Head, call-sign MH and Liverpool (known as ‘Seaforth’), call-sign LV. Once the equipment was adjusted and fully operational, Phillips and Bride exchanged messages with coast stations at Tenerife, 2000 miles away, and even Port Said, more than 3000 miles distant. By this stage the ‘wireless’ was in almost constant use, with sea trial reports flowing from Captain Smith to Bruce Ismay, managing director at White Star’s company offices in Liverpool.

As the liner’s departure preparations were completed,

both R/Os prepared for the daily onslaught of passenger communications directed to and from ADVISELUM, the wireless code word assigned to Titanic for passenger’s personal traffic. Passengers sent their telegrams at the inquiry office, on the starboard side of the forward first class entrance. The handwritten messages were paid for at the desk, at the rate of 12 shillings and sixpence for the first 10 words, and nine pence per word thereafter.

Even in 1912, this was a substantial sum, in today’s money (taking into account inflation over the years) equivalent to a connection charge of £48.30 and £2.90 per each additional word.

However, it was not beyond the purse of a first class passenger.

Telegrams were sent to the radio room by pneumatic tube.

At the end of the day, a balance was struck between the purser’s

The last lifeboat to be launched from the Titanic

Left: A replica of the radioroom showing key apparatus Right: Radio operator Harold Bride was among the survivors picked up by the Carparthia

clerk and the R/Os regarding the number of chargeable words sent. Incoming passenger messages were received by hand by the duty R/O, and typed on a telegram form by the other R/O. Passenger traffic was sent from the radio room to the inquiry desk using the pneumatic tube.

Messages concerning navigation or for the Captain were delivered directly to the bridge, or to his cabin, down the starboard passage of the officer's quarters The two R/Os expected to spend most of their time sending and receiving personal communications from the wealthy passengers. And, in fact, from the April 12 sailing until the ship hit the iceberg just past midnight on April 15 they sent 250 such messages.

Then, during the two hours from the first distress call until abandoning the radio room about

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404: Ice warning not found three minutes before the vessel foundered – even after being relieved from duty by Captain Jack Phillips – the two R/Os sent 30plus messages.

The first message sent at 12:15am commenced with the code CQD repeated six times, followed by the ship’s own call-sign MGY repeated six times and finally its long/lat. CQD was still widely used as a mayday call to all vessels, indicating the vessel sending was in distress and required immediate assistance, although it had been already officially replaced by SOS. Land telegraphs had traditionally used ‘CQ’ (‘sécu’ of sécurité) to identify messages of interest to all stations along a telegraph line. Subsequently it was adopted as a ‘general call’ for maritime radio use. Because in landline usage there was no general emergency signal, the Marconi company added a ‘D’ to create a distress call. So, contrary to popular belief, it does not stand for ‘Come Quick, Drowning’ or variations thereof, which could be described as ‘backronyms.’

Although used worldwide by Marconi operators from February 1904, CQD was never adopted as an international standard since it could be mistaken for a general

AT 7.50PM on the night of 14 April 1912, the Mesaba of the Atlantic Transport Line sent the following telegram to the Titanic: ʻIn lat 42N to 41.25N long 49W to long 50.30W saw much heavy pack ice and great number of large icebergs also field ice. Weather good, clear.ʼ This telegram gave precise details of the massive ice-field already in the path of the ship. However, the surviving officers of the Titanic claimed that they had never seen the signal. Various theories have been advanced over the years as to why this oversight occurred.

One suggestion was that as Titanic had come within range of Cape Race coast station, the shipʼs R/O John Phillips was attempting to clear a backlog of telegrams for the United States and this warning was overlooked.

A study of the ice warnings received by the ship indicated that with this one exception all had been personally acknowledged by the shipʼs Captain, as required by the regulations of the day. It is conjectured that Mesabaʼs R/O had for some reason failed to follow protocol, which stipulated that ice warnings should open with the MSG prefix. Instead he substituted the words ʻice reportʼ.

MSG was a special code alerting the receiving R/O to messages for the attention of the vesselʼs Captain. There is little doubt that an experienced operator like Philips would have immediately forwarded the communication on to the bridge had this protocol been followed, and in doing so perhaps have averted the subsequent disaster.

call CQ if the reception was poor.

Arguably, the corresponding Morse code transliteration (· — · / — — · — / — · ·) was harder to memorise than Germany’s more logical Notzeichen distress signal of three dots, three dashes and three dots, ie SOS, which was rubberstamped at the second International Radiotelegraphic Convention, held in Berlin in 1906. It follows therefore that ‘Save Our Souls’ and other similar creations can also be treated as convenient backronyms.

Circuit diagram of the Titanic's Marconi radio

But such was the dominance of Marconi over the infant marine radio industry, that even when the new call came into force, many ships still used CQD – including Phillips on the Titanic. It is reported that Bride, the junior radio operator, jokingly suggested the new code SOS be used, thinking it might be the only time he would get to use it; Phillips began to alternate.

The pair remained at their posts even after being relieved from their duties by the Captain until the ship’s generator failed and they could no longer transmit.

While the messages were picked up as far away as Italy, they were not heard by the Californian, which was nearest — said to be between 4 and 20 miles away. This was because the lone radio operator has shut down his operations and gone off duty half an hour before Phillips started sending distress signals.

It is probable that the Californian could have responded much sooner than the Carpathia, which arrived at the scene 4-hours later: too late to save the 1500 who perished but in time to rescue those who had survived the night in lifeboats.

This unfortunate twist of fate led to the introduction of the Radio Act of 1912 requiring two operators and a 24-hour radio watch on all ships.

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A century on, shipping faces new safety risks Despite a greatly improved safety record in the century since Titanic, the maritime industry faces new challenges driven by the continued growth of worldwide shipping, specialist marine insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has advised.

Over the last 100 years, the world commercial shipping fleet has trebled to over 100,000 vessels, yet overall shipping loss rates have declined from one ship per 100 per year in 1912 to one ship per 670 per year in 2009.

While factors such as new technologies and regulation have tremendously improved marine safety, new risks have emerged.

AGCS’s report, ‘Safety and Shipping 1912-2012: From Titanic to Costa Concordia’, based on research from Cardiff University’s Seafarers’ International Research Centre (SIRC), highlights several key challenges for the industry. These include the growing trend for ‘super-size’ ships and cost pressures pushing ship-owners to source crews from emerging economies where standards of training and assessment can be inconsistent.

Other significant safety risks include reduced crewing numbers, which may compromise margins of safety and encourage ‘human error’ risks; increasing bureaucracy on board ships; the continued threat of piracy off Somalia and elsewhere; and the emergence of ice shipping and its associated navigational and environmental complications.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Sven Gerhard, AGCS’s Global Product Leader 18

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The global fleet has trebled in size since the time of the Titanic and thankfully losses are following a downward trend. However it still takes a disaster to bring about real improvements in safety

Strategic Passages and Regional Losses (Loss Dates 2001-2011)

Source: Dr Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Global Studies & Geography, Hofstra University Source of loss data: Lloydʼs List Intelligence World Fleet Update

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Safety in shipping 1912-2012 Hull & Marine Liabilities, says: ‘While the seas are safer than ever today, the industry needs to address these new risks proactively. For example, ultra-large ships pose challenges for insurers due to their sheer size and value, while others raise concerns on structural integrity and failure.

While scale alone does not make these ships riskier, the increased sizes introduce specific risks that need to be addressed, such as salvage and recovery considerations and emergency handling.’

Weakest link The report also highlights the continued challenge of human error in maritime operations – a factor which remains critical despite a hundred years of technological and regulatory improvements in safety. Over 75% of marine losses can be attributed to a wide range of ‘human error’ factors, including fatigue, inadequate risk management and competitive pressures, as well as potential deficiencies in training and crewing levels.

Dr Gerhard explains: ‘As technological improvements reduce risk, so the weakest link in the system – the human factor – becomes more important. This is where the industry should focus most closely, so that best practice risk management and a culture of safety becomes second nature across the world fleet.’

Catalytic disaster While technologies such as radar and GPS have driven improved safety, it has often been major accidents that have been the cat-

Since 1912, world fleet tonnage has increased by a factor of 23 and now approaches one billion gross tons (2010).

World seaborne trade has trebled since 1970 to over 8.4 billion tons of cargo loaded per annum.

Cruise passenger numbers have shown significant growth in recent years, and are forecast to grow by 7.4% year on year from 1990-2015. It is estimated that in 2015, over 22 million passengers will be carried on cruise vessels worldwide (2011: 19.2 million).

Marine transport is one of the safest means of passenger transport overall with far lower fatal accident rates than driving, cycling or walking in Europe.

Professional seafarer fatality rates have fallen in many countries: for example, in the UK, in 1919 it was estimated that there would be 358 fatal accidents for every 100,000 seafarer years spent ʻat riskʼ ‒ a rate which had fallen to 11 by the period 1996-2005. However, this fatality rate is still 12 times higher than in the general workforce.

Accident ʻblack spotsʼ include South China, Indo-China, Indonesia and Philippines with 17% of losses in 2001-2011, followed by East Mediterranean and Black Sea (13%), and Japan, Korea and North China (12%). The seas around the British Isles also show relatively high loss concentrations (8%).

alysts for key changes: for example, the 1914 SOLAS convention was triggered by the loss of the Titanic, and included regulations for ice navigation and life-saving equipment while the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987 spurred on the adoption of the International Safety Management code, which the IMO adopted in 1993 and which has done much to improve best safety practice.

‘Historically, high profile shipping disasters have led to improvements in marine safety.

And Costa Concordia is certain to be no different, whatever the result of the official investigations into this cause will be’, says Dr

World fleet size by number of ships:1900-2010

Source of loss data: Lloydʼs List Intelligence World Fleet Update

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Brain probes used in battle against fatigue Project Horizon brought academic institutions and shipping industry organisations together, with specialist input from some worldleading transport and stress research experts. The eleven partners made pioneering use of bridge, engine room and cargo simulators to assess scientifically the impact of fatigue in realistic seagoing scenarios.

A total of 90 experienced deck and engineer officer volunteers participated in rigorous tests at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteberg and at Warsash Maritime Academy at Southampton Solent University to measure their levels of sleepiness and performance during the most common watch keeping patterns – four hours on/eight hours off (4/8) and six hours on/six hours off (6/6). Some volunteers were also exposed to a ‘disturbed’ off-watch period, reflecting the way in which seafarers may experience additional workloads as a result of port visits, bad weather or emergencies.

The EU part-funded project provided detailed empirical data on the sleepiness levels of watch keepers working within those realistic scenarios, enabling researchers to analyse the impact of sleepiness on decision-making, reaction times and other key elements of performance. Key findings include: at least one occurrence of sleep was detected among 45% of officers in the 6/6 team working the 0000-0600hrs watch at Chalmers and one occurrence for about 40% of those on the 00000400 watch in the 4/8 pattern at Warsash, where the watch20

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Major advances in the scientific understanding of the way in which watchkeeping patterns can affect the sleepiness levels of shipsʼ officers have been made by a 32-month research programme

keepers remained undisturbed in their off-watch rest periods, the number of occurrences of sleeping on watch for officers on the 6/6 pattern varied, and was up to more than 20% on the 1800-0000 watch such incidents of sleeping on watch were found within both watchkeeping patterns, and they mainly occurred during night and early morning watches participants in all the groups reported relatively high levels of subjective sleepiness on the KSS scale, which got higher towards the end of a watch and the end of the week varying degrees of sleep loss were observed between the watch systems and depending on whether off-watch periods were disturbed or not. Overall sleep duration for those on the 4/8 pattern was found to be relatively normal, with around 7.5 hours a day for those in team 1 at Chalmers and about 6 hours for team 2 participants working 6/6 watches were found to get markedly less sleep than those on 4/8, and data showed a clear ‘split’ sleeping pattern in which daily sleep on the 6/6 pattern was divided into two periods -one of between three to four hours and the other averaging between two to three hours

reaction time tests, carried out at the start and end of each watch, showed clear evidence of performance deterioration – and the slowest reaction times were found at the end of night watches and among those on the 6/6 patterns watchkeepers were found to be most tired at night and in the afternoon and sleepiness levels were found to peak towards the end of night watches the 6/6 regime was found to be more tiring than the 4/8 rotas and ‘disturbed’ off-watch periods were found to produce significantly high levels of tiredness in both watch systems, the disturbed off-watch period was found to have a profound effect upon levels of sleepiness there was evidence that routine and procedural tasks could be carried out with little or no degradation, whilst participants appeared to find it harder to deal with novel ‘events’, such as collision avoidance or fault diagnosis, as the ‘voyages’ progressed researchers also noted a decline in the quality of the information being given by participants at watch handovers as the week progressed Researchers went on to use the data to develop a new fatigue management toolkit for use by ship owners and managers, seafarers, regulators and others, to help arrange working schedules to mitigate risks to ships and their cargoes, seafarers, passengers and the marine environment.

Known as Martha, the ‘maritime alertness regulation toolkit’ was developed as a spin-off from a similar system already employed in the aviation industry,

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which uses mathematical models to predict alertness and performance over set periods. Users input their watch schedules over a six-week timeframe and the software will predict and display its estimates of the time of highest potential sleepiness for each watch, as well as for time outside watch duty.

Researchers hope shipping companies will adopt Martha for

planning the size and competence of the crew. It could also be used for drawing up an improved ISM plan or even for insurance/classification purposes.

Project coordinator Graham Clarke commented: ‘Seafarer fatigue is one of the biggest safety issues in the shipping industry, and this research has taken our understanding of the way in which the quality of sleep off-

An engineer officer carries out his duties on a simulator, while EEG sensors record brain activity

watch affects the sleepiness of watchkeepers on watch to a new and much deeper level.

‘It is hoped that the fatigue management toolkit will be a lasting legacy for the sector, providing a resource that, by establishing improved working patterns, will help to enhance the safety of ships and passengers, and the welfare of seafarers,’ he added.

Totem brings attention seeking alarms under control Totem Plus has developed a Bridge Alert Management System (BAMS), which should allow the source of an alarm to be more quickly identified and acknowledged, thereby reducing the number of distractions diverting deck officers’ attention from more pressing matters.

The complexity of modern navigational bridge layouts and the large number of computerised systems on such bridges is a well-known fact. Consequently, alarms or messages from various sources compete for attention, immediate response and acknowledgement. Those sources are frequently at different locations across the bridge.

Such alarms can be a major distracting factor when the navigator has to concentrate on important safety tasks. The rush to silence a buzzer of a faulty speed log while trying to concentrate on

traffic to avoid collision, for example, can be nerve-wracking and sometimes dangerous.

At its heart BAMS interfaces to all relevant bridge systems, either through serial inputs using the NMEA protocol or through hardwired (binary) signals, continually pulling in data on their operational status. It then presents this information in a single consolidated display on a touch screen monitor. This approach, says Totem, makes it easier for deck officers to quickly identify faulty systems and silence the associated audible alarms.

The information can also flow in the reverse direction. BAMS can be integrated with a BNWAS, so that unanswered alarms can be relayed as a second stage BNWAS alarm. The transfer will take place after a pre-determined delay time, adjustable separately for each system. Such transfer is imperative with failure of major

navigation equipment such as autopilot, gyro, navigation lights among others.

In addition to the core functionalities described above, BAMS keeps a one year log of all system events and activity. When required, the aggregated log file can be downloaded on to external media via USB. The user can filter what data is transferred across in any number of ways. For example, all alerts referring to one source only, all pending alarms of all systems, all the events in a certain period, configuration changes etc.

BAMS has three modes of operation: sea mode (default), silent mode (no audible alarms) or anchor mode (alert if position drifted). The system is type approved by GL, is in accordance with latest IMO resolutions and can be installed on any type of vessel.

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Nexans celebrates 10 years of innovation Specialist cable manufacturer Nexans is celebrating a decade of innovation at its Lyon-based research facility.

While cables often become invisible and forgotten about, even the most sophisticated and intelligent control systems are dependent upon them relaying data to/from the external environment. And when it comes to maritime applications that external environment is unlikely to be a comfortable air-conditioned office building. Instead, cables for use at sea must be engineered to withstand extreme temperatures, pressures and a variety of other harsh conditions.

Since its founding in 2000, Nexans has carved out a niche in developing and supplying cables capable of withstanding exactly these unforgiving environments.

Pivotal in its success has been the company’s focus on R&D activities. The company opened its first research centre in Lyon, France in 2002. It has since established a network of sister facilities in Nuremberg, Germany; Lens, France; and Jincheon, South Korea.

Together, over 600 researchers, engineers and technicians bring to market, on average, two new products a week. Highlights in the maritime sector include a cold-resistant cable, a mud-resistant LAN cable and fire-resistant dualrole data/power cable.

The development of IceFlex was precipitated by IceFlex demand retains its flexibility down to temperatures as cold as -40° C

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Original and inventive thinking is called for when designing cables that can tolerate the extreme conditions often encountered in the maritime industry

from the offshore energy industry, which needed cables that could cope with the extreme cold conditions frequently encountered in exploration, extraction and transportation projects taking place in Arctic waters. In Russia, for example, the resultant cables went on to help ice-protect the Prirazlomnaya stationary oil platform in the Barents Sea. The defining characteristic of IceFlex is its ability to remain flexible in temperatures as low as 50°C, thanks to its halogen-free rubber-based sheathing compound. According to Nexans, it also offers good mechanical properties, flame retardancy, low toxicity, mineral oil and weathering resistance, and thermal stability. The company has gone on to apply IceFlex to its ShipLink cables for ships operating in icy waters.

The centre has produced ‘mud resistant’ cables designed to withstand exposure to the drilling fluids used in many offshore projects. The cleverly engineered sheathing complies with the new NEK606 standard, which stipulates oil resistance in IRM903 for one week at 100°C and resistance oilbased Carbosea and water-based calcium bromide brine drilling fluids for up to 56 days at 70°C. In the smart LANmark cabling system, the outer sheath can

LANmarkʼs outer sheath can be removed when it penetrates areas where fire resistance is necessary

be removed when the cable penetrates areas where fire resistance is necessary. Nexans lists higher bandwidth, EMC compliance, and easy ‘stripability’ among its other notable characteristics. For power cables, the research centre developed materials that meet cold impact and cold bend requirements down to -40°C. Nexans has addressed fire safety within the shipping sector by producing cables that meet IEC 60331-21 and 60331 (part 1 and 2) fire safety standards. Its INFIT insulating layer works by hardening into a ceramic layer to keep current and data flowing during a fire. The special insulation is available throughout Nexan’s ShipLink range.

Other innovations to emerge from Lyon include high-performance cross-linked materials frequently used in cable systems for renewable energy applications; reduced fire hazard cables employing halogen-free fire-retardant (HFFR) solutions with low smoke emission for indoor applications; energy-efficient designs minimising CO2 footprint and sustainable solutions using eco-friendly raw materials and reducing material usage.

The Lyon research facility is fully equipped to manufacture and test cable prototypes so that development can be speeded up and time to market significantly reduced. The team has developed powerful computer simulation tools that allow the company to design new cables more rapidly than ever before. In addition, dedicated test centres evaluate product performances under real-life conditions.

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MCP prepares for a mobile data tsunami It is estimated that within the next four years, terrestrial wireless carriers will need to find a way to transmit more than 30 times the volume of data their networks carry today. They are taking steps to contend with a veritable data tsunami. But part of this tsunami will wash against the shores of the maritime sector and in particular the cruise industry.

‘Cruise companies have to get ready for the next wave.

They have to upgrade on board communication systems with highly efficient wireless base stations and make gigabyte, not just megabyte, bandwidth investments,’ warns Roar Walderhaug.

Of course, he would say that in his position as VP for corporate communications at MCP, a company that has established itself as the dominant provider of on-board mobile connectivity for passengers (and crew) on cruise ships and ferries. Nevertheless, it is clear that today’s mobile devices are used for considerably more than basic voice services.

In fact, for many, actually placing calls has switched from being a core to a peripheral function.

‘The mobile device is one of the most important devices we own. Cruise companies need to think beyond current cellular boundaries and examine how information flows over wireless networks. They have to think about upgrading control servers, about compressing and network configuration to optimise data traffic through satellite transfer,’ continues Walderhaug.

Though a migration to full 3G and LTE (the next level up from 3G) data speeds on ships may still be a little way off, de-

Cruise ship operators need to act now to make sure their ships provide enough mobile coverage for increasingly data-hungry passengers pending on future satellite bandwidth availability and costs, MCP is designing and operating the most modern networks available at sea.

Last year the company introduced EDGE network technology, a more efficient 2G protocol.

Retrofitting its total installation base with the latest communications software, MCP more than tripled the data capacity of each ship’s GSM/GPRS network, resulting in increased individual user data rates, higher-speed mobile internet services over existing infrastructure and additional capacity for still-expanding voice traffic.

MCP confirms that its first

2009 Explosive mobile growth 4.7 billion subscribers worldwide

3G-vessel project, to be finalised in August this year, is being driven by passenger use of social media applications such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Cruise and ferry operators must keep ahead of the curve to maintain and increase revenues generated by on-board communication, says Walderhaug. ‘With our 3G strategy in place, we can upgrade a ship’s network to handle fast 3G connections, complete with micro-browsers, widgets and quick launch icons.

Between 2008 and 2011, MCP has measured 24% yearly growth in the use of its digital wireless service CellAtSea. But in 2011, it experienced an average of 180% increase in data traffic with record passenger and crew use of mobile internet and smart phone services.

2010 10.6 trillion minutes of voice calls made annually

The data tsunami 3 million TB of data transmitted over the air globally

5.3 trillion text messages sent annually

The graphic shows growth in global mobile data in the terrestrial environment

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Crash-proofing ship engine controllers It almost goes without saying that the computers that serve as the human machine interface (HMI) to the engines on board ships have to be extremely reliable. For one thing, they are responsible for controlling some enormous forces. The engines under their command may output up to 115,000 horsepower and weigh up to 2000 tons. For another, they must be capable of withstanding the big variations in temperature, vibration humidity and dust, which are frequently experienced in the engine room environment.

It is no accident that MAN Diesel & Turbo uses industrial computers from Beijer Electronics as the HMI for its giant B&W engines. The choice was based on a very thorough evaluation and negotiation process, in which suppliers from all over the world were compared against each other. On board ships, reliability is absolutely crucial, so all components in the redundant control system have to be of the highest quality.

A large proportion of all ships plying the oceans are propelled by MAN Diesel & Turbo.

In recent years, demand for electronically controlled B&W two-stroke diesels has risen sharply. Advanced control systems that manage fuel injection and compression contribute to better fuel economy and reduced emissions.

With the progressive tightening of environmental requirements, ship owners are also increasingly interested in retrofitting electronic control in existing vessels. As a bonus, modern

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Software failure is not an option when it comes to designing and constructing the electronic operator interfaces that control the worldʼs largest ship engines

control systems also facilitate operation and maintenance by the crew, including lubrication of the engines.

At sea, reliability takes the highest priority. Downtime costs big money. To prevent and avoid problems, the engine control system consists entirely of carefully selected, high-quality electronic components such as computers.

Vital functions are also duplicated.

Robust industrial computers from Beijer Electronics have been used in the onboard systems since last summer. In the first six months or so since deliveries started, around 150 computers from the EPC series have been commissioned, ‘without a single complaint,’ stresses Kennet Palm, who is responsible for all the hardware used in the control electronics at MAN Diesel & Turbo,

Beijer creates userinterface panels for a variety of marine applications

Tough jobs The industrial computers that Beijer Electronics supplies to MAN Diesel & Turbo for its engine control systems are anything but throwaway devices.

These EPC boxes are specially designed and made for maximum reliability in demanding environments.

Consumer PC buyers are mainly concerned with performance and low price. The occasional ‘blue screen of death’ may be irritating, but it is not a major problem. It is quite different at sea – particularly on a big tanker hundreds or thousands of miles from port. So when MAN Diesel & Turbo chooses components for its electronic control systems, reliability combined with a long service life is crucial.

‘We build engines with a lifetime of 30 years, which have to work day in, day out in a tough maritime environment with all that this implies in terms of heat, humidity and vibration,’ explains Kennet Palm, adding that of course factors like purchase cost and warranties are not irrelevant either.

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The technology in brief Reliable supplies A secure supply of products and spare parts, with just-in-time delivery, is equally high on the list as quality: ‘To guarantee the supply of components, we made a decision at the group level to have two, or preferably three, alternative sources for every key product that we need.’

Kennet Palm and his colleagues leave no stone unturned in their efforts to identify the best and most reliable products on the market. They search the world for computers, screens and other hardware for the control system.

The adoption of Beijer Electronics as one of very few PC suppliers to MAN Diesel & Turbo did not happen overnight. The EPC boxes were tested methodically and very thoroughly over a long period. Niels Torres Engel and Thomas Lehnemann, who are responsible for research and reliability, leave nothing to chance. For their rigorous testing, they have a small ‘torture chamber’ at their disposal in the company’s R&D division.

‘Among the formal requirements, the products have to be type-approved by the leading maritime classification associations,’ says Niels Torres Engel, explaining that, after the preliminary screening, the different computers are installed in test beds to confirm their compatibility, performance and quality.

Harsh environment In the engine room of a ship, it can get really hot. That is why checks are made to ensure that the computers will still work in 70°C temperatures. The EPC boxes from Beijer Electronics met this challenge – as well as the related vibration and humidity tests. ‘By stressing the products, we pick up faults that might not initially show up,’ says Lehnemann.

It is also crucial, he adds, that manufacturers do not make any sudden design modifications, as even seemingly minor changes to components can impact on the programs running in the computer. ‘We perform constant

The Beijer Electronics EPC box is a robust, maintenancefree and well-protected industrial computer for tough environments. It is built around Intel processors with Windows XP Embedded. Fanless processors keep the temperature down and reduce wear. It is IP20-rated according to DIN EN 60529.

Parallel and serial ports are standard, along with USB 2.0 sockets and 100 Mbps Ethernet. MAN Diesel & Turbo has chosen flash disk for data storage. The alternative is a traditional vibration-tolerant hard disk.

Beijer Electronicsʼ EPC series is certified by ABS, Bureau Veritas, DNV, Germanischer Lloyd, Lloydʼs Register and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

The control system manages fuel injection and compression, which contribute to better fuel economy and reduced emissions

spot-checks to ensure that the equipment supplied is up to the mark, and we are in constant contact with our partners,’ he says.

The partnership with Beijer Electronics is described as relaxed and personal. As Kennet Palm says, if communication with the suppliers isn’t working, it doesn’t matter how good the products are: ‘We feel that our wishes are listened to and we get all the help we need.’

Niels Torres Engel agrees. He freely admits that MAN Diesel & Turbo could be described as a ‘difficult’ customer: ‘Although we're not buying vast quantities of industrial computers, we are extremely fussy about the quality of what we get.’

This close dialogue between Beijer and MAN has brought improvements in the onboard systems, which also increases safety. If a control computer should fail – against all the odds – the crew on board can re-install the operating system and programs. This backup copy used to be held on a CD, but unfortunately the mechanisms in the CD drives could not always cope with the vibration they were exposed to. The EPC boxes introduced the idea of restoring from a USB stick, a much more robust solution.

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Ships are becoming increasingly reliant on advanced electronics in their dayto-day operation. The most visible manifestation of this trend are the banks of monitors found on the bridge of a modern ship serving up a cornucopia of navigational information. Down below too, it is not unusual for engine control rooms to be fitted out with screens displaying countless operational parameters relating to power generation and propulsion efficiency.

So it is somewhat ironic that the monitors responsible for presenting all this information are virtually invisible. Of course, that they are taken for granted is a testament to their reliability. But the fact remains monitors have a significantly shorter lifetime than the vessels they serve upon. Oldfashioned cathode ray tube (CRT) displays were typically built to last 80,000 hours, which approximates to 10 years usage. Newer flatscreen LCD displays have a still shorter design life, generally speaking, in the order of 5-6 years.

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The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Dr Eldon Tyrellʼs quip on the longevity of Replicants in Bladerunner applies equally well to latest generation of monitors, which are unlikely to last the lifetime of a vessel with at least one, probably two and possibly up to three replacement cycles during a vessel’s lifetime. Would, given the choice, owners prefer hardened hardware which they could fit once and forget? Is the onus on manufacturers to devise more resilient designs?

Or is it more cost-effective to treat monitors as a consumable and replace when required?

A fair number of CRTs can still be found operating in the global fleet. Even if the screen has deteriorated to 25% of its original brightness, as long as the Captain is happy he can see what he needs on the display there is no reason compelling an upgrade to newer technologies.

For navigation purposes, the critical factor is colour calibration. And a reduction in bright-

ness has little impact on this.

Furthermore colour calibration is only measured when a manufacturer is getting type-approval for a display. It is not subject to retesting after it has been installed and the ship is in service. What is forcing ships to ditch CRTs and upgrade to newer flat-screen panels is a general lack of spareparts for traditional tube displays. Specialist manufacturers serving the maritime sector, such as North Invent, are reporting a healthy level of sales in the retrofit market.

The durability of a TFT display panel will vary according to whether it is intended for an industrial or consumer specification. Consumer-oriented products assume an eighthour/day profile, while industrial grade products are typically built to operate around the clock.

TFT monitors that use a fluorescent lighting (CCFL) tube for a backlight have an average lifeexpectancy of 30-40 000 hours until they reach their brightness half-life. Back of the envelope calculations show this equates to between 5-7 years usage, depending on the operational profile. Of

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The information they present might be bright and clear, but monitors themselves are virtually invisible

course, if display brightness is not an issue, there is no reason they cannot be used longer. But the component that is most susceptible to age-induced failure is the high-voltage circuitry that powers the backlight. And, unfortunately, when it comes to highvoltage systems, ageing is inevitable.

It is difficult to comment on the ageing process for LED displays. ‘They are still a young technology. No-one really has 10 years’ experience of them yet.

The research done so far suggests that they will maintain a higher quality picture and higher brightness levels for longer than an equivalent TFT unit.’

For one thing, LED displays do not require the CCFL tube that produces the backlight in conventional TFT displays; instead the light is produced directly from the LEDs mounted on the circuit board. ‘CCFL tubes are made from glass and therefore are the most fragile component in the display,’ says Søren Refsgaard, international sales manager at North Invent. That said, he has never heard of any instances of broken tubes in the wild.

Something that might become an issue is the amount of heat that LED displays generate, which has to be circulated out of the device. ‘It is plausible that flaws in the cooling circuit will lead to hotspots,’ conjectures Refsgaard. ‘But there is still insufficient experience to tell for certain. Everybody’s hope is LEDs will deliver a more uniform light output over the lifespan of the unit.’

LED monitors have already made their way aboard ships’ bridges. They meet all the conditions required for approval. The 23-inch, which is the de facto standard for today’s ECDIS and radar systems, tend to be LEDs. The technology will migrate into other sizes over the next 3-5 years.

OLED displays are starting to migrate from consumer-space to industry applications, which might yet prove a welcome development for bridge officers. ‘There are two aspects that are of interest for navigation applications: one is light-level and the other is contrast ratio. It is important to be able to distinguish between different colours, especially when you sail a ship at night in low light conditions. OLED are self-illuminated panels, so they ought to have high colour contrast in low ambient light conditions,’ explains Refsgaard.

However, certain adaptations will probably be required to satisfy the approval bodies. ‘When we went from CRT to TFT, all the navigation systems had to control the back-light through the serial communication protocol. In other words, it is software controlled. This is in contrast to the old CRT tube, where you just twizzled the knob to turn down the brightness. It was a hardware-based analogue control that directly reduced the number of electrons firing onto the phosphor. OLEDs see a return to CRTstyle way of working.’

A challenge facing manufacturers building displays for marine applications is that there is no standalone type-approval process. Instead, a display will be assessed together with the host

Bonded display reduces reflections VARIED LIGHT conditions are always a factor in marine applications. Reflections too are a common problem. Natural or artificial sources of light are refracted by the protective bezel of the monitor, resulting in a poor contrast image that can make it hard to discern subtle elements being displayed. In the context of navigation, this could have safety implications.

German manufacturer Baytek states solving this problem requires taking into consideration two physical phenomena. Firstly, due to the tiny air gap between the bezel and the actual LCD display, reflections from the various sources of light interfere with the contrast. Secondly, the consistency of the glass and air is different, and air conducts light.

As a result, each source of light is reflected three times: at the outward surface of the front glass; at the inward surface of the front glass; and finally, at the front of the actual LCD display. Each of these sources of interference has an average reflection rate of 5%. In total, these sources of interference add up to a reflection rate of 15%, making it nearly impossible to read the monitor in bright light.

To overcome this, Baytek has switched to a bonded display manufacturing process for its BPM and BQM monitors, which ensures there is no air between the display and the glass bezel. This additional effort can reduce optical aberrations and reflections to as little as 0.2%.

These monitors provide the viewer with a detailed highcontrast image, even in very challenging and bright ambient light conditions. They are designed to be fully readable in direct sunlight without increasing the power requirements.

ECDIS or radar system as a combined package. According to Refsgaard, the certificate of approval that is subsequently issued will then apply to only that specific combination of equipment.

The upshot is that it is not possible to swap in another monitor, without jeopardising the approval. ‘This can cause problems if a ship comes into port needing a replacement screen and the same model is not available, even if a functionally equivalent unit is,’ says Refsgaard. With a hint of resignation, he adds: ‘But the situation has been like this for the last two decades. The monitor is regarded as a component of a larger system rather than a discrete product in its own right. It makes life difficult for us as manufacturers and operators looking to maintain their vessel.’

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The 2012 e-Navigation Underway conference – subtitled From a Birdseye Perspective to Practical Solutions – provided a platform both to explore general developments and an opportunity to report back on a number of test-bed projects.

Andreas Nordseth, director general, Danish Maritime Authority set the scene with an overview of traffic in and out of the Baltic, noting the hazardous nature of much of its cargo before reference was made to the current financial state and the squeeze that it is putting on the maritime industry. The attraction of a route opening to the Far East, around the north of Russia, was set in the context of the consequences of incidents. He drilled home the fact that, in order for e-navigation to be successful, solutions will need to be created in close partnership with industry.

Gary Prosser, Sec-Gen of International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), which organised the event, used his keynote address to explain IALA’s involvement with e-Navigation and its relationship with IMO and association with the EfficienSea project.

Gradually getting down to the nitty-gritty, John Erik Hagen, chairman of the IMO e-Navigation correspondence group, stressed the importance of taking ‘user needs’ into account. This seemingly innocuous observation later sparked a discussion on how ambiguous the term 28

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In January, nearly 150 experts from over 20 countries gathered aboard DFDSʼ Crown of Scandinavia to start hammering out the practical elements of e-Navigation, while crossing the waters from Copenhagen to Oslo and then back again ‘user’ is within the grandiose scale of the e-Navigation project.

Meanwhile, Andy Norris, vicepresident of Royal Institute of Navigation, took on the challenge of explaining the differences between electronic navigation, which already exists in the form of ECDIS et al, and e-Navigation.

This picked up on greater intercommunication between different elements, whilst continuing to employing existing standards. He went on to raise topics as diverse as data sources and integrity; the impact of e-Navigation workstations on bridge practices; the benefits of borrowing an ‘Apps’-like approach to the development of eNavigation functionalities. He also commented on the challenges that would be met introducing eNavigation to new builds and retrofitting older vessels, noting the disarray seen with ECDIS. Freezing standards Representing the voice of OEMs, Mike Rambaut, sec-gen of CIRM, explained the factors affecting what manufacturers choose to make and the process by which they make their decisions. He drew attention to the role of stan-

dards and the impact of committees whose job it is to devise those standards. This led to comments on what were considered to be basic steps in the implementation of e-Navigation and a plea to freeze standards as soon as possible. In short, ‘tell us what you want and we will build it’.

Speaking on behalf of the International Chamber of Shipping, John Murray also thought it would be instructive to consider ECDIS as an example of how not to proceed, with particular reference to ensuring competence. He highlighted the conflicts that arose between the pace of technological development and the established regulatory process and appealed to delegates to take enduser training into proper consideration. He hopes that the automation, harmonisation and integration promised by e-Navigation will ensure that training additional to that already required under STCW is unnecessary.

Bill Cairns, chairman of the IALA e-NAV Committee described the responsibilities and agendas of the Committee’s various Working Groups, before explaining the importance of the forthcoming IHO/IALA meeting where IALA would become a domain holder under IHO’s S-100 GI Registry.

The Nautical Institute’s renowned director of projects, David Patraiko, spoke on the vital need to bring the human element and user needs into eNavigation. Over complexity, he implored, must be avoided. He also reviewed the training op-

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tions and the value of mentoring, an idea that was picked up for inclusion in upcoming test-bed projects.

An IMO perspective was bought to the table by Gurpreet Singhota, deputy director, Maritime Safety Division. He too warned that e-Navigation should be fundamentally based around user needs and that over-reliance on technology should be avoided. The potential ship and shore-based users were presented, which again showed how elastic the term ‘user’ needs to be. Later, in sketching out the steps made so far in the development of e-Navigation, specific mention was made of the use of the IHO’s S-100 standard. This was followed by mention of future radio spectrum requirements.

Test bed reports Jorge Viso of the American Pilots Association described the progress made at the Tampa eNavigation test bed, using data provided by NOAA. The aim is to reduce voice communications and improve navigation safety and efficiency. PORTS, a realtime system to provide environmental data was described and its benefits for depth sensitive port operations and the need to use slack water for difficult turns. Access to real-time meteorological data has assisted in developing producing procedures for the movement of cruise ships. The information has been available via a website but is now available via ASMs and the pilot’s PPU.

The benefits and challenges of using PORTS was discussed, as was the effect of the test bed providing suspect information. The reliability of AIS data and the need to verify it was stated.

Enhanced radar positioning was the subject matter of Jens Kristian Jensen, Danish Maritime Authority. After spelling out the importance of resilient position, navigation and timing, Jensen described the concept behind radar positioning. This led to an introduction of e-RACON and e-Radar; their current functionality; key enabling technologies and test environment. It was concluded automatic position verification is realistic but at least two RACONs with a suitable geometry are needed to get good results.

Ulf Svedberg of the Swedish

Does e-nav require a minimum bandwidth?

WITH ALL the navigation related information that will be flying backwards and forwards between ships, shore-side authorities and other stakeholders, will it be necessary for ships to have a statutory amount bandwidth onboard for transmitting this data? At the moment, weʼre the not sure.

Before a sensible proposal can be made, a better grasp is required of exactly what data needs to be sent from where and to whom. Strategies for reducing duplication will also need to be investigated. It is recognised that bandwidth does not come free. In this context, work on the e-Navigation data model should prove invaluable. This topic is expected to be raised at IMOʼs NAV58.

Maritime Administration presented on the topic of dynamic and proactive vessel routing and the need for ‘sea traffic control’.

Within the context of the Mona Lisa project, he introduced the ‘Green Routes’ concept explaining how marine spatial planning could save on aggregate fuel usage (thus reducing emissions). This led neatly to a discussion of System Wide Information Management, hinting at the possibility for dynamic separation, as opposed to static separation. With ship’s routes held centrally in a Sea Traffic Control system, assistance in avoiding congestion and ‘open sea pilotage’ become possible.

A Canadian perspective came from Lee Alexander of the University of New Hampshire, who described a test-bed project on the St Lawrence River focusing on the needs of pilots, while Yasuyuki Niwa from the National Maritime Research Centre in Japan tackled the thorny subject of usability evaluation of navigational equipment.

Embarking on a journey Jeppesen’s Michael Bergman opened with the philosophical observation that e-navigation should be seen as a journey; not a destination. He went on to stress the material differences between data and information, illustrating his point with an example from the aviation industry where the digitisation of data result in much cleaner, de-cluttered air chart. Bergman briefly discussed the process of collecting data to develop information, MITE April/May 2012

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and the role, challenges and risks posed by data overlays.

The individuality of bridges and information overload were the keywords in the presentation

by Florian Motz, Fraunhofer, Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics. Motz observed despite IMO performance standards being in place no two ships’ bridges are ever the same.

The presentation then turned to the modular bridge concept, its objectives and function. The INS performance standards were covered, as were its key functions, namely: route monitoring, collision avoidance, navigation control data, alert management and status and data display. Motz went on to consider the modular bridge as a fundamental component of e-Navigation.

Carsten Jensen from the Danish Maritime Authority considered e-Navigation from the

point of a view of a regulator, taking into account, amongst other factors, the current envisaged workload on IMO and administrations. On his wishlist of benefits sought for both administrations and ships were rationalisation of ship reporting systems and the use of S-Mode. Jensen went on to review how e-Navigation might interlock with existing standards. He closed with a plea that e-Navigation might reduce the increasing administrative burden on today’s officers.

The concept of R-mode – re-

Navigation experts gathered aboard the

Crown of Scandinavia

e-Navigation Underway 2012: Key conclusions Regulation is necessary but it should be goal-based.

More effective use of existing navigational aids can be made by their integration and harmonisation, together with simplification of relevant rules and regulations. This process is already underway.

The IMO INS performance standards should be used as the basis for the shipboard integration of existing and future navigational aids, as a component of e-Navigation.

Initially, existing performance standards for navigational aids are most likely to be satisfactory in the e-Navigation context, as they already work with INS. Performance standards will need to be refined and structured towards a modular concept to accommodate changes in technology within an e-Navigation environment. e-Navigation applications will be useful tool to support maritime spatial management and coastal states should consider their use.

All national authorities should consider developing their own e-Navigation strategic action plan, taking into account the IMO strategy Test beds are essential for progressing e-Navigation. e-Navigation test beds should demonstrate a response to identified user needs and should take into account the human element and economic implications.

Test beds could look at ways to reduce the administrative burden on mariners and operators ashore.

It is recognised that errors occur, thus e-Navigation should help reduce the scope for errors onshore and aboard and mitigate the consequences.

Tools, procedures and training for ensuring usability of e-Navigation applications should be considered during design and testing.

Test bed methodology and evaluation criteria should be harmonised to allow validation of outputs and quality assurance.

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dundant and resilient positioning – was proposed by Michael Hoppe of the German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration’s Traffic Technology Centre. After outlining the dependence of e-Navigation on an accurate and reliable source of positioning data, Hoppe explained the vulnerability of GNSS to naturally occurring, manmade and deliberate interference. He argued terrestrial radio-navigation systems and ranging signals from MF radio beacons and AIS all have a role to play as back-up systems. Feasibility studies using prototype receivers will be carried out as part of the ACCSEAS project.

It was up to Keith Oliver, Head of Operations at the UK’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency to shed some light on how e-Navigation and search and rescue will coalesce. Knowing what vessels are nearby and their capabilities, together with local meteorological data and currents (for estimating drift), could make a big difference to the outcome of SAR missions.

Reference was made to the automated transmission of search area coverage plans by AIS, which can also be used to monitor execution of the plan. Turning to unregulated users, reference was made to the variety of small boat user equipment now available, and the options and challenges in connecting it all together. The growth in unregulated ‘Apps’ was shown to pose difficulties for shore authorities, particularly with false alarm generation and charting. * The conference was recorded in its entirety and the presentations can be individually viewed online at: www.efficiensea.org

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NAVIGATION

ECDIS inexperience is a cause for alarm If your job involved operation of critical systems and safety equipment you would probably expect to be trained before you first used them. You would presume too, that you wouldn’t have to take leave to do the training, given the benefits to both parties. And when it came to using the actual equipment, you’d doubtless assume that someone would give you enough handover to enable you to use the system safely.

That might be the case for workers ashore but it is clearly not always true for seafarers. In a recent study New Shipboard Technology and Training Provision for Seafarers, the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) concludes that current practices in training and handover are in some cases inadequate and in others, simply non-existent.

SIRC asked 1000 officers about their use of main engine manoeuvring and control systems, ARPA/radar, AIS, GPS, GMDSS and ECDIS as well as oily water separators and high voltage equipment.

While the majority (82%) of seafarers felt training on new equipment was adequate, only a quarter were given input into the identification of their training needs. Almost half were expected to pay in part or full towards their training and more than a quarter were never compensated for leave time lost as a result.

Even when training is received it is often far from optimal. ECDIS training for example was reported as having been generally less than five days duration and though the majority was

Recent research indicates more than half of bridge officers have used ECDIS at sea before completing any training ashore, reports Neville Smith received onshore, more than half of respondents indicated they had received it after they were first required to use the equipment.

This in turn created a reliance on the use of manuals for problem solving – particularly for the use of GMDSS and ECDIS – suggesting an overwhelming dependence on documentation for knowledge acquisition, even though these might not be printed in the user’s mother tongue.

There were other cultural differences too, with quantity and quality of training varying strongly. The report acknowledges however, that preference for certain types of training, such as CBT, or the emphasis on cadet training may represent the limited alternatives available as much as they do an apparent divergence along national lines.

Focussing further on ECDIS, the report makes for even grimmer reading. Of the five pieces of equipment that deck officers were asked about, ECDIS was the one about which they had the least confidence. Almost one in 10 respondents described their knowledge of ECDIS as ‘zero’, while one in five said their knowledge was only ‘basic’.

Training ashore remains the dominant form of learning about ECDIS but the use of manuals is also important for refresher and problem-solving. Unsurprisingly,

the older the officers questioned, the less likely they were to include their cadet training as important to their understanding of ECDIS. Seafarers aged below 30 were most likely to regard it as having contributed to that understanding.

Fewer respondents reported consulting colleagues or using handover familiarisation and notes when using ECDIS, which suggests they were relying more on previous experience than familiarity with the specific equipment when they took over from crew signing off.

The handover from one officer to another when joining a vessel is a crucial link in the safety chain but the SIRC research found that in their most recent handover, 10% of junior officers and 7% of senior officers described handover as inadequate, with no explanation of how the equipment worked.

The SIRC research raises more questions than it answers but it comes at an important time. The need for increased quantity and quality of training has become something of a byword for the shipping industry’s wait-and-see attitude to the ECDIS mandate.

And yet hearing the day-today experiences of seafarers is a reminder that we should never be glib about their needs and the differences between life at sea and ashore.

As part of a series of initiatives to assist the shipping industry prepare for mandatory carriage of ECDIS, Admiralty is sponsoring IMO Model Course 1.27 training courses for 100 bridge officers at maritime colleges around the world. For a chance to win a place, visit: https://admiraltytraining.admiralty.co.uk/

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DIVERSIONS

Return of the drones The F35, it has been predicted, is likely to be the last manned fighter plane. The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has acted as a testing ground for a new generation of aerial drones. And they have proved themselves a force to be reckoned with. What does this have to do with merchant shipping?

If the air force can run drones reliably enough at altitude in a hostile enemy environment with telemetry systems good enough to trust the use of serious weaponry systems, then surely aspects of these technologies could be deployed in cargo ships moving from point A to point B in what is mostly a benign 2D environment.

Efficiency gains There are some clear efficiency gains to be had by doing away with a ship’s crew. Pay-checks are an immediate saving. Indirect crew costs, such as training and welfare, also disappear. The ship’s accommodation block can be given over to carrying more cargo, thereby improving yield.

It would allow a different approach to dealing with piracy. Firstly, there would be no crew to hold hostage. With no need to cater for humans, vessels would be harder to board and commandeer. Defensive options not possible with humans onboard would likely become possible.

In terms of constructing a crewless ship, expected vessel lifetime is a key parameter in system design. The probability of encountering an equipment failure increases the longer a vessel is in service.

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Is the time right to revisit the idea of completely unmanned autonomous or semi-autonomous remotecontrol ships?

integration becomes less attractive, as the need to easily repair, replace or upgrade components becomes more pressing.

Furthermore working out exactly when such repairs need to be carried out ahead of time, before a critical failure – ie, one that would defeat the ship’s installed redundancy for completing a voyage under its own power – occurring, is no simple task.

Sailing without a crew would call for a dramatically higher level of ‘silicon’ integration than is the case today. It would likely call for additional new areas of expertise, including advanced servo-control mechanisms and possibly semiautonomous robotics to perform physical tasks.

Topsy-turvy thinking But maybe this is a topsy-turvy way of thinking about the prob-

An F35 under construction ‒ but it might well be the last manned fighter

lem. Today’s systems and equipment are designed on the assumption of a human presence. How would those designs change if such an assumption no longer existed? Not having to cater to human interference might result in more compact, efficient hardware. Indeed, it has been observed that many manual tasks required of a ship engineer on his rounds could be designed out. On the other hand, the unavailability of a human back-up could equally result in extra complexity, adding to overall capital cost.

Extending this line of thought, one may well ask what an engineer or innovator with no prior concept of today’s ships would come up with faced with the challenge of getting cargo from point A to point B over water as efficiently as possible. Would fully autonomous ships be the outcome?

Remote control Or would the next best thing – remote-control vessels – emerge as solution? This approach would capitalise on the availability of much improved satellite-enabled communication channels between ship and shore. The idea would be for the intelligence to be performed ashore, with satcoms acting as a conduit to send instructions that must be performed by the remote ‘output device’, namely the ship.

But this raises the question of how to divide tasks between ship and shore. What level of redundancy would be required to ensure the ship would not go out of control if the satellite link failed for an extended duration? Cynics might argue that such challenges already exist, except today the actors are shore-based superintendents and low-waged human crew.

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