p1-13:p1-14.

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January/
February 2015

Inmarsat reveals plans IN THIS ISSUE

for Fleet Xpress satcoms
IT issues on the table at MSC – 4
With Inmarsat pressing ahead with plans to try and get Global Xpress
up and running over the course of 2015, the company has revealed O3b completes initial
a new name for the maritime version of the product, as well as an constellation – 6
interim offering using its single current orbiting Ka-band satellite
$20m new funding for Kymeta – 8
t the Inmarsat partner con- Speaking to Digital Ship, Peter “At the point that we have global

A ference in Malta in Decem-

ber 2014, the satcom
provider revealed the latest develop-
Broadhurst, Inmarsat VP of maritime,
explained that the full global Ka-band
service for the maritime market deliv-
coverage on our Global Xpress
network, FleetBroadband Xtra will
(reach) end of life, and there will be
Ka vs Ku – battle of the bands – 10

software
ments in its Global Xpress (GX) ered over the GX network would be a transitional period to allow
project, and announced the launch branded as Fleet Xpress, following customers then to move from
of FleetBroadband Xtra, an interim the launch of the second and third FleetBroadband Xtra to Fleet Xpress. eMar framework promises
product for maritime that will take satellites in the constellation. Fleet Xpress will then become, as it greater cooperation – 17
advantage of GX Ka-band functional- “Maritime used to call it Global always has been, our future product
ity as it becomes available. Xpress, we’ve rebranded it to Fleet and service.”
Xpress,” said Mr Broadhurst. For commercial customers sign-
LR Foundation offers £10m for big
“This is a hybrid solution using the ing up to FleetBroadband Xtra, no data research – 18
Global Xpress network as a priority, data limits will apply when operat-
and with backup from our ing under Ka-band coverage but fair The philosophy of the
FleetBroadband service. So we have a use restrictions will be in place once unmanned vehicle – 22
truly global service providing data vessels travel outside the footprint
connectivity to maritime customers of the F-1 satellite and switch over
anywhere in the world.” to L-band. electronics and
Mr Broadhurst also explained
the launch of FleetBroadband Xtra, a
Along with the reduced data
speeds that come with operating at
navigation
product that will deliver a combina- the lower frequency of L-band,
tion of Ka and L-band functionality FleetBroadband Xtra may have limit- Rolls Royce oX bridge could
similar to that planned for Fleet ed appeal to vessels that operate for lead to unmanned ships – 25
Xpress, but with the Ka-band connec- extended periods outside the Indian
tivity initially limited to the Indian Ocean region. COLREGS compliant autonomous
Ocean region covered by the F-1 XpressLink, Inmarsat’s global Ku- vessel undergoes at-sea trials – 28
satellite’s footprint. band offering, will continue to exist
“FleetBroadband Xtra will begin in in the short-term at least, providing
the Indian Ocean region and will VSAT services globally. However,
Ensuring the reliability
automatically add capacity from the once the F-2 and F-3 satellites are of AIS data – 32
An interim product called Atlantic region and Pacific Ocean launched, and Fleet Xpress becomes
FleetBroadband Xtra will offer Ka- region as and when the satellites fully global, Inmarsat hopes to tran- The art of navigation in a digital
band services via the single orbiting
I-5 satellite
are available for commercial traffic,” sition its XpressLink customers to future – Dr Andy Norris – 34
he said. Fleet Xpress.
continued on page 2

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p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:25 Page 2

SATCOMS
continued from page 1
“It’s common knowledge that we intend by Boeing, the spacecraft left the US aero- partner channel and strengthens
to move our XpressLink customers to Fleet space company’s El Segundo facility on Inmarsat’s capabilities across Asia Pacific
Xpress. As and when we do that, obvious- December 16, 2014, flying from Los Angeles during a period of unprecedented invest-
ly there will be a defocus on the International Airport to Kazakhstan in an ment and service development in our mar-
Vol 15 No 5 XpressLink service and there will be a Antonov AN-124 heavy transporter. itime business,” said Ronald Spithout,
migration away from XpressLink,” Mr Once it reaches its geostationary orbit, president of Inmarsat Maritime.
Digital Ship Limited Broadhurst continued. the F-2 will cover the Americas and the “Given their many years of experience in
2nd Floor, “It has always been our plan to use the Atlantic region. satellite communications and commitment
2-5 Benjamin Street, capacity on the Global Xpress network as Inmarsat’s F-1 satellite, launched at the to serving the maritime industry, including
London EC1M 5QL , U.K. and when we could. FleetBroadband Xtra end of 2013, is already operational, while strong links into the leisure market,
www.thedigitalship.com is a product that has come to fruition the F-3 satellite, which will complete the GX SpeedCast is perfectly positioned to support
because of the go-to-market strategy of constellation by covering the Pacific Region, end-users seeking the most effective com-
PUBLISHER
Inmarsat, and it’s more about having is said to be undergoing final testing. munications solutions to drive operational
Stuart Fryer
everybody up and available for service The capabilities of GX as it exists with efficiencies and enhance crew welfare.”
EDITOR when Fleet Xpress is ready and available.” the current single Ka-band satellite in orbit Headquartered in Hong Kong and list-
Rob O'Dwyer: Tel: +44 (0)20 8144 6737 were demonstrated in December 2014 with ed on the Australian Stock Exchange,
email: [email protected] GX launch the first live video streaming tests taking SpeedCast has a particularly strong pres-
The completion of the Global Xpress place on the network. ence in the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier this
NEWS REPORTER
network has been delayed due to issues Satcoms integrator Network year, SpeedCast acquired SatComms
Andrew Wade: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3405
email: [email protected] with the Russian Proton launch vehicle that Innovations reported that it had success- Australia, an existing Inmarsat Service
Inmarsat has contracted to transport its first fully completed the transmission of both Provider, and has for many years provided
CONFERENCE PRODUCER three GX satellites into geostationary orbit, SD and HD video, attaining speeds up to 4 VSAT services to Globe Wireless, which
Cathy Hodge: Tel +44 (0) 20 7253 2700 but the company is hopeful that it will soon Mbps using a Cobham Explorer 5075 GX was bought by Inmarsat in January 2014.
email: [email protected] have its second satellite in operation. flyaway terminal (an antenna designed for “As an industry leader and pioneer of
The F-2 satellite is scheduled to launch land-based usage). mobile satellite communications, Inmarsat
ADVERTISING
Ria Kontogeorgou: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3401 in the early part of 2015, and full global has been powering global connectivity for
email: [email protected] service is expected early in the second half SpeedCast partnership more than three decades,” said Pierre-Jean
of 2015 with the launch of the F-3. A back- The latest Inmarsat distribution partner Beylier, CEO of SpeedCast.
EXHIBITION SALES up fourth satellite in the GX constellation, added to the vendor list for the Fleet “We are very pleased to solidify our
Young Suk Park: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3409 due to be delivered in 2016, will be Xpress service will be SpeedCast, after the partnership with Inmarsat via this
email: [email protected] launched by US company SpaceX as and companies announced a distribution deal appointment; it is an extension of our exist-
PRODUCTION when Inmarsat decides to deploy it. covering maritime products also including ing relationship and a testament to
Vivian Chee: Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 5540 Inmarsat has already announced that the Fleet Broadband, as well as Fleet One, a SpeedCast’s strong market position in
email: [email protected] second GX satellite, the Inmarsat-5 F-2, has voice and data service for the leisure and maritime satellite services, providing com-
arrived at Baikonur Cosmodrome in fishing markets. munications and IT solutions to meet the
EVENTS MANAGER Kazakhstan ahead of its launch. Constructed “SpeedCast is a valuable addition to our unique requirements of our customers.” DS
Jo McGhee: Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3412
email: [email protected]

MARKETING MSC begins iDirect upgrade MTN implements Uplogix

Diana Engelbrecht: Tel: +44 (0)20 8144 7432
email: [email protected] www.marlink.com ice has been operational since spring 2014 on for virtual remote
the new generation iDirect software, iDX 3.2,
CONSULTANT WRITER MSC Cruises has become the first cruise which the company says is a pre-requisite management
Dr Andy Norris (navigation) line in the world to begin to roll out the lat- for the introduction of the new X7 modem.
email: [email protected]
est iDX 3.2 software and X7 modem from All MSC Cruises services using C-band, www.mtn.com
DIGITAL SHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS iDirect, with the aim of optimising its such as company headquarters and public www.uplogix.com
€180 per year for 10 issues VSAT communications with higher telephony, GSM voice and data, and ship
contact [email protected], throughput and improved functionality. management LAN communications, will Austin-based Uplogix has reported that it
or phone Stephan Venter on: Following successful tests of the new now be routed over the X7 modem, which has partnered with MTN Communications
+44 (0)20 7017 3407 iDirect X7 modem in August 2014, MSC's Marlink says allows for Adaptive TDMA to deliver its first virtual Local
VSAT provider Marlink began the rollout (Time Division Multiple Access) to enhance Management solution at sea.
DIGITAL SHIP BERGEN
of the new technology across the 12 ships return channel performance and increase MTN is deploying the Uplogix software
Grieghallen, Bergen
in the MSC Cruises fleet in October 2014. network availability on vessels suffering as a virtual machine (VM) on its existing
11-12 February 2015
“Staying connected is increasingly rain fade and satellite link degradation. servers. The virtualised solution will pro-
DIGITAL SHIP HAMBURG important to our guests, so MSC Cruises “Since we started with the first VSAT for vide remote management of networking
Magnushall, Hamburg wanted to enhance the onboard Wi-Fi MSC Cruises in 2003, MSC has always been and satcoms equipment on board, with
18-19 March 2015 experience by ensuring that more guests an early adopter, committed to continuously out-of-band connectivity achieved
can get online at the same time,” said improving the communications user experi- through existing mobile satellite services.
THE MARITIME CIO FORUM
Emilio La Scala, general manager, MSC ence for crew and passengers,” said Antoine “Deploying Uplogix software supports
@ NOR-SHIPPING
Thon Hotel Arena, Lillestrøm Cruises Technical Department. Lisse, key account manager, Marlink. one of many initiatives we have underway
3 June 2015 “The iDirect X7 and Marlink C-band “Together we have introduced the latest to transform at-sea communications for
VSAT solution secures the bandwidth and technology and capabilities, and with customers,” said Livio Arleo, VP of
Printed by performance to provide stable services for iDirect X7 on the C-band service, they will Product Development at MTN.
The Manson Group Ltd both guests and crew.” have one of the most advanced VSAT solu- Uplogix says this is the first time it has
Reynolds House, 8 Porters' Wood The Marlink Global C-band iDirect serv- tions in the market today.” deployed its software without its own pur-
Valley Road Industrial Estate pose-built equipment, and that the virtu-
St Albans, Hertz AL3 6PZ, U.K.
alised nature of the solution means MTN
No part of this publication may be repro- will benefit from integrated monitoring,
duced or stored in any form by any access and control without the need for
mechanical, electronic, photocopying, any additional hardware.
recording or other means without the
“We are breaking new ground when it
prior written consent of the publisher.
Whilst the information and articles in comes to options for Local Management,”
Digital Ship are published in good faith said Lisa Frankovitch, Uplogix CEO.
and every effort is made to check accura- “Up until now, our installations in the
cy, readers should verify facts and state- maritime satellite world have been
ments direct with official sources before dependent on dedicated hardware. The
acting on them as the publisher can option of deploying on a customer’s exist-
accept no responsibility in this respect.
ing servers opens up new opportunities
Any opinions expressed in this maga-
zine should not be construed as those for networks at sea offering a user experi-
MSC Orchestra will enjoy better VSAT with the new modem. Photo: MSC Cruises
of the publisher. ence like that on land.”

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 2

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SATCOMS

New M2M module for RockFLEET IT issues on the table

www.rock7mobile.com tions as diverse as ocean-going environ- of a suitable GSM network, and automati- at MSC
mental sensor buoys, low-earth-orbit bal- cally switch to the lowest cost route.
Iridium partner Rock Seven has announced loon flights and remote engine servicing No additional antenna is required, with www.imo.org
the launch of a machine to machine (M2M) telemetry. We know there are a multitude seafarers using either a global roaming
data communication module for its of possibilities this product opens up for SIM or the SIM of a local provider. Rock The IMO’s Marine Safety Committee
RockFLEET vessel tracking system. the marine industry, and we’re keen to Seven claims vessels that spend much of (MSC) meeting in London for its 94th ses-
The optional module, factory-installed support users to develop their own unique their time in coastal areas could benefit sig- sion at the end of 2014 included several IT
at point-of-purchase, will enable onboard applications for ships.” nificantly from the lower data costs avail- issues on the agenda, including Iridium’s
equipment to be integrated with M2M integration with on-board equip- able on GSM networks. proposed move to become a GMDSS satel-
RockFLEET, allowing data to be trans- ment is available using a variety of serial “We continue to develop new capabili- lite provider.
ferred between vessel and shore. Rock protocols, and the open API means data in ties for RockFLEET based on customer The MSC decided that that the
Seven says the telemetry and control func- any format can be delivered to the users' requests and market trends,” says International Maritime Satellite
tions have the potential to improve vessel own applications. Mr Farrell. Organisation (IMSO) should put together
operations, including reducing fuel con- A GSM module is also available for the “The GSM module can reduce opera- a panel of experts to produce a technical
sumption and enhancing maintenance RockFLEET system, allowing vessels to tional costs by switching to cheaper mobile and operational assessment of Iridium, as
processes. use terrestrial-based mobile networks networks but it also gives access to more it looks to join Inmarsat as a provider of
“It’s vital to know where all ships in when in range. GSM functionality will be bandwidth than available offshore, so it GMDSS services.
your fleet are at any one time, but it’s also factory-fitted and will not alter the size of can facilitate increased usage of Elsewhere, the MSC approved the e-
becoming more important to have data the RockFLEET unit. RockFLEET position data transmission, navigation Strategy Implementation Plan
about how your vessels are operating, in Rock Seven says that the module will two-way messaging or M2M applications, (SIP), a roadmap of tasks required to give
order to operate as efficiently as possible,” automatically recognise when it is in range without increasing costs.” effect to prioritised e-navigation solutions,
says Nick Farrell, director at Rock Seven. including improved bridge design, equip-
“With our new M2M data module, ment, communications and reporting.
RockFLEET can provide both position data Cyber security was also on the agenda,
and any other kind of data required, and with the Committee considering a propos-
can even be used as an intelligent hub for al to develop voluntary guidelines on
automation on board or on shore.” cyber security practices for ports, vessels
The system works on a Pay As You Go and marine facilities.
basis, with users paying only for the The MSC agreed that cyber security
months the system is in use, pre-purchas- was “an important and timely issue”, but
ing credits for transmitting tracking posi- that unilateral action should not be taken
tions and other data. by the IMO without first consulting with
“RockFLEET requires no annual con- other UN bodies and international organi-
tract and operates on a Pay As You Go sations, such as the International
basis, with each location, or M2M data Telecommunication Union (ITU).
transmission costing as little as £0.03. This In other Committee business, China’s
makes it a low-cost option for accurate BeiDou Navigation Satellite System - the
global vessel tracking and lower-band- country’s equivalent of GPS - was recog-
width data transmission for any applica- nised as a component of the World-Wide
tion the user needs,” says Mr Farrell. Messages from the system can be transmitted over the Iridium network, Radionavigation System (WWRNS), and
“The idea is well proven with applica- or GSM if an additional module is fitted approval was given to revised AIS guide-
lines, 406 MHz distress beacon guidelines,
and a number of amendments to LRIT-
related circulars.
MailOnBoard XT-LITE satellite phone from Thuraya
comes to Android www.thuraya.com satellite phone for work or travel in areas
Tanker deals for
www.otesat-maritel.com Thuraya has announced the launch of the
unserved by terrestrial networks,” said
Rashid Baba, director of products
shipznet
XT-LITE, an entry-level sat-phone that can at Thuraya. www.bobz.de
Greek satcom provider Otesat-Maritel, be used to make and receive calls using “People need to stay connected no mat-
part of the OTE Group, has announced Thuraya’s satellite network, as well as ter where they go and we will provide German tanker operator John T. Essberger
that its MailOnBoard e-mail solution is send and receive SMS messages. them with the most reliable and cost-effec- (JTE) has agreed a contract to install the
now available for mobile devices with The Thuraya network currently covers tive way of doing this.” shipznet maritime near-shore communica-
Android software 2.2 and up. approximately two thirds of the globe, The phone can be used with either a tion system on its vessels, while Greek
The company says the application sup- including shipping routes between Asia Thuraya SIM card, or a SIM card from one tanker company Stealth Maritime has
ports common e-mail clients such as GMail and Europe, as well as the Middle East, of the company’s 360 GSM partners around agreed a separate deal to install the system
and Yahoo, and also provides crew com- though not transatlantic routes and trade the world. Thuraya believes the XT-LITE on its ships.
munications when seafarers are on shore in the Americas. will appeal to those for whom satellite shipznet provides a GSM-based mobile
and terrestrial internet connectivity is “Thuraya XT-LITE addresses the phones have previously been out of reach. network service for merchant shipping,
available. demands of users who need a simple “We are proud to deliver a market-driv- with a world-wide monthly flat rate near-
Otesat-Maritel delivers satcom services en satellite device for the casual user, shore and in harbours, without any addi-
in partnership with both Inmarsat and which is built on the legacy of our pioneer- tional roaming costs.
Iridium, as well as VSAT systems and ing innovative handsets such as the “shipznet provides us a reliable commu-
telecommunications solutions combining Thuraya XT and SatSleeve,” said nication service at a reasonable price and it
fixed, mobile, satellite networks and IT Alexander Lachner, senior product man- is easy to install,” said Dierk Herrmann,
applications. ager, voice services at Thuraya. corporate SSHEQ manager, JTE.
“With the XT-LITE, we aim to dispel the The system, delivered by German com-
outdated perception that satellite phones pany bobz, consists of a small above-deck
Jeff Douglas has been appointed CEO of are only made for enterprise or govern- unit with two antennas and a below-deck
FW Telematics, an M2M provider ment users by addressing a currently unit that serves as router and power sup-
focusing on the maritime, oil & gas, and untapped segment.” ply for the upper unit.
mining sectors. Mr Douglas was previous- “The addition of Thuraya XT-LITE facili- “shipznet has what we really need, it is
ly CTO of Pole Star Applications and tates a dual phone strategy whereby simple to install and not expensive,” said
CEO of Absolute Software. Thuraya continues to offer our existing flag- Stavros Mistegniotis, head of the IT
ship product, the Thuraya XT for the profes- department at Stealth Maritime Inc.
The satellite phone can use SIM cards sional, enterprise segment, and the Thuraya “(It's) a very good alternative to save
www.fwtelematics.com
from Thuraya GSM partners XT-LITE for the casual value users.” money for communication.”

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 4

p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:26 Page 5

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family or the office against
a fixed low rate. I wonder
if this is possible

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by
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p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:26 Page 6

SATCOMS

Cobham delivers 40,000th SAILOR Laser satellite connection system tested

FleetBroadband unit www.airbusdefenceandspace.com LCT operation has already been
www.cobham.com still see that FleetBroadband has a vital role conducted between LEO satellites, since
to play, especially to ensure vessels have A new Earth observation system integrat- 2008, and the it is hoped that the
Cobham SATCOM has reported that it has full global coverage when moving to new ing satellite and laser technologies, that SpaceDataHighway technology will help
sold its 40,000th SAILOR FleetBroadband High Throughput Satellite services.” could be used in areas like ship detection to significantly improve data latency and
system, with Chinese partner CTTIC Earlier this year, Cobham announced and emergency response, has successfully system reactivity.
(China Transport Telecommunication the arrival of two new antennas designed completed its first image download using “This is a major step in the proof of the
Information Centre) taking delivery of the with Inmarsat’s Global Xpress in mind, a gigabit laser transmission system. concept. Once operational, the EDRS –
unit that pushed them over the mark. which it says will integrate with The European Data Relay System SpaceDataHighway will move boundaries
“SAILOR FleetBroadband has per- FleetBroadband. (EDRS) connects LEO and GEO satellites of space-based data communication signifi-
formed incredibly so far,” says Jan “SAILOR FleetBroadband is well together, creating what has been dubbed a cantly,” said Evert Dudok, head of the com-
Michelsen, vice president of Maritime proven since its launch as the first SpaceDataHighway. munications, intelligence and security (CIS)
Business at Cobham. approved FleetBroadband antenna in The transmission via laser of image files business line at Airbus Defence and Space.
“While we are prepared to meet the mar- November 2007, whilst our new GX anten- took place between the radar sensor on “(The) SpaceDataHighway will also
itime industry requirements for the next nas are built on a tried and tested technol- Sentinel-1A, an Earth observation satellite serve many commercial and military
generation of maritime satcom with a port- ogy platform,” says Mr Michelsen. in LEO orbit, and Alphasat, a communica- applications that require such unparalleled
folio of new Ka-, Ku- and dual-band anten- “Integrated, they provide reliable service tions satellite in GEO orbit, before being near-real-time, high bandwidth communi-
na systems from SAILOR and Sea Tel, we in even the most extreme environments.” relayed to the ground. cation services.”
This communication system, based on The SpaceDataHighway is a Private
Laser Communication Terminal (LCT) Public Partnership including ESA and
technology, is a part of the European Space Airbus Defence and Space. As the prime
Agency’s (ESA) European Data Relay contractor, Airbus Defence and Space
System (EDRS), also referred to as the builds, owns, operates and co-finances the
SpaceDataHighway. system infrastructure both on the ground
It aims to enable secure, high data rate and in space.
communication between Low Earth Orbit The technology used by the Laser
(LEO) satellites or aerial platforms and Communication Terminal has been devel-
Geostationary (GEO) satellites. oped in Germany and supported by the
The LCT technology has been developed German Aerospace Center DLR, based on
by the Airbus Defence and Space subsidiary funding by the Ministry of Economics.
Tesat-Spacecom with the support of the The system has already been earmarked
German Aerospace Centre DLR. for use for Open Ocean Surveillance (OOS),
During the demonstration, data transfer where the SpaceDataHighway will provide
reached 0.6 Gigabits per second of a possi- low latency downlink capabilities, support-
ble 1.8 Gigabits per second over a distance ing maritime border control and providing
of 45,000km between the Laser support for counter-measures against
Communication Terminals. threats like piracy and drug smuggling.
The 40,000th terminal was delivered to CTTIC in China

O3b completes initial constellation with four more satellites

www.o3bnetworks.com “We are so excited to be able to bring
such a significant increase in capacity and
O3b has successfully launched the final capability just a few short months after our
four satellites of its initial Ka-band constel- last launch,” says O3b CEO Steve Collar.
lation, bringing the total number of satel- “Our new satellites will allow our cus-
lites to 12. tomers to connect digitally disadvantaged
The launch took place at the Space populations, enabling online education, e-
Center in Kourou, French Guiana, in commerce, telemedicine and cloud based
December 2014, with previous launches services, to transform businesses, commu-
having been undertaken in June and July nities and lives.”
of that year. All 12 satellites have been “Four years ago, O3b was still just an
launched in under six months. idea, driven by the conviction that everyone
These latest additions to the Ka-band should share the opportunity that being
constellation will undergo in-orbit testing connected and online brings. Now we have
before integrating with the network in more than 100 Gbps of capacity in a unique
early 2015. O3b says the medium earth and scalable orbit, connecting and enabling
orbit (MEO) system will provide through- customers around the world. It’s a remark-
put exceeding 1 Gbps per connection able journey and we could not be more
and latency comparable with terrestrial excited or optimistic about the future – a
networks, with total fleet capacity of over future in which we intend to increase our
100 Gbps. capacity in orbit to more than 1 Tbps.” The latest satellites were launched aboard a Soyuz rocket

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Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 6
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SATCOMS

Airbus Defence and Space signs as Digital Ship Global Events sponsor for 2015
www.airbusdefenceandspace.com The agreement additionally includes ment to the global conference series and its
the Digital Ship Maritime CIO Forum, a desire to build on the successful events of
Airbus Defence and Space has signed a one-day event that will take place during the last year.
deal to continue as the Global Sponsor of Nor-Shipping 2015 in Oslo in June. "Digital Ship Events are extremely
the Digital Ship conference and exhibition "Airbus Defence and Space is happy to pleased that Airbus Defence and Space has
series in 2015, following the completion of continue our longstanding relationship once again demonstrated its active support
last year's events calendar at the recent with Digital Ship and endorse its work in for our conference series and that the com-
Digital Ship Athens 2014 conference. facilitating the exchange of the latest news pany will be our Global Sponsor for a sec-
The global series of two-day Digital Ship and ideas in the maritime satcom market," ond time in 2015," he said.
maritime technology conferences and exhi- said Tore Morten Olsen, head of maritime "Both Airbus Defence and Space and
bitions will feature five events in 2015, at Airbus Defence and Space. ourselves are committed to the goals of
with the first to take place in Bergen in "We are delighted to continue as the knowledge sharing and technological
February and be followed by events in Global Sponsor of Digital Ship Events in advancement within the maritime industry
Hamburg, Tokyo and Singapore before 2015 and look forward to showing our that underpin these events, and we hope
returning to Athens in November. ongoing support for the local maritime that this partnership will continue to work
As in 2014, Airbus Defence and Space market around the world at the events' towards delivering on that shared vision."
will act as the main sponsor for each of various locations." "We look forward to working together in 'We are delighted to continue as the
these events and will also host a gala din- Stuart Fryer, managing director of the coming year and continuing to develop Global Sponsor of Digital Ship Events
ner for all conference attendees at the vari- Digital Ship Events, welcomed Airbus the Digital Ship Events series for the mar- in 2015' - Tore Morten Olsen,
ous locations around the world. Defence and Space's reaffirmed commit- itime community around the world." Airbus Defence and Space

Kymeta announces $20 million in additional funding

www.kymetacorp.com the company is set to supply its flat-panel CTO and co-founder of Kymeta. at the end of the year.
antenna to Inmarsat for aeronautical access “World-class customer partnerships “We are extremely grateful to Vern for
Kymeta Corporation, which develops flat- to the Global Xpress network. have guided our technology’s develop- his contributions to Kymeta and for
panel antenna technologies based on meta- Kymeta has also previously confirmed ment since our founding. Those partner- building a foundation for growth and
materials, has reported that it is closing a $20 to Digital Ship that it intends to make the ships, along with the financial support of success,” said Bill Gates, investor and
million financing round that includes exist- technology available to the maritime our investors, have positioned us well to board member.
ing investors Bill Gates and Lux Capital. industry, initially in Ka-band, then possi- execute on the promise of our technology.” “The board and I are incredibly opti-
In 2013 Kymeta successfully demon- bly in Ku and L-band. Mr Kuntz will also be acting as interim mistic and confident with Kymeta’s team,
strated bi-directional high-speed internet “This is a very exciting time for our CEO for the company when current chief breakthrough technology and its market
connectivity with a Ka-band satellite, and company,” said Nathan Kundtz, president, executive Vern Fotheringham steps down opportunities ahead.”

Marlink is part of Airbus Defence and Space.

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p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:26 Page 9

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p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:26 Page 10

SATCOMS

Ka vs Ku – the battle of the bands

2015 is set to be an important year in the evolution of high-throughput satellite (HTS) services. HTS will use
both Ka-band and Ku-band technology – but how will these two different frequencies affect quality of service
for maritime users? Digital Ship asked a range of independent satellite experts –
with no vested interest in maritime – for their verdict on the ‘battle of the bands’

aritime communications has turers with vested interests in the different services to areas with ships rather than

M come a long way in a short

time. Where once mariners
would make do with the occasional email,
bands and technologies. In an effort to get
a better understanding of the factors at
play, and the objectively different qualities
illuminating empty waters.
Professor Barry Evans is head of
Satellite Communication Systems at the
today’s seafarers are demanding data con- of each band, Digital Ship spoke to three University of Surrey and editor of the
nectivity around the clock, and the ability different academics in the field of satellite International Journal of Satellite
to access the internet via their own tablets communications to get a completely inde- Communications. According to Prof
and smartphones. pendent take on frequency bands and HTS. Evans, while the available spectrum at Ka-
As technology continues to evolve, Tim Tozer, senior lecturer in communica- band is greater than that at Ku, new tech-
those demands are sure to increase, as tions at the University of York, begins with niques will be required in order to exploit
will the expectations of those working the motivation behind the introduction of its full potential.
and living at sea as to the level of service new Ka-band services into the market. “At the moment, the spectrum is quite
they should expect compared to what “The key feature and advantage of Ka- limited, even at Ka-band,” he says.
they are used to back at home. band which renders it attractive is that the “We’ve got 2 x 500 MHz of exclusive
For the most part, this means relying on band is currently relatively uncongested, satellite spectrum on the uplink and the
satellite communications, and to accom- so there is spectrum available to use,” he downlink frequencies, and obviously the
modate the exponential growth in the told us. forward link is the major issue because of
demand for data in maritime and other “Ku-band on the other hand is heavily the asymmetry of the internet traffic, so one
industries providers are investing billions used and quite congested, and it’s hard to of the things is to actually look to gain more
in new satellites and technologies. get an allocation especially for new service spectrum in the forward link, or to use the 'The rainfall that causes a 2dB fade depth
Until recently, the highest frequency providers wanting to deliver broadband. spectrum that we have in a better way.” at C-Band (around 6 and 4 GHz) could
band exploited for mainstream commercial So new providers, such as Inmarsat GX, “Here at the satellite communications cause a 50dB fade at Ka-Band' - Adrian
Barbulescu, University of South Australia
satcom use was Ku-band, operating Avanti HYLAS etc., see Ka-band as rela- group at the University of Surrey, we’ve
between 14 and 12 GHz, but the even high- tively virgin territory where they can get been working quite a lot with the
er frequency Ka-band (in the range spectrum - and they do need a lot of it for European Space Agency, the European or lost completely in areas of heavy rainfall.
between 30 and 20 GHz) is now being all the broadband they’d like to provide.” Union, and some of the manufacturers, on Depending on who you speak to in the
opened up and developed by several com- “Apart from spectrum being available, future Ka-band satellite systems, so our industry, the threat of rain fade ranges from
panies, including Inmarsat with its Global the use of the shorter wavelength at expertise is really on future systems, not an easily rectifiable inconvenience, to an
Xpress (GX) project and O3b with its medi- Ka-band facilitates smaller spot beams on the systems that are out there in operation issue that undermines the entire viability of
um earth orbit constellation. the ground (for a given size limitation of at the moment, but looking ahead a little Ka-band satcoms.
Despite the promise of higher through- antenna on the satellite itself - which is bit at what might be the situation by 2020, “A signal loses power the further it trav-
put, several questions have surrounded Ka- indeed a constraint), and hence a more when Ka-band satellites can provide much els: free space loss is due to the spherical
band as a newcomer in maritime, primarily dense frequency re-use pattern can be reduced cost per bit.” dispersion of the radio wave and increases
around its ability to function in heavy rain- used; this means the available spectrum Professor Evans says the Ka-band needs with the square of the distance between the
fall, and the affect that ‘rain fade’ will have can be reused more and the overall to be used in a more efficient way to ensure transmitting and receiving antennas,”
on communications. With large amounts of throughput of the satellite increased, which it provides adequate reductions in cost. explains Professor Barbulescu.
shipping traffic crossing the rain-soaked is a plus point to the service provider.” “There’s some work we’re doing in an “This is why geostationary (GEO) satel-
tropics, this is a question of particular rele- This is a point backed up by Adrian EU project (CoRaSat) which is looking at lites require higher transmit power than
vance for the maritime market. Barbulescu, associate professor in telecom- how we could perhaps use the frequency low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. So a com-
Unsurprisingly, much conflicting infor- munications at the University of South bands in Ka-band on the downlink that are munication system based on LEO satellites
mation is being made available from the Australia. He explains how using more shared. There’s a band between 17.3 and requires smaller power in the transmitters
various providers, suppliers and manufac- focused beams helps deliver a more effi- 17.7 that’s shared with the BSS (broadcast on the ground, e.g. Iridium sat-phones,
cient service, and states that while the satellite) uplinks, and we’ve done some than GEO based communication systems,
same technology can be applied to both Ku work to suggest that’s really possible, in all e.g., Inmarsat.”
and Ka-band technology, Ka can operate but some very small areas surrounding the “In the case when there is no clear sky,
with narrower beams. BSS uplink transmitter. So no problems for on top of the free space loss it is the rain
“For the sake of an example, instead of the maritime cases,” he said. attenuation which has a greater impact the
using a regional beam to cover the whole “There’s a band from 17.7 to 19.7 which higher the frequency. The rainfall that
of Australia, it is more efficient to use is shared between fixed satellite service causes a 2dB fade depth at C-Band (around
smaller and more powerful spot beams and fixed microwave links, FS service, and 6 and 4 GHz) could cause a 50dB fade at
concentrated on the east coast down to we have shown that a large part of this Ka-Band.”
Melbourne, together with a few other spot band can be used by satellite using a data So while there is plenty of science
beams to cover Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, base approach.” behind the problem of rain fade, there is
Hobart, etc., so that the energy is not wast- “Obviously for maritime applications, also good science behind the measures that
ed to illuminate the desert but concentrat- where the interference from fixed links is can be taken to overcome the problem,
ed where the users are,” he said. going to be quite minimal, apart from according to Professor Barbulescu.
“These spot beams can use any frequen- when ships come in to dock and that sort “Imagine when you compute the area of
cy band. You can now take this a step fur- of thing, again, those frequency bands can a rectangle as the product of width and
ther. One could use even narrower beams be used. So as we move forward, and the height, you can double the height and half
at Ka-band to create a satellite link for a operators begin to use these bands, I don’t the width and you still get the same area.
rescue intervention in enemy territory, see there being a spectrum issue on the for- The same for satellites, the (power x band-
thus avoiding detection or jamming.” ward link.” width) product is constant,” he said.
'The key feature and advantage of Ka-band This line of reasoning is particularly Mr Tozer says that the potential chal-
which renders it attractive is that the band important in maritime, where vast swathes Rain fade lenges of rain fade have likely been one
is currently relatively uncongested, so of ocean will be unoccupied for much of As mentioned above, a primary concern for of the reasons why it has taken so long
there is spectrum available to use' - Tim
the time – smaller spot beams can allow the maritime market is the potential for rain for Ka-band satcoms to be exploited
Tozer, University of York
power to be concentrated on providing fade, where satellite signals are attenuated commercially.

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 10

p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:26 Page 11

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p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:32 Page 12

SATCOMS

10 GHz

15 GHz

20 GHz

25 GHz

35 GHz

40 GHz
30 GHz
1 GHz

5 GHz

LS C X Ku K Ka
Moving from left to right up the frequency range increases the potential for rain fade - L-band for example, on the far left,
is much more robust than Ka-band on the far right

“30 GHz in particular suffers signifi- tistics showing what the statistical link Ka-band, rain fades increase, but as far as
cantly from rain loss, and especially in loss, and hence availability, might be in the user terminals are concerned, we’ve
tropical regions this may be very large various climate zones in the world. You got Adaptive Coding and Modulation
indeed, resulting ultimately in link failure. can see that Ka-band is demanding, where- (ACM) within the DVB S2 transmission
This factor has probably been the main as lower bands have very little loss for the standards that can cope with the majority
obstacle to Ka-band take-up, as there’s no most part.” of those sorts of fades.” 'For the majority of conditions and the
magic bullet to completely solve it,” he Conflicting information on the benefits “If you want to go right to the extreme majority of time, my view is that ACM
told us. and drawbacks of each band is inevitable, as and say to cope with every fade, in the will be sufficient to overcome the rain
“The rain loss is of course variable and satellite providers in Ka and Ku seek to tropics and so forth, it may not work with fades in Ka-band' - Barry Evans,
statistical, just like the weather itself. Ka- sway the argument one way or the other, the current ACM range that we’ve got at University of Surrey
band users may have to get used to the depending on where their investment lies. Ka-band, but for the majority of conditions
idea that just as you don’t step outside in a This is a point recognised by Professor and the majority of time, my view is that We’re looking at satellites with capacity
torrential downpour, so you don’t expect Evans, who himself freely declares a small ACM will be sufficient to overcome the orders of magnitude higher than that,
your comms to work in such a situation.” element of ‘band bias’, as his research rain fades.” maybe a terabit per second by 2020 and
“But it’s an interesting and debatable is focused almost exclusively on the One way of counteracting the effects of beyond. The issues there are perhaps in the
point just how much of a problem that Ka-band. In his opinion, techniques can be rain fade is through the use of diversity, gateway structure, whereby to get the
would really be: of course some services employed to offset the majority of rain fade. i.e. using terminals in widely spaced areas availability on the gateway with the
require very high availability, but some “What you face is, some people who so that it is unlikely to be raining in both increased throughput, you need to go to
others really might not. When one goes provide Ku-band satellites are going to at the same time. Unfortunately, this is higher frequencies, as there’s not enough
into the detailed statistics, it turns out that hype up their satellites, and vice versa with not an option available to ships, says spectrum at Ka-band,” he said.
heavy rain doesn’t usually last very long, Ka-band satellites, and I’ve seen all these Professor Evans. “We would envisage that Ka-band
so one gets the signal (e-mail or whatever) arguments,” he said. “The only way of improving on this is if would still be used for the user terminals,
after a reasonably short wait.” “As far as rain fade is concerned, there’s you actually use diversity, and of course because to go higher in frequency would
“One can look up detailed plots and sta- no doubt about it, as you go up from Ku to you can do that in a terrestrial situation, cause real issues and problems with the
but on a ship, you haven’t got the spacing increased rain fade, but the gateways we
that will enable you to get the difference in think probably will move up in frequency,
the rain climates, as it were, so it’s not pos- possibly to Q/V band, and we’ve done
sible to do that on board ships,” he told us. quite a bit of work on that.”
“These are 40 and 50 GHz range fre-
Higher frequencies quencies and to get those to work and to
Rain fade issues appear surmountable to at give you the availability on the gateway
VSAT frequency bands | Unmanned Vehicles | Digital Navigation least some degree at Ka-band, but the fact links, you need a diversity arrangement, so
that attenuation continues to increase as we’ve been working on a system which is
you travel further up the spectrum means called Smart Diversity, where you have a
that commercial exploitation of still higher number of diversity stations that are inter-
frequency bands is unlikely to be seen in linked, and you have a number of redun-
the near future. dant stations, so that you can switch the
“There is Q/V-band, e.g. around 47 gateway capacity to one of the redundant
GHz, and satellite operators do talk about stations if one of the normal operational
that, but it’s only bluster at the moment,” gateways is experiencing a very high
says Mr Tozer. rain fade.”
“Rain losses there are even worse than “So those systems are being worked on
Ka-band, and the technology costs are at a quite a bit, and even at the moment we’re
premium. For the past 35 years, people looking at the possibility of using optical
have been talking up Ka-band as the frequencies for these gateways. There are
‘emerging’ satcom band; I suggest that it obviously more issues as you move to opti-
has now pretty well ‘emerged’ and is in cal, but one of the advantages is that you
mainstream use, especially with offerings don’t need as many gateways as you do
such as Inmarsat GX.” with the Q and V bands, so the ground seg-
“But it’s taken a long time, and indeed ment cost may reduce as far the gateways
the development timescales in satellite stations are concerned, but there you’ve
comms are amazingly long, especially got a lot more hopping around amongst
compared with things like mobile phones. the diversity stations to overcome the
We need now to get Ka-band more fully issues of rain and other precipitation, even
accepted for mainstream use, and I can mist and clouds in the troposphere.”
imagine that it may be a further decade or Gateway technology may well provide
more before people start talking about V- the answer to increased data speeds mov-
band seriously.” ing forward, but for now, the shipping
Nonetheless, the possibilities that lie world still needs to get to grips with the
beyond Ka are being investigated, and choice between Ka and Ku.
Professor Evans believes that gateway “I see the Ka market increasing, and
technology, rather than user terminals, will maybe the Ku market stabilising a little
use Q/V bands by 2020. bit,” says Professor Evans.
“Current Ka-band satellites have a “But both systems will coexist for many
capacity of around 100 Gbit per second. years to come.” DS

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 12

p1-13:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:26 Page 13

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SOFTWARE

Finnish and South Korean leaders celebrate 50th NAPA-DSME POWER deal
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The Prime Ministers of South Korea and

Finland have marked the signing of the
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fuel optimisation software system created
as a collaboration between Finnish compa-
ny NAPA and Korea's DSME.
Jung Hong-won of Korea and Finland's
Alexander Stubb attended a ceremony in
Seoul to mark the occasion during a visit
by Finland’s Prime Minister accompanied
by a Finnish business delegation. Also in
attendance were vice president, head of
basic design team at Daewoo Shipbuilding
& Marine Engineering (DSME), Odin
Kwon, and president of NAPA Group,
Juha Heikinheimo.
NAPA has been working with ship-
builder DSME to provide fuel optimisation (L-R) Juha Heikinheimo, NAPA; Alexander Stubb, PM of Finland; Jung Hong-won, PM of Korea; and Odin Kwon of DSME
software to the international shipping
industry since early 2011. As part of Management Plans (SEEMP). reduction, (and we have been) able to systems represent a significant opportuni-
DSME's Green Ship concept, the collabora- NAPA-DSME says that this data is made demonstrate to Mr Hung-won and his ty for owners and operators,” he said.
tion aims to support efforts to reduce accessible to officers on board as well as Finnish counterpart how our shipyard is “NAPA is privileged to be part of the
bunker fuel costs, the highest expense in teams ashore to aid decisions and enable fundamental to facilitating this trend.” development of programmes that have
running a modern vessel. efficiency optimisation in ‘real-time’. Juha Heikinheimo of NAPA noted that such a huge economic impact and positive
The NAPA-DSME Power system is “NAPA-DSME Power is integral to our the use of eco-efficiency software could environmental effect by providing eco-effi-
used to obtain the optimal trim, route, Green Ship concept and it is a significant lead to significant savings in ship operat- ciency and safety solutions for our cus-
speed profile and engine configuration for milestone that the system has now been ing costs, which can be validated through tomers around the world.”
any given voyage. It also includes an office part of 50 newbuild vessel deals,” said the accompanying data. “In Korea, NAPA’s Busan office has
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SOFTWARE

Water recovery and Cultural training CBTs launched by Videotel ADventure Offshore
www.videotel.com for the casualty. of today’s crews can potentially lead to
The training video is available through disharmony, says Videotel, and the pro-
signs with
Videotel reports that it has developed VOD (Videotel On Demand), VOD Online, gramme has been created to help bring CrewInspector
two new training programmes, covering and e-Learning CBT, and features an understanding of different cultural values.
recovery of persons from water, as well as accompanying workbook. The content of the training programme www.crewinspector.com
cultural training. The other new CBT, ‘Working with includes language issues, common misun-
Recovery of Persons from the Water (Man Multinational Crews…It’s a Cultural derstandings, body language, gestures, Web based crew management software
Overboard Edition 2) is aimed at ensuring all Thing!’ has been designed to foster cultur- hand signals and postures. According to provider CrewInspector reports that it has
crew aboard a vessel are properly prepared al awareness among multinational crews, Videotel, the role play exercises “examine entered into an agreement with
for such an emergency, and is a response to and features seafarers from eight different the assumptions we make about others ADventure Offshore Ltd to provide HR
requirements added to the International nations acting out a range of onboard sce- based on our own upbringing and values”. management tools for its operations in the
Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea narios where potential misunderstandings The training film is available through offshore sector.
(SOLAS) as of July 1, 2014, whereby quali- could take place. DVD, on demand, online and e-Learning ADventure Offshore, a Ghana based
fying ships must have ‘plans and proce- The international composition of many CBT, and is accompanied by a workbook. company, will use CrewInspector to per-
dures for the recovery of persons from the form vacancy management and applicant
water’ which will minimise risk to the res- sourcing directly through its own compa-
cuers as well as to the casualty or casualties. ny website.
"As with any incident, the first response The system will also be used to move to
is crucial. The actions of every member of paperless crew management, keeping
the crew are vital to a positive outcome," crew personal information in the cloud
said Nigel Cleave, Videotel CEO. and accessible anywhere in the world.
"Best practice has been developed over In addition to crew planning and
a number of years using the experiences of scheduling, ADventure Offshore will
many generations of seafarers and the make use of various alerting features that
introduction of new rescue equipment – will monitor crew certificate and crew
our role is to ensure that expertise is contract expiry dates.
brought into play when needed." “We see growing demand in the
Recovery of Persons from the Water African continent for crew management
(Man Overboard Edition 2) covers pre- software, specifically in West-African
vention; planning; the first actions to countries like Nigeria and Ghana where
take when a person goes overboard; the the oil and gas industry is becoming more
responsibilities of the watchkeeper and mature day by day,” said Andy Lipsberg,
Master; the processes involved in search- co-owner of CrewInspector.
ing for the casualty; preparing to rescue “Therefore we are happy to welcome
the casualty; recovering the casualty into The Recovery of Persons from the Water programme ADventure Offshore Ltd to the list of our
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p14-23:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:19 Page 4

Digital Ship
eMAR framework promises greater maritime cooperation
www.emarproject.eu According to eMAR, the framework European projects, including SafeSeaNet ronment programmes, as well as IMO ini-
should support better regulation and com- (SSN), e-Customs, EU security and envi- tiatives such as e-Navigation.
eMAR, a marine transport project part- munications in the EU maritime transport
funded by the EU, has announced the com- sector, “fostering transparency” and help-
pletion of its e-Maritime Strategic ing to create “future digital eco-system
Framework (EMSF), which has been environments” that can accommodate the
designed to enhance IT-based cooperation growing complexity of maritime IT.
in the maritime sector. “The EMSF is a major industry and
The framework focuses primarily on business enabler,” says Jenny Rainbird,
electronic information exchanged between senior project manager at BMT Group.
ships and ports, and compliance with the “It has been designed to contribute to
EU’s Maritime Single Window Directive the establishment of a common conceptual
which comes into force for member states model of the transport domain of which
in June 2015. shipping is an integral element. The EMSF
The EMSF was developed by consultan- helps stakeholders to map their own busi-
cy group BMT as a principle objective of ness to activities/systems/stakeholders
the three year eMAR project that conclud- and then find the links to other relevant
ed at the end of 2014. It is supported by elements that stakeholders may not have
platforms provided by eMAR partners been aware of.”
Danaos and Inlecom, with access to both The framework has been designed to
platforms free of charge. work in conjunction with other significant The eMAR project aims to improve the data exchange between ships and ports

tool we are able to promote our very wide

New features for Port of Antwerp Connectivity Platform range and the many service providers in
the port of Antwerp,” said Mr Van Peel.
www.portofantwerp.com their intermodal connections, more than have joined the platform.” “Moreover, the platform points our cus-
280 shipping companies listing their mar- New features added to the platform tomers and service providers in the right
The Port of Antwerp has reported that it itime connections, and 12 container ship- include a search function that shows a direction, so that they can link up easily.”
has expanded and upgraded its ping companies showing details of their range of deep-sea and short-sea services to The platform also provides a search
Connectivity Platform, with new features empty depot networks. and from the port. Users can search for con- function for empty depots, with shipping
added, and a much larger user base listing “Tens of thousands of users have visit- nections by country, by port, or by route, companies listing where it is possible to
transport connections. ed the Connectivity Platform (and) made with agents and shipping companies listed pick up and drop off containers across
The online tool is designed to inform intensive use of it,” said port alderman for each port offering services between it much of mainland Europe. The Port
users about transport options to and from Marc Van Peel. and Antwerp, as well as the form of ship- claims that this function will help ship-
the Belgian port. Now, the platform is “Since it was first launched, 200 con- ping and frequency of connection. ping companies reduce both costs and
home to around 70 transport operators and tainer terminals in 15 European countries “With this handy transport planning emissions.

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Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 17

p14-23:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:20 Page 5

SOFTWARE

Schmidt Ocean Institute selects Adonis Voyage distance

www.adonis.no ocean research and exploration through
app from Seven
Adonis has reported that the Schmidt
innovative technologies, observation and
analysis, and open sharing of information.
Oceans
Ocean Institute (SOI) will be using Adonis Headquartered in Palo Alto, California,
Personnel Manager (APM) on its flagship it provides its collaborators with free access www.sevenoceansconsulting.com
research vessel, the R/V Falkor. to the R/V Falkor and her on-board
APM will be employed to automate research facilities in exchange for a commit- Software provider Seven Oceans
crew rotation and payroll for the ship, ment to openly share and communicate the Genesis has reported that its new nauti-
which has no home port due to the nature outcomes of research collected on board. cal distance calculator app is now avail-
of its oceanographic research mission. The "We couldn't be more delighted to be able for both Android and Apple
solution will integrate a shore-side hosted associated with SOI and their work in devices.
version of APM with the R/V Falkor’s advancing our understanding of the Seven Oceans Distances allows users
server. world's oceans,” says Sigrid Kviteberg, to input the departure and destination
Previously, the SOI had been using Adonis project director. ports of relevant vessels or cargo.
spreadsheets to manage crew records and “We've worked with SOI's IT, HR and According to the company, the app
rotation. As well as HR and payroll, APM financial teams in configuring APM to then displays all possible route options,
will also be integrated with the R/V improve their HR and payroll processes with distance in nautical miles and
Falkor's ship management, inventory and and simplifying the day-to-day adminis- estimated days at sea provided, and
procurement systems. tration of the R/V Falkor, allowing them to high risk areas such as the Arabian
The SOI is a non-profit organisation focus more resources on achieving their Sea flagged.
established to advance the frontiers of core mission and research objectives." With millions of potential port com-
binations, Seven Oceans Genesis says
that all standard trade routes are cur-
rently available on the app. Any route
inputted by a user that is not available
will automatically notify the company,
who can review the information and
update the app accordingly.
The app is available for free from the The app shows distances according to
App Store and Google Play. different options

The Korean Register has elected ing the Korean Register into the next
Dr Park Bum-Shik as its new chairman phase of its ongoing growth and devel-
and CEO. Dr Park formerly served as opment,” he said.
COO of the Korea P & I Club, and head
of the maritime division at Pan Ocean
Shipping. “I am delighted and honored www.krs.co.kr
to be elected and I look forward to lead-
R/V Falkor will use the Adonis crewing software

Auto anti-piracy system triples Lloyd’s Register Foundation offers

effective range £10 million for big data research
www.watchstander.com “WatchStander constantly strives to www.lrfoundation.org.uk dicting 'what if'. The Foundation intends
enhance the security of commercial ship- to become a major supporter of interna-
WatchStander reports that it has tripled ping personnel, ships and cargo. We have The Lloyd’s Register Foundation has tional research in the field, partnering with
the effective operating range of its auto- therefore substantially improved the effec- reported that it has made a conditional organisations.”
mated anti-piracy system, which can now tive operating range of our system while grant offer of £10 million over five years to Four areas of priority have been identi-
detect vessels and potential piracy threats holding our pricing constant,” said Jeffrey support research by the Alan Turing fied by the Foundation: Technology road
from up to six nautical miles. Hilsgen, president and CEO, WatchStander. Institute on engineering applications of big mapping, Design for data, Codes and stan-
The company says it has also enabled the “This significant technological develop- data. dards, and Data analytics. The
technology to automatically respond with ment has improved maritime security, The offer comes on the back of the Foundation’s donation is intended to sup-
non-lethal countermeasures against inbound while offering an even stronger value Foundation’s Foresight review, which port these pillars.
pirate boats as early as five nautical miles. proposition for our customers. As piracy looks at the potential impact big data will The Alan Turing Institute, announced
The technology ‘thinks’ like a team of increases, and the dynamics and methods have on engineering in areas such as ener- as part of the UK government’s 2014 budg-
human guards, WatchStander says, ignor- of attack continue to change, so too must gy, transportation and shipping. et, will act as a national centre for data sci-
ing benign traffic while searching for the mitigation tactics.” Prof Richard Clegg, managing director ence. The £10 million grant it receives will
threats in a 360-degree circle around the “We believe that technology and inno- of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation said: help fund its research into using big data
ship without human involvement. vation will play an increasingly important “Our report concludes that within the next to engineer safer and more reliable infra-
The new artificial intelligence software at role in countering piracy and keeping the five to 10 years we are going to witness structure.
the heart of the system has been developed commercial fleet safe.” step changes in sensor technology, data- “The Lloyd’s Register Foundation (has)
via the company’s exclusive long-term WatchStander says that its continued driven intelligent systems, computer sci- shone a spotlight on how big data is
partnership with The Pennsylvania State development of its technology comes at a ence and algorithms for data analysis, increasingly central to the design and
University’s Applied Research Laboratory time when piracy and attempted robbery impacting all aspects of the business life- management of the engineered world,”
(ARL), one of the US Navy’s primary against ships have risen in Western Africa cycle - from design to manufacturing, said Prof Sir Mark Walport, government
University Affiliated Research Centres. and Asia during 2014. The ReCAAP maintenance to decommissioning.” chief scientific adviser.
The upgraded system was tested dur- Information Sharing Centre has reported “This report sets the high-level strategic “Their £10 million grant offer to the Alan
ing a recent voyage on a fully loaded com- 129 incidents against ships in the period direction and funding priorities for the Turing Institute will build knowledge and
mercial LNG ship transiting through the January to the end of September 2014 in Foundation in the field of ‘data-centric skills that will not only make that engi-
High Risk Area (HRA) of the Northern Asia, compared with 99 in the same time engineering’. Big data is going to bridge neered world a safer one, but will also sup-
Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. period during 2013. the gap from monitoring 'what is' to pre- port growth and public service provision.”

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 18

p14-23:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:20 Page 6

Multi Function Display

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p14-23:p1-14.qxd 16/01/2015 11:20 Page 7

SOFTWARE

“K” Line expands use of ClassNK-NAPA GREEN

www.classnk.com the industry with an effective and valuable ect in an effort to reduce the time and cost have already succeeded in reducing the
www.napa.fi product.” of ship design. additional time needed for HCSR vessel
The trial installation took place in 2014. This project will see the companies inte- design by roughly 50 per cent, but our goal
Software provider NAPA and ClassNK According to ClassNK and NAPA, the self- grate their respective shipbuilding soft- is to reduce the workload and in turn costs
have announced that “K” Line (Kawasaki learning component of the software - the wares to aid design in accordance with the for ship designers and builders around the
Kisen Kaisha Ltd) is to install their dynamic performance model - was found new IACS harmonised Common Structural world,” says Mr Nakamura.
ClassNK-NAPA GREEN solution on three to be “extremely accurate” during the trial. Rules (CSR). Data linkage will be “By improving the link to NAPA Steel
additional ships, after a successful trial of “At NAPA our goal has always been to improved between ClassNK’s PrimeShip- and other design software we believe we
the eco-efficiency software on an 8,600 offer solutions for safe and eco-efficient ship HULL(HCSR) and NAPA Steel, the com- can achieve even greater results.”
TEU vessel. design and operations,” said Naoki pany’s 3D model based design software. The integration of the two software
“I would like to thank “K” Line for Mizutani, managing director, NAPA Japan. The IACS harmonised CSR will be products should ease the workload of
choosing to expand ClassNK-NAPA “ClassNK-NAPA GREEN is proving applied to tankers over 150m and bulk car- designers by eliminating duplication of
GREEN to three additional vessels,” said itself in all areas of this including deliver- riers over 90m contracted after July 1 2015. work and double entry, according to
Yasushi Nakamura, representative direc- ing proven bunker cost savings and feed- The rules will demand deeper structural NAPA President Juha Heikinheimo.
tor & executive vice president, ClassNK. back to ship designs to improve newbuilds analysis at the design stage, including FEM “Many of the world’s leading shipyards
“Software solutions like ClassNK- in the future.” analyses of cargo hold structures, and new already use NAPA Steel to improve their
NAPA GREEN offer a great opportunity “At NAPA we understand that ship criteria to enhance safety and reliability. design processes, and we see this
for vessel owners and operators to accu- operators are under increasing public, reg- ClassNK says the additional require- improved data linkage as offering even
rately measure and understand the per- ulatory and financial pressure to control ments will greatly increase the overall time greater benefits to NAPA Steel users,” says
formance and fuel consumption of vessels, their fuel costs and boost environmental needed for vessel design, and its Mr Heikinheimo.
as well as optimise their operations.” credentials and are proud to be working PrimeShip-HULL(HCSR) was created “Improved linkage between NAPA
“Along with Wan Hai Lines and Shoei with partners like ClassNK to help our cus- specifically to reduce the burden on Steel and ClassNK’s PrimeShip-HULL
Kisen, “K” Line was one of the first opera- tomers meet these challenges.” designers. The software is the first in the (HCSR) will allow yards building CSR
tors to trial the ClassNK-NAPA GREEN This success with “K” Line comes at a world to incorporate the conditions of the compliant vessels to even further stream-
solution, and that they have chosen to time when ClassNK and NAPA are new rules, according to ClassNK executive line their design process, while also elimi-
expand the application to further vessels is extending their cooperation, having vice president Yasushi Nakamura. nating the need for designers to input
the greatest proof that we are supplying recently joined forces on another new proj- “With PrimeShip-HULL(HCSR) we duplicate data into multiple programs.”

OCTOPUS advisory solutions for Fuel Change-Over Calculator from DNV GL

DongBang and OHT www.dnvgl.com equipment. The difference in viscosity can
also be a problem for fuel pumps and fil-
DNV GL has introduced Fuel Change- ters.
www.amarcon.com Osprey and Hawk. Over (FCO) Calculator software ahead of “Taking into account variables such as a
“We have deployed the OCTOPUS new emissions regulations that will vessel’s fuel system layout, any constraints
ABB subsidiary Amarcon has reported technology across our fleet to improve the require ships to use fuel with lower sul- on temperature and the variable sulphur
that its OCTOPUS-Onboard vessel adviso- safety and efficiency of critical heavy lift phur content when operating in Emission content of fuels, the FCO Calculator can
ry solutions will be deployed on two transportation operations,” says Bertil Control Areas (ECAs) close to shore. significantly reduce the risk of human
Korean heavy freight vessels and a Rognes, project engineer at OHT. From January 1st, ships in ECAs will error during the preparation of the
Norwegian heavy lift cargo vessel. “All the other vessels of OHT use the not be permitted to use Heavy Fuel Oil change-over process,” says Jörg Lampe,
Amarcon will deliver OCTOPUS- OCTOPUS technology in order to execute (HFO) in ECAs as it contains more than the senior project engineer risk & safety, sys-
onboard systems and motion monitor critical heavy lift transportation projects in 0.1 per cent sulphur allowed under the tems engineering at DNV GL.
systems (TMS-3) to DongBang’s Giant No a safe and efficient way. For us it was regulations. According to DNV GL, The software uses numerical simulation
2 and Giant No 3, providing the crews therefore a logical step to also equip the switching to Marine Gas Oil (MGO) is the that DNV GL says is more accurate than
with support for route planning and newest edition in our fleet, the M/V most viable alternative, but the process is previous linear models and indicates opti-
speed optimisation. Albatross, with this system.” not straightforward due to the varying mised lead time for the change-over
The company is also extending its rela- Additionally, OHT and DongBang will properties of the two fuel types. process, as well as costs and the maximum
tionship with Norwegian oil service com- have access to Amarcon’s online reporting HFO and MGO have operating temper- hourly consumption to meet constraints.
pany OHT, deploying OCTOPUS motion tool, OCTOPUS-Online, which will allow atures that differ by more than 100 degrees “This kind of data ensures a cost-effi-
monitoring and forecasting for the them to download and display all meas- Celsius. Changing from one to another can cient, reliable fuel change-over and can
M/V Albatross. Amarcon has previously ured motions and accelerations that are cause a rapid drop in temperature, poten- also help demonstrate compliance for the
outfitted the OHT vessels Eagle, Falcon, collected from their respective vessels. tially causing thermal shock to engine respective authorities,” says Mr Lampe.

UPCOMING EVENTS
DIGITAL SHIP BERGEN 11 - 12 FEBRUARY 2015

DIGITAL SHIP HAMBURG 18 - 19 MARCH 2015

THE MARITIME CIO FORUM 3 JUNE 2015

@ NOR-SHIPPING

DIGITAL SHIP TOKYO 2 - 3 SEPTEMBER 2015

DIGITAL SHIP SINGAPORE 13 - 14 OCTOBER 2015

DIGITAL SHIP ATHENS 11 - 12 NOVEMBER 2015

To learn more about our events please visit www.thedigitalship.com

Digital Ship Limited, 2nd Floor, 2-5 Benjamin Street, London EC1M 5QL, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7253 2700 www.thedigitalship.com

DNV GL's software aims to manage the fuel change process to protect engines

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 20

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Digital Ship
New Single Window reporting tool from Inlecom New legal app for seafarers
www.inlecom.com The process will also align with interna-
tional standards such as ISO 28005, WCO, www.seafarersrights.org
Transport and logistics specialist Inlecom EDIFACT and EU specific formats and
Systems has reported the launch of i-Ship, requirements. Seafarers Rights International (SRI) has
a new software application that the com- “i-Ship is a unique product both in terms reported the launch of a new app that will
pany claims will speed up ship reporting of functionality and technology innovation aid seafarers with legal issues and infor-
processes with European and International that alleviates the burden of reporting for- mation concerning their rights.
maritime and custom authorities. malities from shipping companies in a “Seafarers need tangible support 24/7,”
i-Ship has been developed as part of thevery cost effective way,” says Dr Takis says Deirdre Fitzpatrick, executive direc-
eMAR project, which also recently Katsoulakos, director of Inlecom Systems. tor of SRI.
announced the launch of its e-Maritime The application will also be available “There are many good companies and
Strategic Framework (EMSF - see page 17). via Software as a Service (SaaS), and maritime administrations who provide
The application has been designed to auto- Inlecom says it is fully customisable. seafarers with assistance and support with
mate reporting obliga- regard to their human rights. However
tions in compliance where that is not the case, this app will
with the EU’s Single provide a lifeline for seafarers.”
Window Directive. The app has been designed with offline
The Directive aims functionality and is compatible with
to harmonise the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry
administrative proce- devices. One key feature is the ‘Find a
dures applied to mar- Lawyer’ tool, which provides access to a
itime transport by database of lawyers around the world that
establishing a standard have signed up to the SRI Charter, “a state-
electronic exchange of ment of good practice in the provision of
information and by legal services to seafarers,” according to
simplifying reporting Ms Fitzpatrick.
formalities for ships “It is important that the work of SRI
arriving and departing gets directly to seafarers,” says Brian
from EU ports. Orrell, chairman of the Advisory Board
Inlecom says i-Ship of SRI.
The new app will help mariners to find
will act as a “common “This is why this practical advice is now
legal assistance if required
gateway to all report- being made available on an app, and we
ing nodes” and provide are also producing on-line education mate-
a single link to ship- rials free of charge for seafarers to raise “This education will ensure that
ping companies for the The iShip system aims to coordinate communications their awareness around subjects relevant seafarers’ rights are real and meaningful
with various authorities
submission of reports. to their working lives.” for them.”

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 21

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SOFTWARE

The philosophy of the unmanned vehicle

As debate over the development of unmanned ships at sea continues, the philosophical elements of computer
decision making are often overlooked. These issues are however being considered by the developers of self-driving
cars – in a presentation at the 2014 Web Summit in Dublin, Professor Chris Gerdes of Stanford University asked
the question: Should automated cars drive like robots or humans?

H
ow good does a self-driving car So we’ve been taking students out on track we’ve learned an awful lot about we lost by about 2.5 seconds then. A cou-
have to be for you to be willing to the racetrack and adding sensors and state how humans drive cars, and we decided to ple of weeks ago we decided we were
give up control and let it drive of the art equipment to vintage race cars. take all that and put it in an Audi called ready for a rematch.
you around the road? As good as the aver- We’ve been installing cameras into the cars Shelley. Shelley is an Audi TTS that we’ve As they raced around the track there
age driver out on the road? As good as you so we can see what’s going on on the track, been working with together with Audi were some stylistic differences, David
(we’re all above average drivers, right)? and what’s going on with the driver. since 2009, and we basically set her up to tends to favour the largest radius in keep-
Does it have to be better than an above We’ve wired up the driver’s pedals, we’ve be a self-driving race car using differential ing speed, Shelley tends to favour the
average driver? Or in fact, does it really wired up the steering to be able to figure GPS and giving her the ability to run shortest distance. But as they get through
have to be as good as the very best human out what exactly they are doing in the car. around the track. the very tight turns they follow an almost
race car drivers? We’ve cameras to see exactly what the We took her out to Thunderhill identical line. In accelerating we had a real
Racing may not seem to have a whole driver is doing and what’s happening out Raceway Park (in California) and got her advantage – we don’t have the dead
lot to do with your average everyday com- on the road. Finally, there’s a differential up to about 113 miles per hour. It had hills weight of a human in the car! There’s also
mute, but if you think about what a race GPS system which is allowing us to figure and curvy roads, turning to the left, turn- the fact that we can find a really great line,
car driver is doing out there on the track, out where the car is on the road to within ing to the right, braking and accelerating. and find the straightest path relative to
what they’re trying to do is use every bit of about 2 cm. It’s very fun to watch the car as it goes the human.
friction between the tyre and the road to With all that in mind, what we do is around, though it can be a bit unnerving It was fairly even, but on the final
accelerate, brake and corner, and try and send the cars out on the racetrack to go when you look and see that there’s nobody straightaway our speed began to take over
get around the track as quickly as possible. around, and we take a look at what inside at that time. and we finished about 0.4 seconds ahead.
At my lab at Stanford we’ve been look- they’re doing, what the drivers are After driving these driverless cars To be totally honest, if we’d started at a dif-
ing at how we can learn from this and try actually doing. We take all of this data around race tracks the real question is, ferent part of the track David would have
to create self-driving cars that have the and we sit down with the actual race how good are we relative to a human driv- been about 0.4 seconds ahead, so it’s hard
same capabilities, to use every bit of fric- car drivers about what we’re seeing. er? David Vodden is president of to call a conclusive winner, but we can say
tion available between the tyre and the Oftentimes they are just as mystified as Thunderhill Raceway Park and a racing we’ve actually come pretty close to the
road to get out of harm’s way to avoid we are. We’ll say ‘what were you doing champion. About a year ago we did an human performance.
any accident that the laws of physics say in that turn?’ and they’ll tell us it was just episode of the US science programme But we’ve done it in a very different
we can avoid. What better place to study a reflex, an action that they’ve taken. Nova and we challenged him to a race. way, and that raises an interesting ques-
this than the racetrack? So by taking students out on the race- We didn’t finish quite as fast as David, tion. The human gets around the racetrack
by using their perception, by feeling their
way around the track and using their expe-
rience and visual cues to guide their way.
Shelley gets around the track by having a
digital map and solving a physics problem
about 200 times a second going around
the track.

Human or machine?
So we need to start to think, as we go for-
ward with automated vehicles – should
they be more like humans, or more like
machines? This is at least as much a ques-
tion of philosophy as one of engineering.
So we called in a philosopher – Patrick
Lin, a professor of philosophy at Cal Poly
(California Polytechnic State University).
And thanks to support from our centre of
automotive research at Stanford and the
Daimler and Benz Foundation, Patrick
has been on sabbatical with us last year.
We’ve actually had a good time beginning
to bridge the gap between engineering
and philosophy.
One of the things that we realised at first
is that engineers and philosophers come
from different angles. Philosophers tend to
ask a lot of questions and they don’t seem to
care if they ever get any answers, while
engineers seem to love answers and they
don’t really mind if it’s the answer to a
question that nobody asked.
Once we’d bridged this philosophical
divide however, we found that there was
in fact a lot of common ground. Just like
we wanted to push the limits on the race
track to learn about safety, philosophers
like to push the limits with some extreme
cases to raise ethical questions.
The technology for the driverless car is here - but philosophical questions remain. Photo: Google
Now, many of these questions are

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 22

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Digital Ship
around the classic ‘trolley car’ problem – the ends justify the means – is it better to collisions with other vehicles and other designed to break the law?
suppose you have a runaway trolley car kill one person to save 100? That’s a conse- objects in the environment. Could we sim- How do they handle the social interac-
that’s going to kill five people; should quentialist argument. ply rely on the fact that the car will do its tion that is traffic? We just installed our
you divert it to a track where it will only As engineers it’s not so bad to deal with very best in all of these situations, and be first roundabout at Stanford, and if you
kill one? Very few people have ever been either one of these, we can deal with rules satisfied with that as a safe ethical player in come and visit you’ll discover that
in the situation of controlling runaway as constraints or we can think about the our traffic system? Americans still haven’t figured out round-
trolley cars, but it raises some interesting costs and trade-offs involved with some- I think if we take this approach we may abouts. It’s a very straightforward, yet
questions about whether it’s better to kill thing. We can design the car and say ‘don’t be able to handle the thorny questions that very much a social phenomenon that the
or let die, and how to value human life – cross this line’, or think about a trade-off arise, but some of the more trivial ques- car needs to navigate – and a great chal-
is it by the quantity, or is there some between how smoothly it drives and how tions could actually be more difficult. It’s lenge that we have in our own backyard as
other measure? well it tracks the path. tempting when we have a set of rules to we program these vehicles.
This is in fact a question that self-driv- But does this give us any help in think- begin to go through and add to that – rules So I think it is possible, as we look for-
ing cars will have to, in some ways, ing through ethical issues in self-driving of the road, highway laws, traffic codes. ward into the future, to think of cars that
answer. We’ll probably never literally be in cars? I argue that it might. Many of the dis- We might be able to encode things like a can drive as well as the best human beings,
that situation, but people can look at the cussions so far have thought about the trol- speed limit, and in a residential area that’s that can avoid any accidents that it is phys-
programming that has gone into them and ley car problem, will the self-driving car great, you wouldn’t want the car to speed. ically possible to avoid.
think what decision the car has made in an make the decision to kill one person or five But do all cars obey the speed limit out on But if we actually want to drive with
ethical framework. people, should it hit the person with the the motorways and highways? Would we these cars as other road users, as other
Luckily for us philosophers don’t just helmet or without the helmet, the larger like a car that sits in the left lane and begins participants in this social dance of traffic,
raise questions, but also give us some car or the smaller car? These are very con- to pass while adhering to the speed limit? we may need them to behave a little bit
frameworks for looking at these problems. sequentialist questions, these are things That car’s probably not going to make more like we do and understand that
Two of these frameworks are deonto- that involve the car calculating a lot of con- many friends. rules are more like guidelines sometimes.
logical ethics and consequentialism. If you sequences of its actions. What about another situation where And that could be a much more signifi-
get a room full of philosophers together you approach a car that’s parked on the cant challenge. DS
they can go on for many hours about the Driverless rules road, and there’s a double yellow line that
shades of meaning here, but I’m an engi- But might it be possible just to deal with you’re not supposed to cross – what
Professor Chris Gerdes is director of the
neer and I’ve got 15 minutes, so I’m going some simple rules? Assume we can design should the self-driving car do? Should it
Centre for Automotive Research - Stanford
to distil it down to two words – and those a car that can drive as well as the very best cross the line, or should it stop and create a
Technology Ventures Programme. This
words are ‘rules’ versus ‘outcome’. human driver, it can avoid any accident larger obstacle for all who come behind it?
article is an abridged transcript of his
Deontological ethics really involves a that is physically avoidable. Would it be This is where we begin to realise that
presentation Should Automated Cars drive
set of rules, and your ethical behaviour is sufficient to then give it a few rules to our approach to traffic laws as humans is
like Robots or Humans?, which was deliv-
determined by how well you follow those make sure that it has a moral imperative to really from a consequentialist perspec-
ered at the Web Summit in Dublin in
rules. Think of the Ten Commandments put human life first? tive. Yes, there is the law, but there are
ovember 2014.
for instance, and the Commandment ‘Thou With a nod to Asimov’s laws of robot- also our demands for safety and mobility.
shalt not kill’ – that’s a deontological ics, perhaps we can program a few simple Really, a car that is going to engage in A YouTube video of Shelley, Stanford
approach to ethics. rules to avoid collisions, to prioritise colli- traffic should really have the same University’s self-driving car, can be viewed
On the other hand, consequentialism sions with vulnerable road users such as medium – but is that even possible? at http://goo.gl/kKz9l
kind of weights the outcomes and asks if cyclists and pedestrians, and then to avoid Can manufacturers program cars that are

Proud to be the
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Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 23

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

Dell launches marine-certified products SES to supply new OSV

www.dell.com continuing this work in the future.” www.ses-marine.com Anschutz Autopilot.
www.dnvgl.com Dell Global Service and Maintenance SES will also maintain and service the
will provide support in a number of ports Ships Electronic Services (SES) reports equipment on the ship after delivery.
Dell OEM Solutions has introduced a throughout the world, and the computer that it is working with the MMS Ship "We are sure this will be the first of
range of IT equipment specifically giant also claims that customers will bene- Repair shipyard in the UK to supply and many vessels we will be working on for
designed for marine and offshore use and fit from a quicker supply chain, lower install electronics systems on MMS this sector in the future," said Stephen
type-approved by DNV-GL. costs, and faster time to market. Crusader, the yard's new OSV designed Roper, managing director of SES.
The portfolio includes server, worksta- “Dell OEM’s investment in the require- to service offshore windfarms in the "Our experience in the type of electron-
tion and networking solutions designed to ments of the marine industry is a true North Sea and other European waters. ics needed to keep these vessels working
comply with marine grade offshore stan- advantage and a game-changer for the SES is supplying and installing a range reliably and continuously is second to
dards for temperature, humidity, vibra- marine equipment supply chain,” says of navigation and communications sys- none. We are one of very few electronics
tion, electro-magnetic compatibility (EMC) Dermot O’Connell, executive director and tems including Navmaster ECDIS, companies working to ISO 9001 and it is
and enclosure location classes. general manager, Dell OEM Solutions Raymarine Glass Bridge and Super HD no surprise that MMS themselves work to
“Dell is breaking into the maritime EMEA. Open Ray Scanner, Furuno Radar and the same certifications."
industry and has made a strong commit- “This is a great opportunity to address a Echo Sounder, KVH VSAT, FLIR Thermal "The offshore renewables market con-
ment to ensuring that their products com- new market with solutions built with high- Camera, Comnav Satellite Compass, tinues to develop and we are delighted to
ply with the highest standards of quality quality, reliable components and at the Sailor VHF Radios and a Raytheon be part of this expansion."
and efficiency,” says Ståle Sneen, principal same time help our customers reduce pro-
engineer of control systems at DNV GL. duction costs, effectively manage changes
“We were very pleased to work with in technology and meet global distribution
Dell on this project and look forward to and service needs.”

Tides Database upgrade from Chersoft

www.chersoft.co.uk Version 2.5 of TdB provides a workflow
for managing SHOM’s tidal stream data as
UK based Chersoft has announced well as the tide height data that has previ-
that a major upgrade to its Tides ously been managed.
Database (TdB) software has been It also supports the management of
completed by the Service hydro- tidal height data from thousands of tide
graphique et océanographique de la stations, integrating stream, port and tide
marine (SHOM). data in context on ENC charts.
SES will supply a range of systems to MMS Crusader, from ECDIS to VSAT

The Company
SeaTec Communications (formerly Seacom Electronics) is a global provider of navigation and com-
munication systems and services to the marine industry. In the role as Airtime Manager you will be
asked to work in and help develop all aspects of SeaTec Communications portfolio of communications
services including equipment and airtime services. Our market spreads across the maritime industry
working with commercial vessels, cruise ships and super-yachts and vessels operating in the oil &
gas industry.
The Person
As part of V.Group, SeaTec Communications offers you an opportunity to work in an energetic envi-
ronment and receive a broad exposure to all aspects of ship maintenance and management. You will  Substantial experience in the marine
develop your skills in a fast-paced and highly motivating environment that will constantly challenge communications industry
your entrepreneurial attitude.
 Good understanding of the marine
communications i.e. familiar with all the
Daily work will be highly varied and you will be exposed to the complexity of working across multiple
main players and systems, understanding
cultures. SeaTec Communications is a global business represented in offices in the UK, Monaco,
distribution, awareness of the roles played by
Chennai, Rotterdam, Shanghai and Singapore and travelling to attend projects and visit clients will be AA’s, PSA’s, etc.
required. In this role you would be based in Europe.
 Familiar with associated systems such as
The Role e-mail/ weather services, LRIT, SSAS, tracking
etc
 To develop and grow SeaTec Communications airtime portfolio and volume.
 Good client facing & presentational skills.
 Extend SeaTec Communications service to external (non V.Ships) markets
 Prepare reports and carry out analysis of traffic  Excellent written and verbal communication
 Manage day to day business administration associated with the airtime products skills in English.
 Frequent visits to customer offices
 Computer literate.
 Production of marketing material
 Develop efficiencies in the service, such as web based top-up capability, on-line purchasing etc.  Ability to work in a team environment and to
 Develop new communications and content packages for both marine ops and social show initiative when required.
communications.
 Explore new markets, Offshore, Super-yacht, fishing.  Ability to travel to offices and vessels worldwide

To apply, please send your covering letter and CV to [email protected]

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 24

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Digital Ship
Rolls-Royce says oX bridge could lead to unmanned ships
www.rolls-royce.com unmanned ships at sea within the next remote controlled, plying the seas within “We are entering a truly exciting period
twenty years. the next two decades.” in the history of shipping, where technolo-
Rolls-Royce has unveiled its vision for the “Many of the technology building The oX bridge concept was developed gy, and in particular the smart use of Big
future of maritime navigation with a new blocks that will control the ships of the in partnership with the VTT Technical Data is going to drive the next generation
bridge concept known as the Future future are already available today, but Research Centre of Finland. It includes of ships,” says Mikael Makinen, president
Operator Experience Concept or ‘oX’, there is still work to be done to develop smart workstations, which automatically of Rolls-Royce Marine.
which the company says could lead to marine solutions from them,” says Oskar recognise individual crew members when “Over the next ten to 20 years we
autonomous, unmanned vessels. Levander, vice president, innovation, at they arrive on the bridge, adjusting to their believe ship intelligence is going to be the
The project is the latest step towards Rolls-Royce Marine. own preferences. driving force that will determine the
what Rolls-Royce calls ‘ship intelligence’, “We are investing in ship intelligence, Other features include bridge windows future of our industry, the type of ships at
as ships become increasingly reliant on which will be a major driver of the next that serve as augmented reality displays, sea, and the competence levels required
large volumes of complex data that require transition era of shipping. Much in the way identifying potential hazards that might from tomorrow’s seafarers.”
a greater level of analysis to manage that sail gave way to steam powered ships, otherwise be difficult to see, such as sea ice “With the demands of environmental
propulsion and navigation systems. and coal gave way to oil, we will see or tug boats. legislation and rising operating costs,
The company believes the system increasingly sophisticated ships, highly The oX concept uses 3D animation to ships are going to become more complex.
could become a reality by 2025, with automated and perhaps even unmanned demonstrate what Rolls-Royce believes Add to that the fact that skilled crews are
can be achieved in the next decade, utilis- already in short supply, then we see a dis-
ing digital techniques in an effort to tinct gap opening up between the com-
improve safety and increase ship efficien- plexity of ships and the competency of the
cy. Rolls-Royce already has control centres people who will crew them. That will
in Alesund, Norway, and Rauma, Finland, cause real problems for the industry, and
where ships from around the world can be we believe it is ship intelligence that will
remotely monitored in real time. fill that gap.”

Furuno ECDIS for Avin International

www.furuno.com carriers. The contract includes the supply
and commissioning of dual ECDIS systems
Furuno has announced it has been award- for paperless navigation.
ed a contract to supply ECDIS for Greek Bridge officers will undertake type-
tanker operator Avin International. specific training at Furuno’s Navskills
The Avin fleet currently consists of 33 training centres in Piraeus, Manila and
vessels, including both tankers and bulk Odessa.
Rolls Royce says the systems could be in use by 2025

.NO
FOR OPTIMUM ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 25

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

L-3 SAM Electronics to outfit three Updated ENC Designer from SevenCs
Hamburg Süd vessels www.sevencs.com new IHO S-58 standard.
www.sam-electronics.de operating components, supported by SevenCs has also announced that it has
2,500 I/O points on a redundant LAN SevenCs has announced the launch of successfully incorporated the latest draft
L-3 SAM Electronics has been awarded a network, and with an integrated fuel-effi- ENC Designer 4.6.2, created in line with AML (Additional Military Layers)
contract to provide its NACOS Platinum ciency system. new IHO validation checks for ENCs. Portrayal Specification into its most recent
navigation, automation and control sys- The ships are scheduled for delivery The IHO is introducing a mandatory releases of ENC Designer and SeeMyENC.
tem, as well as communications equip- in 2015. minimum check standard for ENCs, with Developed primarily for military use,
ment, for three new Hamburg Süd con- In related news, SAM Electronics also the purpose of exposing errors that would AML is a NATO standard that overlays
tainer ships. reports that it has completed the supply make ENCs unusable in ECDIS. additional information to ENCs, aiding
The 10,600-TEU vessels, built by and installation of a range of electrical and SevenCs says the latest version of its navigation.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine electronic equipment aboard two new ENC Designer software comes with AML 3.0 sample data was made avail-
Engineering (DSME) in South Korea, will Dutch multifunction vessels. “improved functionality” that will high- able to developers by the UKHO in
each be outfitted with five high-resolution Sister ships RollDock Star and RollDock light new validation categories to be out- August 2014, to test its compatibility with
multipurpose workstations sited in ship Storm are designed to carry cargo and lined by the IHO S-58 5.0.0 standard. existing products.
bridge and engine control rooms. heavy project loads, primarily for the off- Different font colours will reflect the severi- SevenCs said: “We are glad to be able to
The navigation systems will consist of shore sector. They have been equipped ty level of the validation log messages, with provide tools that can be used by organisa-
X- and S-band radars, ECDIS and conning with NACOS Platinum navigation systems red a critical warning, brick red an error, tions that want to make a proper assess-
operations, automatic steering, track con- for the control of radar, ECDIS and con- and blue representing a standard warning. ment of the proposed AML presentation in
trol and voyage planning. The contract ning, as well as internal communications The German developer says that order to provide comments or feedback to
will also include supply of AIS, VDR, dif- and a GMDSS system. SevenCs and L-3 Oceania ENC validation UKHO. This will allow realistic testing of
ferential GPS, Doppler log, echosounder “L-3 is proud to have made significant tools are already fully compliant with the the specification using actual AML data.”
and wind/weather navaids, as well as a contributions to this important two-ship
bridge navigational watch alarm system project with the successful system installa-
(BNWAS). tion on both RollDock Star and RollDock
“We are extremely pleased to be select- Storm,” said Armin Groth, managing
ed to deliver NACOS Platinum for one of director of integrated systems at L-3 SAM
the world’s largest container shipping Electronics.
lines,” said Maik Stoevhase, managing “This latest accomplishment confirms
director at L-3 SAM Electronics ANC. our experience as an established turnkey
“This order once again confirms the provider and highlights L-3’s unrivalled
continued high-level acceptance of L-3’s range of in-house solutions to support the
latest family of advanced, ergonomically global shipping industry.”
designed Platinum systems and reaffirms Other features provided by L-3 for the
our position as the market leader of inte- two vessels include the overall lighting
grated navigation and automation systems system, main and emergency switch-
for the newest generation of container boards, motor control centres, power and
ships.” lighting distribution boards, transformers,
Each NACOS assembly will include an shore connectors, shaft alternators, and
integrated MCS Platinum monitoring and frequency converters for ballast pumps
control system covering all main vessel and the bow thruster.

The software now has added AML overlays.

ClassNK and USMRC team up for R&D projects
www.classnk.com are familiar with the latest maritime tech-
Three satellites added to exactView constellation
www.usmrc.org nology is essential for the sustainable www.exactearth.com additional in-orbit AIS satellites, which are
development of the shipping industry.” operated through a global network of 13
Japan’s ClassNK and the United States “USMRC not only has the specialised Canadian satellite AIS service provider Earth stations,” says Philip Miller, VP of
Maritime Resource Centre (USMRC) have knowledge to address these issues, but exactEarth has reported that it has added operations and engineering at exactEarth.
signed a Memorandum of Understanding also has rich experience in maritime train- three new satellites to its exactView con- “In addition our ground station net-
(MOU) which outlines the framework for ing. I am sure that this collaboration will stellation, expanding the company’s work is rapidly expanding towards 23
“future technical cooperation” on research greatly contribute to the future of maritime space-based AIS network to eight satellites strategically selected locations around the
projects and maritime activities. education and training in the world.” in total. world to provide the lowest latency serv-
Initial activity will look at the develop- The contract will see the Ontario-based ice and highest detection performance
ment of LNG bunkering simulation tools, a firm purchase one satellite outright, while available using exactEarth's patented AIS
particular area of focus for the USMRC. obtaining data under licence from the detection technology.”
“We were the first to offer LNG bunker- other two. exactEarth says the data from “With the inclusion of AIS data from
ing safety training in the United States,” the satellites will significantly increase the three more satellites and our ground net-
said Brian Holden, president of the capabilities of its global vessel monitoring work expansion our customers will con-
USMRC. service. tinue to benefit from the industry leading
“The signing of this MOU will allow us “We are pleased to announce the expan- service that they have come to expect from
to take another leap forward in this area by sion of our exactView network with these exactEarth.”
developing practical, hands-on LNG
bunkering simulation tools to make this Ian Moncrieff CBE, chief executive of the Singapore is the perfect base for NAV-
training even better.” UKHO, is to retire from the role on TOR to take advantage of the opportuni-
As well as LNG simulation, the two January 31st 2015. Mr Moncrieff has been ties in this unique environment,” said
organisations will cooperate on dynamic with the UKHO since 2006, working as NAVTOR CEO Tor Svanes.
positioning and other training capabilities national hydrographer and chief operat- Simulator provider VSTEP has
for the offshore sector, while ClassNK will ing officer before becoming CEO in received ISO 9001:2008 certification with
also support USMRC’s research around October 2011. He will be replaced on an regards to the quality system for develop-
maritime cybersecurity. interim basis by John Humphrey, the cur- ment, installation, training and sales of its
“Our goal is to support the safety of rent chief commercial officer and deputy simulators. Certification was awarded by
ships from not only from the technological chief executive. DNV GL Business Assurance.
point of view, but also the human factor NAVTOR has announced that it has
perspective,” said ClassNK executive vice opened a new office in Singapore. “The www.ukho.gov.uk
president Koichi Fujiwara. Koichi Fujiwara, ClassNK, with Brian Asian market is diverse, sophisticated www.navtor.com
“The need for qualified seafarers who Holden, USMRC and receptive to innovation, and www.vstep.nl

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 26

p24-36:p15-25.qxd 16/01/2015 11:12 Page 4

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p24-36:p15-25.qxd 16/01/2015 11:12 Page 5

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

ISS to get NORAIS upgrade COLREGS compliant autonomous

www.kongsberg.com ation SAT-AIS receiver and contains new
vessel undergoes at-sea tests
hardware featuring large mass memory
Kongsberg has reported that the NORAIS for digital sampling, higher sensitivity and www.leidos.com During a recent on the water test event,
ship-detection system deployed on the better robustness against interferers,” says Leidos says that the surrogate boat
International Space Station (ISS) is to be Frode Storesund, project manager, A prototype maritime autonomy system autonomously navigated through narrow
upgraded, with the NORAIS 2 system hav- Kongsberg Seatex AS. designed to control all of a vessel's channels avoiding navigation aids and
ing been launched aboard the Space X “The digital platform is optimised for manoeuvring and mission functions, submerged hazards. The boat also safely
vehicle. maximising signal processing capabilities including maintaining compliance with avoided surface ships it encountered along
The system was developed in conjunc- at low power and miniaturised size. This COLREGs, has successfully completed a the route, satisfying COLREGS require-
tion with the Norwegian Defence Research facilitates highly advanced algorithm total of 42 days of at-sea demonstration. ments in completely unscripted events.
Establishment (FFI) and is part of the capabilities which are prerequisite for a The technology has been developed by During 42 days of at-sea testing that
Columbus AIS (COLAIS), designed to test next generation SAT-AIS receiver.” US company Leidos and was installed on a included 101 individual scenarios, the
the viability of supplementing terrestrial Konsberg and FFI have been working 9.75 metre work boat for the at-sea tests. autonomy system directed course and
AIS with in-orbit AIS. on space-based AIS since 2010, when the The testing was conducted as part speed changes of the surrogate vessel to
Terrestrial AIS is limited by range and COLAIS experiment began, and of the development of the US Defense stay safely outside a 1-km standoff dis-
experiences blind spots in the oceans. Norwegian satellite AISSat-1 was Advanced Research Projects Agency's tance from the interfering vessel.
According to Kongsberg, nearly 350 mil- launched. A second satellite, AISSat-2, was (DARPA) Anti-Submarine Warfare Leidos says that the test programme
lion NORAIS messages from over 142,000 launched in July 2014. Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel demonstrated the ability of the ACTUV
ships have been routed through the system “Together with the Norwegian satellites (ACTUV), with the workboat acting as autonomy system to successfully manoeu-
so far, with the detection percentage of AISSat-1 and AISSat-2, the deployment of a "surrogate" for the ACTUV during ver and avoid collision with another ves-
vessels in the Mediterranean more than the NORAIS 2 demonstrates a leading the trials. sel, and that this will pave the way for fol-
doubling. range of technological solutions for space Leidos says that its strategy to evaluate low-on testing involving multiple interfer-
Kongsberg says the technology will based AIS,” says Gard Ueland, president the prototype autonomy system for COL- ing contacts and adversarial behaviour on
improve the safety of vessels in the open of Kongsberg Seatex AS. REGS compliance includes both simula- the part of interfering vessels.
sea, simplify search and rescue, and help “We are proud to once again have the tion and at-sea testing, with its team hav- While continuing to use the surrogate
monitor vessels with hazardous cargo. opportunity to provide our cutting edge ing now completed approximately 26,000 vessel to test the ACTUV software and
Improvements that the NORAIS 2 will technology to such a prestigious project, a simulation runs of the system. sensors, construction of Sea Hunter, the
bring include enhanced signal processing technology that also benefits our cus- Testing of COLREGS compliance first ACTUV vessel, is already progressing
and sensitivity in the receiver. tomers in a wide range of products in our involved the installed workboat and one at Christensen Shipyard in Clackamas,
“NORAIS 2 is Kongsberg’s third gener- more traditional, maritime markets.” interfering vessel in a variety of meeting, Oregon.
crossing, overtaking and transit scenarios Sea Hunter is scheduled to launch in
in both simulation and on the water test late summer 2015 and begin testing in the
events. Columbia River shortly thereafter.

UK opens unmanned vessel research centre

The UK's minister for Portsmouth Partnership (LEP).
Matthew Hancock has officially opened a It is hoped that the centre will act as a
new centre for research into unmanned test bed for new systems and technology
autonomous vessels – a market estimated that can be sold around the world.
to be worth £9 billion each year over the “Whether it’s for environmental moni-
next eight years. toring, gas exploration or clearing under-
The Centre for Maritime Intelligence water mines, there is massive potential for
Systems (CMIS) brings together academ- unmanned vessels,” said Mr Hancock.
ics, scientists, engineers and naval The UK CMIS will set up an initial syn-
specialists at Portsdown Technology thetic environment and conduct initial de-
Park, and has received support worth risking and “proof of concept” activities as
£4 million from government, industry part of a maritime autonomous systems
and the Solent Local Enterprise demonstrator programme.
AIS detection from space will be improved by the ISS upgrade

Transas Simulator for Constanta Maritime University

www.transas.com tion,” said Vitaly Vakula, Transas Marine
Black Sea area sales manager.
Transas Marine has reported that it has In other news, Transas Marine has also
installed an ECDIS simulator at Constanta launched its new Transas Web Map
Maritime University, making it one of Service (WMS), which will open up access
Romania’s first maritime schools to offer to its TX-97 chart collection for integration
simulated ECDIS training. with other applications.
Bridge watchkeeping officers and other The company says that with WMS, devel-
personnel will be ECDIS-trained in com- opers of custom mapping applications with
pliance with the STCW 2010 amendments, web access features will now be able to use
using a simulator based on the Transas Transas TX-97 map tiles in their software,
Navi-Sailor ECDIS Multifunction Display be they online web-based or mobile apps.
MFD 4000, with inbuilt Navi-Planner voy- Transas says that its tile caching tech-
age planning software. nology will help in maintaining high levels
According to Transas, the simulator of performance even in the case of access
also incorporates its Chart Delivery Server by a large number of simultaneous users.
Emulator, as well as options for a fictitious The Transas Web Map Service package
area database, training chart folios and includes regular updates to the chart col-
weather forecast. lection, as well as future upgrades.
“We at Transas are honoured that our The company says that it can be inte-
long-term partner Constanta Maritime grated with virtually any online mapping
University has chosen Transas systems engine, including Google, Bing, OpenLayers,
again to contribute to the safety of naviga- Leaflet, Yandex, Yahoo and jQueryGeo. The Transas Web Map Service will open up access to electronic charts

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 28

p24-36:p15-25.qxd 16/01/2015 11:12 Page 6

Seeing the same picture is seeing the big picture

Non-profit e-chart provider PRIMAR is the starting point for safe navigation at sea. Through flexible
and innovative distribution platforms PRIMAR supplies the international maritime community
with official Electronic Navigational Charts.
In quiet surroundings, with a view to PRIMAR’s core aim is to make up-to-date
Western Norway's picturesque fjords, a official charts available to everyone
small group of experts have the world at through innovative solutions that best
FACTS:
their fingertips. The substantial task of serve the end-users. This is achieved not • Non-profit organisation operated by the Norwegian Hydrographic
PRIMAR is to cooperate with a multitude of only through close cooperation with Service in close cooperation with the Electronic Chart Centre
hydrographic offices to collect hydrograph- hydrographic offices, but through the (ECC)
ical data from around the world. The data innovative technological collaboration
• Operates the world’s first Regional ENC Coordinating Centre
is quality checked, before reliable, autho- with their global distributor network.
(RENC)
rised and official charts are distributed to
all players in the maritime field to ensure FREEDOM TO CHOOSE • Global provider of consistent and reliable electronic navigational
charts (ENC).
safe and hassle-free navigation at sea. For successful operations at sea it is vital
for all involved parties to see the same • All ENCs meet IMO’s SOLAS chart and carriage requirements.
reality. PRIMAR’s database of charts with • World-wide ENC database
worldwide coverage is available through
a number of user-friendly distributor
• Global distributor network
solutions to seafarers and all players in • Provides ENCs to navies, marine pilots, coast guard, search and
the maritime community on a variety of rescue, port control services, commercial shipping etc.
platforms 24/7. Some of the innovative
solutions are briefly described below.

ONE-STOP-SHOP
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Pay as You Sail PRIMAR is a one-stop-shop for operating

(PAYS) Web Chart safely at sea. The security of using autho-
Service rised official charts together with type-
approved navigation systems helps pre-
In a scenario where a vessel needs to re- Say you are a desk worker responsible for vent accidents and protects the maritime
route, PRIMAR supports the Pay as You Sail the activities of a ship thousands of miles environment. Its benefits are undis-
(PAYS) solution where updated ENCs with away. By accessing PRIMAR’s Web Chart putable across all sectors of the maritime
world-wide coverage are passively stored Service, the ENC images you view on your industry from fisheries to oil and seismic
on the navigation system. The ship’s crew computer screen are identical to the data operations, leisure cruising, commercial
can access the data for planning purposes. the captain sees on the ship’s navigation shipping and search and rescue missions.
Once the ship chances course, only the instruments. When the service is integrat- PRIMAR’s innovative and flexible solu-
charts used for navigation and reported ed with other technical features installed tions, tailored in close collaboration with
through a tracking mechanism are on most vessels nowadays, such as the their global network of distributors, give
payable. PAYS is a cost-effective and effi- Automatic Identification System (AIS), you all players in the maritime field the free-
cient solution that saves valuable time can monitor the vessel’s progress and dom to choose the ENC platforms best
and money for shipping companies. weather conditions in that exact area. suited for their needs.
Working with up-to-date authorised charts
during an operation, whether at the
planning stage in an office or on-board
PRIMAR Update the vessel, is the lifeline to safety and
Tracker(PUT) success.

The PRIMAR Update Tracker, to be

launched in January 2015, is a web based
ENC update overview which enables you
to view and track changes made since the
last ENC update. This increases the user’s
ENC update familiarization, allowing him
to step through the updates and changes
in his active chart folio. Such a visualiza-
tion of the ENC update will contribute to
improve the user’s situational awareness.

Business to
Business
Service (B2B)
When cost or time matters in your day to
day business, the right solution from the
right supplier is important. PRIMAR B2B
service integrates your business system
with our ENC service in a secure and
seamless manner so that you achieve the
optimum solution for your business envi-
ronment. Its seamless interface allows
www.primar.org quotations, ENC ordering, automatic sales
reports and other associated customer
transactions can be performed in your own PRIMAR contributes to the Maritime Safety Circle as all actors in need of chart data have
access to the same charting information
proprietary system.
p24-36:p15-25.qxd 16/01/2015 11:13 Page 7

ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

Wärtsilä to acquire L-3 MSI VDR retrofit for Carnival

www.wartsila.com 6.5 per cent. www.sam-electronics.de and includes graphics analysis tools that
www.l-3marinesystems.co.uk Wärtsilä says the acquisition will com- www.carnival.com provide export functions to standard
bine the strength of its engine and propul- Microsoft Office applications.
Wärtsilä has reported that it is to acquire sion solutions with L-3 MSI’s portfolio, L-3 SAM Electronics has reported that it “L-3 has been serving Carnival Cruise
L-3 Marine Systems International (L-3 creating a new unit able to capture new has retrofitted Carnival Cruise Lines’ fleet Lines for many years and we are extreme-
MSI), a part of L-3 Communications market opportunities. of 24 ships with its VDR 4350 Voyage Data ly proud to have successfully completed
Holdings Inc and the owner of brands “By combining forces with L-3 MSI, we Recorder system. this major upgrade project,” said Ulrich
such as SAM Electronics, L-3 Valmarine create a powerful electrical and automa- According to L-3, the VDR 4350 will Weinreuter, president of L-3 Marine
and Lyngsø Marine, for an enterprise tion business, which is unique in its sector provide extended recording time, as well Systems International.
value of €285 million. competence and breadth of capabilities,” as ECDIS-based onboard and onshore “For L-3, it is particularly gratifying to
Headquartered in Hamburg, L-3 MSI is says Jaakko Eskola, senior executive vice replay features. The system can also be contribute to the continuing safety and
a business sector within L-3’s Electronic president & president, Ship Power, controlled and maintained remotely via a operational needs of the world’s largest
Systems business segment, focused prima- Wärtsilä Corporation. satcom link. cruise ship fleet.”
rily on commercial shipping. It provides “The deal is fully in line with our The VDR 4350 has backup capability for The retrofit was carried out by L-3 G.A.
automation, navigation and electrical sys- growth strategy to become the leading storing and downloading recorded data, International in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
tems, as well as dynamic positioning and provider of innovative products and inte-
underwater communications technology. grated solutions in the marine and oil &
As well as the brands listed above the
company also controls L-3 Dynamic
gas industries. This enables us to have a
dedicated focus on both markets with an
Dates for
Positioning & Control Systems, Jovyatlas
Euroatlas, L-3 Elac Nautik, Funa and
industry leading portfolio that features
solutions from both companies.”
your diary:
APSS, with more than 1,700 employees Financing for the deal will be from
across 38 locations and 14 countries. For existing Wärtsilä cash resources and credit Digital Ship
the year ending 31 December 2014, L-3 facilities. The acquisition is expected to
MSI is expected to generate revenue of close in the second quarter of 2015, subject
events 2015
€400 million, with an operating margin of to clearance from regulatory authorities. - see page 20

New EU regulations on emissions monitoring

The EU Council has reached an agreement improve information about CO2 emis- help the EU reduce greenhouse gas emis- ulation in future to align with any inter-
that will see ships above 5000 gross tons sions relating to the consumption of sions by 40 per cent by 2030, compared national agreement.
obliged to monitor CO2 emissions from fuels, transport work and energy effi- with 1990 levels. Once formally adopted, the regulation
January 2018. ciency of ships, making it possible to A global system of emissions monitor- is due to enter into force on 1 July 2015.
Ship owners will be obligated to moni- analyse emissions trends and assess ship ing is currently being developed at the Warships, naval auxiliaries, fish catching
tor emissions on each voyage, as well as on performance. IMO, and the Council believes the new or processing ships, wooden ships of a
an annual basis. The regulations also According to the Council, the new EU regulation is a “contribution to the primitive build, ships not propelled by
include provisions for reporting, verifica- mechanism is a “building block” towards international negotiations”. However, the mechanical means and government ships
tion, accreditation and compliance. the implementation of the 2030 framework Council also states that the EU used for non-commercial purposes will be
The Council says the new laws will on climate and energy policies, designed to Commission may have to review the reg- exempt from the regulations.

New ECDIS software from ChartWorld Radar simulation upgrades from BCG
www.chartworld.com and functions for route planning and man- www.buffalocomputergraphics.com various locations around the US.
ual chart updates. Elsewhere, Columbia Pacific Maritime
ChartWorld has released its latest genera- eGlobe G2 also comes with integrated Buffalo Computer Graphics (BCG) has in Portland, Oregon, has expanded its
tion of ECDIS software, eGlobe G2. ‘Watch Handover’ checks, designed to reported that it has upgraded the technol- radar simulation capabilities by adding a
The German chart service provider says align system settings when command of ogy used by two of its existing customers Tabletop Steering Console and BCG’s
that the new release, controllable by touch- the bridge is changing hands. for radar training and simulation. Virtual Steering Software.
screen, includes one-touch operation for The new ECDIS will be a component of The River School in Memphis, BCG says the upgrade will provide
updates, permits and new charts. Other ChartWorld’s eSeries ECDIS-as-a-Service Tennessee, received laptops preloaded students with the ability to control their
features include pinch zoom, target touch, solution. with BCG’s simulation software. They own ship’s heading and speed as well as
will be used alongside BCG’s PCS-250 providing Auto Pilot capability and visu-
Portable Radar Simulator and four al indicators of the vessel’s operating
Furuno Radars for portable training at parameters.

The ECDIS software features touchscreen control Schools in various US States have expanded their use of the simulator package

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 30

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

Ensuring the reliability of AIS data

The reliability of AIS data as a tracking tool has been called into question by some in the maritime industry, but issues
with the insight it can offer are largely down to the way that data is collected and used, and by whom – an accurate
picture of the actual situation can be created if you know how to look for it, writes Argyris Stasinakis, MarineTraffic

D
oubts over the reliability of AIS driven IT system, this could appear illogi- ly transmitted – position coordinates, go’ at changing a vessel position. In the
data have been the subject of cal and cause the system to report suspi- course and speed, for example – other vast majority of cases, the forced change in
debate recently, with some com- cious activity. information such as navigational status, position is so great that systems will detect
mentators going so far as claiming that In reality, it might just be that the destination and estimated time of arrival it immediately and professional facilities
manipulated AIS data is responsible for actions of commerce are simply being (ETA) is entered by the crew. generally report only a handful of these
rate rigging in certain shipping markets. played out and it takes real people with A vessel’s destination, for example, is unwanted occurrences.
But with AIS tracking facilities managing real shipping experience to make that call. manually input by the crew in a free text for- Even so, there is a real need for the rele-
tens of thousands of vessels each day, Logic driven systems have to be fine-tuned mat. If a ship’s crew has been badly trained vant authorities and AIS tracking facilities
some anomalies are bound to creep in – over time but they can ‘learn’ on-the-go. To or simply cannot spell, it is possible for the to work together to implement a system
mercifully, these are few and far between. a large extent, the bigger the AIS facility, destination to be incorrectly received. This that protects the integrity of data that is
Based on our own experience of AIS the quicker their internal systems will can then affect the way in which a vessel transmitted.
tracking we believe that less than 2 per ‘learn’ and so become more effective. tracking service provider’s own software Currently, there is no mechanism to
cent of vessel positions are ambiguous and predicts and displays the track of a vessel ensure the authenticity of AIS data and the
these are largely confined to non-commer- Human error towards its actual destination. tracking facilities and authorities should
cial vessels such as small leisure craft oper- A key threat to the accuracy of AIS data is Most crews are able to correctly enter work together to ensure certainty that the
ating in quiet corners of the globe. human error. In some cases, the ship iden- destination port names. For those who fail originator of the data is known and that it
There is no question – for professional tifiers (MMSI number, IMO number, ship’s and misspell, for example writing ‘boniy’ is 100 per cent accurate. Digital signatures
AIS trackers – of taking raw, freshly trans- name or call sign) on the AIS transponder in the place of ‘Bonny’ (a port on the might provide the answer.
mitted AIS data and displaying an unfil- will have been wrongly configured. This Nigerian coast) good facilities will use an Even the most sophisticated technical
tered visual representation directly on has the potential to generate ambiguity as algorithm that deciphers the misspelt systems and the most experienced internal
their sites. to the true identity of the vessel or its jour- name and allocates the correct destination teams cannot account for the fact that
Serious AIS facilities maintain teams of ney parameters. to the vessel. sometimes vessels will simply switch off
people supported by state-of-the-art tech- In such cases, the open nature of the AIS Algorithms are between 75-90 per cent their AIS transponder. This is technically
nology to check each piece of data before it protocol does not discriminate between successful depending on the spelling accu- illegal and is usually only done for bad rea-
is published. Intelligent algorithms apply conflicting positions of vessels which may racy of crew, however this rate is always sons.
rigorous logic to reported positions and if, happen to report the same ship identifier. improving as the algorithm itself is con- In terms of detecting wrong-doing, it is
for example, a ship suddenly appears 300km To resolve this, it is important to cross-ref- stantly learning. As a back-up, the ‘power actually very informative as it can clearly
away from the position it had reported just a erence reported AIS data with known ves- of the crowd’ can resolve most other be seen when the system was switched off.
few minutes before, an alert is generated. sel particulars to minimise these errors. issues. If an AIS data provider has a large In addition, traces are left and so it is
But technology often requires a reality Algorithms should be continuously user community, it is never long before known in which area a ship was when the
check and that is why the top AIS facilities comparing previous positions with report- someone alerts them to an anomaly in a transponder was switched-off and then
employ teams of people with a sound ed positions and checking course and ship’s position. switched back on again. This information
understanding of the maritime world. speed declarations to ensure the vessel fits can be made available to the relevant
For example, a ship may suddenly within a logical operating pattern. Deliberate interference authorities, if required.
receive orders to go full speed in the oppo- Anomalies should be highlighted and But sometimes there is a price to pay for Vessel tracking services with the right
site direction to which it is heading in dealt with. popularity. Very occasionally hackers with scale of coverage and technical systems in
order to compete for a cargo. To a logic Although some AIS data is automatical- no involvement in shipping like to ‘have a place to filter and interpret pure AIS data,
along with competent staff and a good
number of regular users are extremely
unlikely to be presenting inaccurate data.
Human error is the greatest threat to the
accuracy of AIS information but good AIS
facilities are working hard to overcome
these anomalies.
A coordinated approach by AIS trackers
and relevant authorities to ensure the
authenticity of transmitted data would
also be significant step forward in main-
taining accuracy. But, by and large, vessel
positions on leading AIS facilities that have
invested in internal technology and teams
of experienced people are likely to be 99
per cent accurate – at least. DS

About the Author

Argyris Stasinakis is board member and
director for business development at
MarineTraffic. Between 2005 and 2014 he
served as chairman of WOW group, a dig-
ital agency, active in European and Middle
East markets, offering e-commerce and e-
marketing solutions, and has worked as a
technology consultant since 1998, working
with government and private European
organisations, focusing on information
systems integration and restructuring.
Mr Stasinakis holds a BA Hons in
Physics (1993) and a DPhil in Particle
Physics (1998) from the University of
Despite recent questions over the reliability of AIS data, less than 2 per cent of vessel positions Oxford, where he also held a Rhodes
recorded by reputable tracking companies are ambiguous Scholarship.

Digital Ship January/February 2015 page 32

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ELECTRONICS & NAVIGATION

The art of navigation in a digital future

Navigation has long been considered by many to be an ‘art’, a complex combination of information,
knowledge and intuition – but as technology advances we will need to reconcile the art of navigation
with the calculated nature of decisions taken by machines, writes Dr Andy Norris

T
he safe navigation of a vessel is a acquired art includes deciding how much perhaps as an error ellipse, providing vital navigation purposes onboard a vessel.
highly complex task requiring time should be focussed on it in any par- information to the decisions of the human They have to assess the complete situation
knowledge and experience. To ticular situation and, ultimately, in achiev- navigator. by correlating the visual view with the
become proficient it needs a good mixture ing an early realisation that something is But when position and related parame- information coming from radar, AIS, the
of intelligence and hard work, as well as, ‘not quite right’. ters, such as ground track, heading, STW, chart and all other navigational aids.
not least, supervised experience gained on This particular art appeared to decline SOG, drift, etc, become just a set of num- Then, with good practical understand-
simulators and at sea. amongst some with the advent of GNSS bers with automatic consolidation into a ing of the Colregs and the handling of own
Official publications and text books pro- use in the 1990s but growing publicity dur- complete high integrity model of the ves- vessel, their role is to react safely and effi-
vide essential information that has to ing the present century about its potential sel’s position and dynamics, does it change ciently to the ever-evolving situation.
become engrained into the mindset of the problems has led to a resharpening of the the broader art of navigation? But developing technology is poised to
intending navigator. However, the true essential skills, not least through improved Any art associated with manually change even this situation. Electronic sur-
subtleties can really only be learnt from ‘on training. assessing position integrity will inevitably veillance and processing of visual data is
the job’ experience. Maybe this is why accidents to SOLAS fall away through lack of a real require- already being exploited in the maritime
Compliance with the Colregs stands as vessels arising from electronic positional ment. Eventually, teaching of manual posi- world for defence against piracy. It is also
the overriding commitment for marine errors currently remain very rare, even tional skills at college is likely to be consid- a central feature of evolving autonomous
navigators. Decisions fundamentally based though an appreciable number of bridge ered archaic, except as part of demonstrat- platforms across all transport sectors.
on these have to be made quickly, not least staff can recount occasions when GNSS ing how machines perform the processes In principle, optical information could
on very complex situations that need sub- position has been lost or was in error, often involved. be collected more quickly, accurately and
tle interpretation of the rules. Significantly, no longer being consistently by an automated process than
If all goes wrong and an acci- the prime decider of positional by a human.
dent occurs, it can be debated for integrity could diminish the Existing digital processing power could
days by lawyers and experts – overall situational awareness of readily make a good job of comparing the
and maybe end up with the navi- the navigator. Tasks currently collected optical information with radar,
gator being criminalised. undertaken to fulfil this role nat- AIS and other sensor information and make
Quite rightly, experienced urally increase such awareness. an assessment of the complete situation.
navigators are proud of their A mindset change will be Evolving technology will be able to
skills, which many consider to be needed to compensate for this determine the appropriate action to be
proficiency in the art of naviga- change. In actuality, it gives taken by own vessel taking into account all
tion, generally meant to portray more time for the navigator to the known information, not least the colli-
the subtle skills that experienced concentrate on improving over- sion regulations and the detailed manoeu-
navigators develop, in addition all awareness. vring characteristics of own vessel.
to encompassing a deep under- A more fundamental aspect The uncertainties that accompany the
standing of the rules and technol- of the change, however, is that it raw data will be equally apparent to the
ogy of navigation. The integration of artificial intelligence into the art of navigation gives information to machines machine as to a human. The navigational
There is no way that any par- could be a complex process. Photo: Rolls Royce that is presently confined only to decisions taken would necessarily reflect
ticular complex situation being humans. Consequently, it allows the integrity of the data.
experienced at sea would have been pre- over periods of several hours and longer. machines to become even more involved in For instance, decisions based on a target
analysed, learnt and instantly recalled by However, the world’s ever-increasing the navigational process. just observed by radar would have much
the navigator when meeting an identical emphasis on high integrity automated For instance, automated analysis taking greater error margins than those made that
situation. positioning will remove the need for any into account the integrity of all data could correlate with optical and AIS data.
Instead, the mindset of the navigator human involvement in the assessment readily merge positional and dynamic The process could potentially utilise an
comes up with a strategy based on many process in the relatively near future. information with data that is already avail- extensive database of scenarios developed
aspects, some of them rule-based but others This is because electronic systems will able digitally, such as ENCs, maritime from a digital analysis of how humans
just because it becomes obvious what the sit- be performing continuous automatic safety information, meteorological and react in similar situations. It would neces-
uation requires – the true art of navigation. integrity checks, taking into account pri- tidal predictions, etc. sarily model the consequences of all possi-
For this reason many believe that even mary and secondary positional sources, For decisions not involving other ves- ble reactions from the other involved ves-
into the extended future, humans will have such as GNSS and DGNSS services, other sels, it potentially allows some very sels to determine the best course of action
to play a major role in the safe navigation RF-based positioning systems, radar, gyro, sophisticated decision-making processes at any time.
of vessels. log, echo sounder and, into the future, concerning navigation to be automated. The equipment would need to be
even optically derived data. Many accidents today are caused by designed to meet exacting standards such
Position fixing Such automatic checks are likely to be poor human decisions when integrating that its own integrity would never be com-
At present, assessing position fixing far more effective than those that could be such data. It is quite feasible that such promised and that any instances of total
integrity is an important part of the art. performed by any human and hence the automated decision making would consid- failure would be an extremely rare event.
Although GNSS-given position is normally navigator’s role in assessing the integrity erably reduce groundings. Maybe the human art of navigation is
of high accuracy the navigator has to keep and accuracy of position fixing will effec- the clever process that we use to compen-
an ongoing check that it remains valid. tively become redundant. Visual detection sate for our (grateful) inability to mechani-
Regular formal checks, for instance The system will alert bridge staff if the Of course, a particularly important and cally store and consistently process huge
using radar and optical based sights on positional error probability has exceeded demanding part of human navigational art amounts of data – but perhaps that is what
charted objects in coastal waters are impor- normal values but will continue to provide is in making the right decisions when there navigation is mainly about.
tant, but the experienced navigator would the most accurate position, together with are other vessels in the vicinity. Machines are maybe better suited for
normally sense any significant discrepancy an estimate of its error, by using the best Humans generally remain as the only such a task – but is that the future we real-
through good situation awareness, not available techniques. detector and user of visual information for ly want? DS
least observing the view from the bridge
windows and maintaining an eye on the The consequences? Dr Andy orris has been well-known in the maritime navigation industry
radar, compass, log and echo sounder – A good human-machine interface for such for a number of years. He has spent much of his time managing high-tech
and, of course, the chart. a system will keep the navigator well navigation companies but now he is working on broader issues within the
The skill set needed to be able to physi- informed of the current position and navigational world, providing both technical and business consultancy to
cally perform positional checks using dynamics of own vessel. the industry, governmental bodies and maritime organizations. Email:
radar, optical and dead reckoning tech- On the ECDIS display there would be a [email protected]
niques is learnable at college but the visual indication of the determined error,

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