GERMANYStaying Connected ...“We expect that the demand for such connectivity will increase on both sides in the near future while crew members want a higher band-... width to use modern communication software or for downloading videos, the same might be expected from the business side to allow a very close connection between vessel and of? ce.”Christoph Werner, Nautical Director, E.R. SCHIFFAHRT GmbH & Cie. KG(Photo: Christian Schmid)(Photo: Christian Schmid)prove crew welfare by offering pre-paid stallation and equipment support of the operator are not the same as those of an include the pre-installation of sensors, web browsing, as well as ful? lling na- equipment is straightforward.” offshore vessel owner, for example. It cabling, access points etc. in a planning tional and international requirements.” Werner does not downplay the practi- is also fair to say that there has been a of a future newbuilding project,” Werner In 2011, ERS commented that its cal challenges that popped up along the common skepticism amongst ship own- said.commitment to iFUSION was based on way. “It took considerable effort to se- ers and managers, at least in Germany, “ERS is one of the leading companies plans to improve its ability to support lect the right hardware (both above and on the adoption of new technologies, and worldwide in monitoring the vessel´s shipboard IT systems remotely, and to below deck) before we started to put that has included FleetBroadband.” ef? ciency and performance but also in lower costs as traf? c increased. When that equipment on board. We did that However, Werner said that outlay on connecting other relevant systems like the commitment was made, a premium with the clear intention of minimizing connectivity has amounted to around maintenance, warehouse- and reporting was placed on ease of use and ease of the time needed for trouble shooting and one per cent of the owner’s operational tools permanently between the of? ce maintenance. Fast forward three years replacement. But, we have been able to expenses, anticipating a increase in and a ship,” said Werner. “Most of the and Werner said that, in general, the lower our communication expenses by the period ahead to “possibly” 1.5-2%. tools are tailor-made solutions which expectations prompting the decision to approximately 50% and increase the By contrast, he suggests the potential suit our needs and those of our custom-install the iFUSION solution on board data volume being transferred at the for operational returns are signi? cant. ers. Without going into detail we are, for ERS vessels have been met. same time. Our IT Support Fleet staff is “Collecting and analyzing vessel per- example, able to permanently and ac-“From our point of view our present able to connect to the vessels for trouble formance data is an essential part of curately monitor all engine and nautical satellite communication setup concept shooting on the IT network.” the E.R. Schiffahrt strategy to maintain parameters.”is the best solution with regards to our and extend its leading position as a ship Also in the future, is the potential of-own demands, the demands of our cli- A Look Ahead owner and manager operating each ship fered by Inmarsat’s new generation sat-ents, but also in respect of crew welfare With the new iW capability going live, in the most ef? cient way. We expect that ellites, and speci? cally availability of and external requirements (port authori- Werner said that technological possibili- we will need a higher data speed and faster data transfer promised after the ties, agents, etc.). We need a worldwide ties have not been the sole factors deter- more data volume in the near future,” he launch of Inmarsat Maritime’s Global and reliable satellite coverage for all of mining connectivity choices over the last said. Indeed, such is the priority placed Xpress service in early 2015. “Global our vessels. Our IT Support Fleet team decade. In that time, shipping has been by ERS on the data its ships generate: Xpress might be one of the solutions was involved in the iFUSION project exposed to turbulent market conditions, “Data storage is still under discussion to cover the future needs for connectiv-right from the start. We de? ned our re- for example, while the connectivity but it looks like that we will adopt an in- ity, because they will require permanent quirements and then looked at the alter- needs for different sectors have matured house data warehouse solution rather to connection with a suf? cient speed and natives,” said Werner. “iFUSION turned in different ways, he says. keep them with a service provider.” bandwidth,” said Werner. “The expecta-out to be the best solution in terms of “Each type of shipping company, from Today the company is even consider- tions from the crew side de? nitely cover performance versus cost for us. Since their different points of view, tries to ? nd ing whether connectivity should be con- areas which are presently restricted for there is no external third party hardware the best balance between costs and ben- sidered at the newbuild stage. While it internet use on board - Skype, Youtube (such as a ? rewall) to be connected, in- e? ts, and the needs of a container ship has no solid plans “we will de? nitely and video streaming in general.”56 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • AUGUST 2014MR #8 (50-57).indd 56 MR #8 (50-57).indd 56 8/4/2014 10:20:31 AM8/4/2014 10:20:31 AM