Cloud-based ship management
Global telecoms giant, Orange, has joined a European Union-sponsored initiative to play a key role in the development of new business intelligence and IT standards that are aimed to improve management tools used by the shipping industry.
As part of the EIS (Exzellenzinitiative Schiffsmanagement) initiative, Orange Business Services will be the sole provider for ship-to-shore, vessel-based and land-based communication infrastructure. As part of this project, Orange will implement a cloud-based satellite solution on several vessels run by Columbia Ship Management, one of the four largest ship managers worldwide. The initiative includes the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the City of Hamburg, Germany, one of the most influential maritime centres of the world and home to the second largest container port in Europe. The project will also strengthen the city of Hamburg’s competency in specialised maritime IT systems.
Timothy Scheller, project manager at Columbia Ship Management said: “Communication at sea constitutes specific challenges and was historically a source of problems in terms of cost, performance and support. With the help of Orange Business Services, we want to utilise this project to test and design solutions that help the industry take a giant leap forward and set new standards in maritime IT. With this initiative, we want to build a remotely managed, integrated communication and application infrastructure onboard that intelligently connects the vessel to the office at the lowest possible cost.”
A key goal for the project is to help shipping companies take complex decisions on the basis of valid, up-to-date information across all ship management lifecycle processes. The project promises to not only make it easier to manage vessels, but also seamlessly integrate them into a company’s corporate infrastructure thereby facilitating real-time business decisions, enabling cost savings, and improving safety and crew welfare.
By Jake Frith
