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RINA Group partners IB ship management software suite
International classification society RINA Group has partnered with Italian software house IB to distribute a software suite aimed at improving ship and fleet operation across the board. The InfoSHIP® suite is made up of a number of modules which together can be used to improve efficiency across any type of ship or fleet management.
Paolo Moretti, General Manager, Business Line Marine, RINA Group, says, “Efficient ship and fleet management depends on managing information in the right way. IB has developed this growing suite of software modules specifically for the marine market, but drawing on expertise in other sectors. Owners can choose the specific modules needed to improve their day-to-day management needs.”
Grouped under the InfoSHIP® suite are MP Maintenance & Purchase, MS Ship’s Certificates and Event Management System, DD Dry Dock Process Management, DSF Decision Support Framework, TH Technical Hotel Management, GFR Guarantee Failure Reports, AI Audit & Inspections Management and CM Compliance Management.
Maurizio Ricci, IB Chairman and CEO, says, “For thirty years IB has been dedicated to the development and implementation of computerised maintenance management systems. We are the Italian market leaders in this area and we can use the knowledge from one business sector to improve the business model in other sectors. InfoSHIP® provides specific solutions and tools to satisfy the widest needs of fleet technical management. The suite of programs is intended to provide a secure, interactive and global fleet management platform.”
InfoSHIP® satisfies the main requirements of shipowners for a management system. It is complete, covering all processes in detail, it is flexible (the interface can be modified to suit the user ranks and functions), it is interactive, it is a distributed daily work tool, and it allows real-time operations and performance and continuous monitoring of critical issues.
InfoSHIP® MP is the core module, dedicated to technical management including maintenance activity, purchasing cycle and cost control. InfoSHIP® MS follows compliance with safety, security and environmental duties and provides an event reporting system, as well as handling ship certificates and documents. InfoSHIP® DD monitors the technical, managerial and cost issues of drydocking and InfoSHIP® DSF provides operational reporting and data analysis. The TH module tracks and manages procurement and maintenance processes for cruise ships’ hotel departments, while the GFR module adds claims management. The AI module supports tracking and managing inspections, audits and vettings of all kinds and, finally, the CM module is designed for managing compliance processes, being also helpful for change management purposes.
The latest addition to RINA and IB’s offering is InfoSHIP® EGO, a system for Energy Governance whose goal is to strongly reduce GHG emissions and fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent for ships in operation. EGO covers voyage and fuel management processes, trim optimisation, propulsion efficiency and energy management, together with a powerful reporting and analysis tool for decision-makers.
The software features online operational support and SEEMP compliance, and helps optimise maintenance. InfoSHIP® EGO is a fuel-consumption monitoring system based on a step-by-step approach. The basic approach can be limited to fuel oil consumption monitoring but it can be integrated with various options such as trim optimisation, monitoring of propulsion power and monitoring of electric load. The implementation levels depend on the type of ship, the target savings and accuracy required. The system is completed by InfoSHIP® ELB Electronic Logbook,
which provides paperless management of all ship reporting issues, including Marpol
annexes, engine and deck logbooks and all ship formalities (IMO FAL Form).
“The investment in this software will depend on the type of vessel, but it is highly scalable and therefore covers completely different needs depending on the type of ship, from tanker and cargo vessels up to large cruise ships,” explains Moretti. “It can be tuned to the needs of each owner. Training is needed for staff on board and ashore, but it will deliver a payback. In our experience we have seen energy saving from non-propulsive consumption on cruise ships of between 5 and 8 per cent. Savings of 1 to 3 per cent are available through trim optimisation, and 2 to 4 per cent through increased propulsion efficiency. The crew on board can use the system information to optimise consumption at any time, while ashore dashboards can be used to improve fleet performance.”
RINA is a multi-national group which delivers verification, certification, conformity assessment, ship classification, environmental enhancement, product testing, site and vendor supervision, training and engineering consultancy across a wide range of industries and services. RINA Group operates through a network of companies covering Marine, Energy, Infrastructures & Real Estate, Transport & Logistics, Food & Agriculture, Environment & Sustainability, Finance & Public Institutions and Business Governance. With a turnover of around 300 million Euros in 2012, over 2,100 employees, and 140 offices in 49 countries worldwide, RINA is recognized as an authoritative member of key international organizations and an important contributor to the development of new legislative standards. www.rina.org
IB is a software-house based in Rapallo, Italy. The company has been highly committed to the world of Asset Management since 1983 and is today a market leader in the supply of software systems for this specific and vast subject. In addition to InfoSHIP, IB designs, deploys and implements its systems for facilities, maintenance, health and environmental management under the titles of InfoPMS, InfoGREEN, InfoHEALTH and InfoFACILITY. IB provides its systems and services for Maintenance & Operations improvements with a special focus on technologies, methodologies, re-engineering of processes and human resources expertise. www.gruppo-ib.com
For more information:
Giulia Faravelli
Media Relations Manager RINA Group
Ph. +39 010 5385505
Susanna Gorni
Media Relations
Ph. +39 010 5385555
Caterina Cerrini
Communication Manager IB
Ph. +39 0185 273088
Labels: IB software, improved efficiency, InfoSHIP, RINA, ship classification society
P&I club correspondents under pressure to take out indemnity insurance
ITIC says P&I correspondents are coming under increasing pressure from clubs and from third parties to ensure that they have taken out professional indemnity insurance.
In the latest issue of its newsletter, The Wire, ITIC says it is aware that at least one International Group P&I club is considering asking all its correspondents to obtain professional indemnity cover, and anticipates that a number of other clubs will follow suit.
ITIC has recently commented on a proposed P&I club contract for its correspondents, and has highlighted areas where it believes the correspondent should not be held liable. It has also commented on what it considers to be a reasonable limit of liability for a P&I correspondent.
To illustrate the importance of adequate insurance cover, ITIC cites the case of a correspondent asked to survey a cargo of 2,000 metric tonnes of bulk fertilizer which had been contaminated by residues from a previous cargo. The correspondent, having carried out the survey - and following several telephone conversations with the P&I club - obtained verbal agreement to offer the cargo interests a depreciation allowance of $22 per tonne, which was accepted.
When the cargo interests submitted their claim for $44,000 to the P&I club, the club refused to pay, maintaining that the correspondent had acted without authority in offering settlement. The consignees therefore sued the P&I club and the shipowner. The correspondent was also involved, on the grounds that, if the court found that it had no authority, then it would be liable under the doctrine of breach of warranty of authority.
The case went to court in London. As the correspondent had no confirmation in writing, the dispute turned on which witness was believed. On this occasion the court found that the correspondent had been authorised to make the offer. However, if the correspondent had not made a convincing witness, and had not kept contemporaneous notes, it would have had to pay the claim, plus interest, plus the costs of some of the other parties involved, and would have faced a liability of more than $100,000.
ITIC insures more than seventy P&I club correspondents globally, on whose behalf it has handled claims arising out of missed time-bars and acting without the principal’s authority in conducting settlement discussions. It emphasises that, irrespective of whether correspondents are required by the clubs for whom they act to take out insurance, they clearly face an exposure to claims from both their principals and from third parties in respect of the work they undertake in investigating and responding to incidents.
ITIC is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com
For more information:
Charlotte Kirk
ITIC
Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150
Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151
Labels: cargo contamination, ITIC, P and I correspondents, professional indemnity insurance
Tecnitas launches energy management software tool
Tecnitas,
the consultancy arm of Bureau Veritas, has launched a powerful new software
tool, E2, aimed at optimising energy usage for both individual ships and across
fleets. E2 is a user-friendly tool which enables shipowners to maximise the
gains in energy efficiency and emission reduction which can be obtained through
proper use of IMO’s Ship Energy Efficiency Monitoring Plan (SEEMP).
Claude
Andreau, head of engineering, Tecnitas, says, “The SEEMP seeks to improve a
ship’s energy efficiency through four steps: planning, implementation, monitoring
and measurements and self-evaluation and improvement. We hear a lot about
energy saving devices which can be fitted and operational savings which can be
made, but in our experience shipowners do not know which measures provide the
best savings simply because they don’t have the right information to base
decisions on. E2 solves that problem by collecting and evaluating all the
information needed to make energy saving decisions. It then produces KPIs and benchmarks
individual ships or whole fleets against them.”
E2
has different modes. Initially it is used by ships’ crews in the Acquisition
mode to monitor, measure and record
actual consumption on board in a variety of different cargo and navigation
conditions. The software can then calculate the corresponding fuel Key
Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and emissions KPI’s.
Two
additional modes are available for running E2 software: the Simulation mode and
the Benchmark mode, both of them providing decision-making tools for the ship or
charterer’s operational management.
In
Simulation mode E2 will give access to reference values for a given voyage and
to the corresponding calculated reference fuel KPI’s. Data collected in the
on-going Acquisition mode can then be compared with the Simulation to deliver
the information needed to implement improvement measures and calculate the
Yearly Energy Efficiency Operating Index (EEOI).
The
purpose of E2’s Benchmark mode is to benchmark, follow up and monitor the
energy efficiency performance of different ships within the fleet or of the
same ship for different voyages.
The
combination of Acquisition mode, Simulation mode, and Benchmark modes mean that E2 software is able to
deliver useful information for defining the fleet management strategy for
energy efficiency.
The
currently available version of E2 software (v1.2) is based on manual
acquisition of the input data such as the fuel consumption recorded onboard. A
demo version with full capabilities (acquisition, simulation and benchmark
modes) but limited time access is available upon request.
Development
work is underway on an upgrade which will acquire the inputs automatically
through flow meters and GPS. These new capabilities will enhance the accuracy
of the data acquisition and will give access to more advanced analyses and
diagnosis.
The
use of E2 can be licensed either for Acquisition mode only, typically in the
context of an individual ship SEEMP, or for Acquisition, Simulation and Benchmark
modes, able to improve energy efficiency across a fleet.
Tecnitas is a consulting company within the
Bureau Veritas group.
Bureau Veritas is a world leader in
conformity assessment and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group
has 58,000 employees in 940 offices and 340 laboratories located in 140
countries. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performance by
offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their
assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations
in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social
responsibility.
www.bureauveritas.com for corporate information
www.veristar.com for marine information
For more
information:
Claude
Andreau
Head
of Engineering
Tecnitas
+33 1 55 24 79 20
claude.andreau@tecnitas.com
Labels: classification society, energy saving
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