Under the auspices of IMarEST’s UAE Branch, KVH Videotel hosted a knowledge sharing session for the Middle East maritime fraternity under the banner of ‘Ground-breaking multi-channel connectivity – meeting the demands of the modern-day shipmanager through innovation’.
Opening the seminar, Nikeel Idnani, IMarEST’s UAE branch honorary secretary spoke of the current market where shipowners are navigating in a changing operating environment.
On the one hand, changing regulations call for increased attention on environmental compliance while on the other, new innovations are surfacing by which shipmanagers can address regulatory issues, optimise their fleets and reduce operating costs. Nikeel emphasised not being able to manage what is not measured referring to data captured on board ships through sensors and sent ashore for analysis enabling efficacy of ship operations.
In the keynote presentation, Rob Parkin, KVH’s Maritime Sales Director, explained that against a challenging global economic backdrop, shipmanagers, owners and charterers are embracing new business philosophies, technologies and commercial models to drive better returns, remain competitive and viable.
Technology optimisation and connectivity are critical, and a better understanding and utilisation of multiple data channels can play an essential role in driving these efficiencies. KVH, and other communication service companies, have a duty in helping modern-day shipmanagers adopt advanced service solutions to improve business performance and future-proof on board technologies.
He highlighted to the attending shipowners that their greatest assets are their crew, not the technology. There exists an increasingly competitive challenge of recruiting and retaining ships staff since younger crew are increasingly ‘digital natives’ with expectation of access to the internet.
To differentiate their fleet from competition, shipowners must provide for connectivity to bolster crew morale while still being affordable. Parkin told the 88 delegates that on many vessels, a large portion of broadband data consumption was for crew’s personal use. Connectivity ensures that all crew have access to up-to-date training materials.