teCHnICAL InnoVAtIon


breaking down broadband barrierS


For many shipowners and managers the biggest barriers to adopting broadband communications at sea are the cost and issues of maintenance. These are two issues which are very high


up in the mind ofTitusYong, head, SingTel Satellite. SingTel is addressing the cost aspect from a number of angles.One of these issues is the amount of bandwith and coverage it has available,which should be greatly improved by the launching of the ST2 satellite in the first half of this year. "A brand new satellite means we have


more extended coverage,"Yong says. "It means we are in the position to drive down the cost per unit very, very soon.We will be able to unleash a lot more capacity to drive the cost of broadband down," he explains. The company will soon be offering an


antenna that combines both Ku-band and Global MVSAT C-band coverage meaning that owners that only want a regional service inAsia, but later decide they need global coverage, can upgrade without having to install a new antenna. With more flexible technology available


Yong expects to see the adoption rate of broadband at sea go up and the cost of the


antennas to go down significantly. As both airtime and hardware get


cheaper SingTel says it will be able to offer more to its customers. For crew internet use the company is


offering a single calling card which seafarers will be able to use on any ship or computer to access their account for web usage and internet voice calls.At the same time instead of needing to use 24kbps to carry the traffic Singtel is using 4.2kbps,meaning much more data can be transferred for the same cost. "If you save five times for each phone call it means you can use the card for much longer,"Yong explains. "It is really about the clever use of


technology to enhance crew welfare and enhance fleet operation," he says.Another major issue facing owners and managers has been who looks after all this new shipboard technology and crucially what happens when it breaks down.Unlike offices ships do not have IT managers. "We are investing a lot of money into a


network management system where we can monitor their network and maybe proactively retune their network,"Yong says. If something goes down SingTel is able to


fix it remotely and as result he says some shipping companies are now willing to install many more applications shipboard. "In past they [shipowners] were worried.


Now they can start unleashing the power of an IP environment on the ship. So some customers are starting to push a lot of applications to the ship to drive productivity by linking the ship to the shore," he states.


HomegrownaScenz eyeS indoneSian market


Ascenz a Singapore-based technology firm, is eyeing the huge Indonesian domestic shipping sector to market its proprietary fuel consumption and bunkering monitoring technology. The company sees ample installation


opportunities for its Remote Fuel Monitoring system in Indonesia's bustling local shipping market supported by active coal trading activities, according to Chia Yoong Hui, co-founder and ceo ofAscenz. “Indonesia has a huge installation base for our product,” Chia tells Seatrade.“We are looking at direct market-based strategies to market our product.” Since the mid-2008,Ascenz has launched


a system that allows remote monitoring of fuel consumption onboard vessels from offices ashore.The data on fuel consumption


is combined with information such as the engine RPM and the results can be accessed via internet. “Indonesia has a lot of homegrown


players whom you cannot reach them if you are not there physically,” Chia says, adding that he regularly goes to the 17,000-island archipelago to ink new business.


The company's Singapore office, on the


other hand, is focused on securing installations from international shipping companies.Ascenz is in talks with major oil and shipping companies for the installation of the system on their vessels.To date, the system has only been installed on tugboats and anchor handling tugs. Some ofAscenz's customers include Bourbon Offshore, IMC and Smit. “These two years will be crucial for us as


we aim to secure most of our targeted key [customer] accounts,” Chia says. “The challange we are facing now is a


lack of industry awareness for such remote monitoring system.Hence by the next three to four years,we hope the market will fully understand our product and that it can benefit the industry.”


Seatrade Singapore Report 2011


35


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