Page 49: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1973)

Star Shipping Streamlines

Worldwide Operations Using

Marine Management Systems

Marine Management Systems, Inc., has an- nounced expansion of its recently developed global marine data system which is streamlin- ing and speeding the worldwide cargo and ves- sel scheduling operations of Star Shipping,

A/S, a leading transporter of wood products from North America.

The system, believed to be the only one of its kind commercially available, has been in operation since last November, and was re- cently expanded to link Star's Tokyo office to their Vancouver, British Columbia, San Fran- cisco, 'Calif., and Bergen, Norway, offices. Ma- rine Management Systems, Inc., headquarter- ed at 300 Broad Street in Stamford, Conn., de- signs and implements computer systems ex- clusively for the international marine industry.

Eugene D. Story, MMS president, said the system is enabling Star to better coordinate and control its far-flung operations, with their management personnel getting information they require faster and more efficiently regard- less of location. "When a company such as Star is spread out all over the world," he said, "any effort to co- ordinate a large fleet of ships is bound to rep- resent a major communications problem."

Until last fall, he pointed out, Star had been relying entirely on normal communication lines (telex). He said the old system was becoming increasingly impractical since Star was grow- ing, and cargo tonnage estimating and vessel scheduling were becoming more complex.

The MMS system operates much like an air- line reservation system, Mr. Story explained.

A keyboard input/output device at the Star location is used to enter a cargo shipping or- der as it is received. A local telephone call links the device "on-line" to a common data bank.

Any of Star's offices on the network can al- so retrieve up-to-the-minute information con- cerning the status of cargo 'bookings for any trade or voyage. Star's use of special-type ships capable of moving cargoes efficiently in the shortest possible time is highly dependent on. the accuracy and timeliness of the cargo and vessel schedule data.

Headquartered in Bergen, Norway, Star

Shipping A/S operates a fleet of vessels trans- porting pulp, lumber and other forestry prod- ucts from United States ports, and from Van- couver, British Columbia to U.K., northern

European countries, and Italy, Spain, France, and Japan.

The MMS system utilizes the G.E. Network

Time-Sharing System, the heart of which is

General Electric's giant (Mark III) computer center located in Cleveland, Ohio. Access over- seas is via the communications satellite.

Marcona Corporation In Joint

Saudi Arabia Steel Project

Marcona Corporation, San Francisco, has an- nounced conclusion of an arrangement with

Petromin, a Saudi Arabian corporation, aimed at development of a steel mill project in that country.

Marcona, a company engaged in internation- al minerals development and ocean transporta- tion, will 'head a group which will include an- other San Francisco-based company, Gilmore

Steel Corp., operator of an integrated steel plant in Portland, Ore., and Midland-Ross Cor- poration of Cleveland, Ohio.

Marcona Corporation is primarily owned by

Cyprus Mines Corporation and Utah Interna- tional, Inc.

The Marcona Group will undertake jointly with Petromin the study of technical and eco- nomic factors related to the production of steel by pelletizing, direct reduction, electric furnace and pipe mill operation. It is contemplated that iron ore concentrates will be delivered in slurry form employing the Marconaflo system.

Fifty percent of the operating company would be held by Petromin, with the balance owned by the Marcona Group.

C.W. Robinson, president of Marcona Cor- poration, stated that the company holds high hopes for this project which would provide an economic outlet for major quantities of available energy not currently utilized.

Hampton Roads Section Hears

Paper On Sea Travel Changes —New Officers Elected

Shown above at the Mariners Museum are (left to right):

J.D. Deal Jr., chairman of the Hampton Roads Sec- tion; R.D. O'Leary, guest speaker, and E.E. Jaeger, pa- pers committee.

The Hampton Roads Section of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers con- vened at the Mariners Museum on April 12, 1973, with approximately 230 members, wives and guests in attendance.

During the brief business portion of the meeting, chairman J.D. Deal Jr. announced the results of the election of officers for the year commencing September 1, 1973. Those elected were: chairman, C.E. Peacock Jr.; vice chair- man, R.C. Strasser; secretary-treasurer, C.M.

Brooks, and executive committee, W.K. John- son.

Following this announcement, chairman

Deal relinquished the gavel to chairman-elect

Peacock. The first duty of the incoming chair- man was to present a certificate of apprecia- tion to chairman Deal for the fine performance rendered to the Section during his tenure of office.

Richard D. O'Leary, president of Cruise In- ternational of Norfolk, Va., presented a most interesting paper on "Changing Patterns of

Ocean Transportation of People." Mr. O'Leary traced a brief history of passenger ships from the ordeal of the days of sail to the luxury of the Queen Mary and the United States. He described the effect of the transocean airliner on the passenger ship trade with the resultant shift from passenger traffic to the cruise trade.

The interesting discussion of the growth of the cruise trade and the development of the

Hampton Roads area as one of the largest terminals for vessels plying this trade was most interesting to the ladies present. From the comments heard following the presentation, there should be quite a number of new travel- ers cruising the Caribbean in the not too dis- tant future.

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June 1, 1973 51