Page 46: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q3 2014)
Power & Fuel Management
Read this page in Pdf, Flash or Html5 edition of Q3 2014 Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine
Jeppesen also recognizes that too much data can bring along complications in the shape of information overload. Feedback from the PiracyUpdate and OceanView customers helped Jeppe- sen to optimize and streamline the voyage planning process with- in free-to-use NauticalManager software, which aggregates both weather and piracy data into a lean and user-friendly interface. Today, with a tool like Jeppesen NauticalManager, ship?s staff can incorporate daily piracy activity notices with up-to-date weather information. In OceanView, ?alarm limits? for weather conditions (wave height, for example) can be set. This would reduce the time required to create a complete voyage plan from two days down to 20 minutes, and adapting to new circum- stances would take minutes instead of hours. The integration of electronic nautical charts with information such as weather and piracy and e-Navigation software yields signi cant bene ts for the mariner. It not only optimizes voyage safety and fuel ef -ciency, but also streamlines the entire voyage planning process. OceanView in conjunction with PiracyUpdate has widely been used to identify high-risk areas and obtain up-to-date in-formation on the latest piracy activity. This includes keeping track of hijacked ships and the involvement of pirate mother ships. During a hijacking of a Greek oil tanker off the Ivory Coast, Jeppesen?s partner Bergen Risk Solutions (BRS) used a digital anti-piracy tool to provide vital insight to lawyers, insurers, the owner, charterers and other parties involved. In this case, a vessel carrying fourteen hijackers armed with AK-47 assault ri es and knives approached the 73,400 dead- weight ton oil tanker, which was in the process of carrying out two ship-to-ship transfers off Abidjan with 30,000 tons of gas oil on board. Before the second operation took place, the vessel displayed suspicious behavior, switching off all lights and sailing directly south without explanation. BRS used Pi- racyUpdate to compare this suspected hijacking with similar incidents and was able to inform the client as to what had happened, the risk to the crew, vessel and cargo, as well as on what was likely to happen next. BRS was tasked to coordinate the logistics involved in pre- paring the eventual release of the hostages and the vessel. This usually includes helicopter transfer, possible medical evacua- tion, liaising with the protection and indemnity (P&I) insur- ance holder of the vessel and more. At this point, however, when and where the release would have taken place was un- known. BRS started plotting the tanker?s movement. Based on their experience and incident reports in OceanView, they soon realized the vessel was heading for a known piracy stronghold in Nigeria. This information was parsed among the parties in- volved in the rescue such as navies and rescue services so they could converge on the location of the hijacked tanker. When the pirates realized their plans had been compromised, they accepted to release the hostages and the vessel in exchange for amnesty. Technology, in this case, provided just one more ?passive? method to combat piracy. MARITIME SECURITY ADM Jay Cohen insists, ?The world isn?t getting any safer and nothing is foolproof,? adding quickly, ?and the market is growing because we in the commercial world are moving offshore, moving deeper and putting offshore assets at risk.? He?s right about all of that. At the same time, the model for piracy has changed and shifted location(s) while the risk to port-based assets and infrastructure grows with the increas- ingly violent terror threat; here and abroad. Fortunately, the marketplace has responded in kind. As it does, the maritime sector evolves to meet the threat, mitigate the risk and em- brace new technologies along the way. MARITIME SECURITY46 I Maritime Professional I 3Q 201434-49 Q3 MP2014.indd 4634-49 Q3 MP2014.indd 468/13/2014 3:19:13 PM8/13/2014 3:19:13 PM