Orange Business Services has joined a European Union-sponsored initiative that aims to help shipping companies take complex decisions on the basis of valid, up-to-date information across all ship management lifecycle processes.
As part of the EIS (“Exzellenzinitiative Schiffsmanagement”) initiative, Orange Business Services will play a key role in the development of new business intelligence and IT standards that are set to improve management tools used by the shipping industry.
The initiative will not only make it easier to manage vessels, but also seamlessly integrate them into a company’s corporate infrastructure thereby facilitating real-time business decisions, enabling cost savings, and improving safety and crew welfare.
Under this agreement Orange Business Services will be the sole provider for ship-to-shore, vessel-based and land-based communication infrastructure. As part of this project, Orange will implement a cloud-based satellite solution on several vessels run by COLUMBIA Ship Management, one of the four largest ship managers worldwide.
Orange Business Services will also offer support the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the City of Hamburg, Germany, one of the most influential maritime centers of the world and home to the second largest container port in Europe. The project will also strengthen the city of Hamburg’s competency in specialized maritime IT systems.
The solution provided by Orange comprises the communication hardware of the vessels, the onshore data center as well as the design and development of traffic optimization tools.
The integration of satellite communications with Business VPN, a fully managed IP-based VPN service, with private access to cloud services will enable COLUMBIA Ship Management to benefit from a high-performance, secure solution without relying on the Internet.
“With the new cloud-based platform in this project, we can demonstrate how improved communication between vessels and their management will streamline business tools and decisions,” said Michel Verbist, head of International Business Development, Satellite at Orange Business Services.
“Real-time ship-to-shore communication can provide a competitive advantage for both large and small shipping companies around the world. We look forward to providing innovative cloud solutions for other players in the maritime sector in the months to come,” Verbist added.
