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Taking advantage of IT advances

Fifty years ago, Amver was launched with a very rudimentary computer able to provide a workable dead reckoning plot from the positions of vessels sent to the Center in New York by radio from vessels in the Atlantic, writes Michael Grey.
 
 
Times change. IT and communications have advanced on every front and today it is possible for rescue co-ordination centres around the world to obtain from the US Coast Guard an “instant” surface picture
of Amver participating ships able to aid in an emergency. This real time feature, which was introduced last October by Amver is considered to be a very useful tool for search and rescue services around the world, saving time and enabling a more effective response.

Communication, which was once the preserve of shipborne radio officers, is today facilitated by compressed message software and communications ship management software packages.

At the end of May this year a link between Amver and the maritime software ship tracking system Pole Star was established to enable all vessels registered to the latter company to automatically report to the Amver system at no cost to the operator or to Amver. The development is a function of Amver’s ability to receive position reports by email and input these straight into the system.

Pole Star currently tracks and monitors more than 12,000 vessels and will now be able to forward position reports to the Amver Center.

The arrangement , welcomed by shipowners’ organisations, will reduce burdens on masters who will no longer have to send manual reports, while adding substantially to the number of reporting ships, to the benefit of all.