Products & services

Cruise Shipping Miami 2014 achieves record attendance

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 29 March 2014 29 March 2014

The 2014 Cruise Shipping Miami conference and exhibition that ran from Monday, March 10 through Thursday, March 13, at the Miami Beach Convention Center posted record attendance and the largest exhibition in the event's 30-year history.

The annual gathering had nearly 12,000 total registrations, a 10 percent increase over the 2013 show. The trade show, which was 10 percent larger than last year, featured 142 new exhibitors for a total of just less than 900 exhibiting companies from 127 countries. UBM reports that 40 percent of this year's exhibitors have already booked space in the 2015 event, scheduled for March 16-19.

"The ongoing evolution of CSM and the changes we made each year come directly from the feedback we receive from all stakeholders in the cruise industry," said Daniel Read, director of UBM's Cruise Event Portfolio. "The tightly focused conference sessions, the introduction of more flagship sessions with the regional 'State of the Cruise Industry' panels and Cruise Trends Theater all contributed to the show's high energy level and record participation."

Cruise Shipping Miami 2014 drew cruise executive delegates representing 70 cruise lines as well as delegates and visitors who comprise the industry's top movers and shakers. Reporting on the event were 350 journalists from 15 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Setting the tone for the four-day event was the all-new "State of the Global Cruise Industry" session March 11 featuring Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc; Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.; Kevin Sheehan, CEO and president of Norwegian Cruise Line; and Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises.

In addition to its new name and format, the opening panel had BBC's Katty Kay, anchor of "BBC World News America," as the event's first moderator from outside the cruise industry.

New for 2014 were three regional "State of the Cruise Industry" panels led by cruise line chief executives addressing trends and developments in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Panelists discussed a wide range of industry trends and developments during the course of the four-day conference. Emerging themes included a focus on attracting Millennials to cruising, rapid expansion of the Asia-Pacific market, growth of river and expedition cruising, and the significant investments seaports are making to attract and keep cruise line business.

The exhibition, which covered all four halls of the Miami Beach Convention Center, included the world's largest shipbuilders, 410 cruise destinations, cutting-edge information technology providers, ship equipment suppliers and entertainment companies. New this year was an interactive Food & Beverage Pavilion focusing on the latest in shipboard culinary trends, products and equipment. Other industry sectors included ship design and refurbishment, ship services and hotel operations.

The New for 2014 Cruise Trends Theater enabled suppliers to the industry to make presentations to their audiences from a purpose-built platform on the trade show floor.

Cruise Shipping Miami is the global flagship of UBM's Cruise Events Portfolio, which includes the annual Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific and the biennial Seatrade Med Cruise Convention.

MCP's new ship communications technology: A VAVE of the future?

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 14 March 2014 14 March 2014

By John Roberts

Marine Communications Partner has an ambitious plan to help foster a “micro-community” within a cruise ship.

MCP’s VAVE technology uses a ship’s GSM signal (used for cellular networks) and Wi-Fi network to generate a shipwide “cloud,” which passengers can access to view a broad range of information on their mobile devices or laptops anywhere on the ship, says Ole-Kristian Sivertsen, MCP’s senior vice president of business innovation. Sivertsen spoke about the company’s new platform in an exclusive interview with Cruise Business Review at Cruise Shipping Miami.

The technology allows lines to develop their own apps that can be loaded onto passengers’ smartphones, tablets and other devices before the cruise starts or once onboard. Then, they could gain access to the ship’s daily program, map, menus, folios and excursions, for example. Also, TV programming and on-demand movies available onboard in staterooms could be streamed to the devices instead. Passengers could use the app to stay in touch on the ship, allowing them to swap information and socialize.

MCP has had a relationship with cruise lines for more than a decade providing technology for cellphone service, but VAVE (value added voyage experience) is a leap forward and bridges a gap in how the modern traveler behaves on land but has not yet been able to when on a cruise vacation.

VAVE is a “business-enablement platform” for cruise lines “to enrich the experience and attract millennials to be able to use the tech that they were brought up on,” Sivertsen said.

The platform can be customized depending on each line’s strategy. Revenue opportunities exist in multiple forms, Sivertsen said. Cruise lines could charge passengers for accessing the service, but ideally the platform and any app a line develops on it would support existing revenue channels such as booking for specialty dining, massages, excursions and the like while also gathering information about the cruisers’ behavior so that targeted messages can be delivered. For example, if a specialty eatery has low bookings for a particular evening, a message could be sent out offering a discount rate. Or the ship could promote its onboard shopping.
Once the user has loaded the cruise line’s app onto a device, it can act as a way for the line to continue to deliver messages to the consumer – even when the cruise is over -- in a bid to build brand loyalty, Sivertsen said.

MCP also points to possible cost savings with VAVE. Printing expenses, for example, can be reduced for passengers who opt to receive their daily programs on their devices instead of delivered to their cabins.

Sivertsen said MCP has had a successful test of the VAVE system, which requires installation of a platform engine onboard, on the Mega Express Five, a 1,800-passenger Corsica Sardinia Ferry that runs eight- to 12-hour cruises between Nice, France, and Bastia, Corsica. Sivertsen said the pilot program was successful and a commercial contract with the company will be announced. Also, Sivertsen said MCP is in talks with a major cruise line that is interested in the VAVE service. He declined to name the line.

Geodis Wilson to exhibit at Cruise Shipping Miami

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 05 March 2014 05 March 2014

Geodis Wilson, the global freight management division of SNCF Geodis Group, has over 30 years of experience in the Marine and Cruise Logistics industry, and for an 8^th consecutive time, it will be represented at Cruise Shipping Miami from 11 – 14 March 2014 at Miami, Florida. Located at exhibition stand No. 1739, Geodis Wilson, will emphasize its presence as a leading provider of cruise line logistics solutions, running a global network of teams dedicated to the cruise industry along the entire breadth of international routes.

With more than 1,800 cruise line owners and operators from around the world attending, Cruise Shipping Miami is the ideal event for Geodis Wilson to discuss and share information on innovative technology and smart solutions for the maritime industry.

“Our expertise of over 20 years in this industry results in continuous product development and globally recognized operational performance,” mentions Mark Hedin, Marine Logistics Account Manager for the U.S., “all supported by our breakthrough eSolution, ‘Marine Order Management’ (MOM) tool, we are able to provide the marine industry with a convenient, tailored in-house order and warehouse management system.”

MTN launches high-definition, live event streaming from ships

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 11 March 2014 11 March 2014

In yet another industry first, MTN Communications (MTN) is launching “MTN OceanCast.” MTN OceanCast is the only high-definition (HD) system for live streaming of events from any maritime vessel offering simple, cost effective and potentially profitable end-to-end program management. MTN OceanCast enables concerts, sports tournaments, celebrity interviews, educational sessions, charter voyage events, or even unplanned emergencies to be broadcast live to any smartphone, tablet, TV or other device anywhere in the world from a maritime vessel.

Vessel operators can now deliver a high-definition broadcast from their fleet, creating new revenue-generating events or simply sharing content, such as educational explorations, with minimal impact to the overall bandwidth or leverage on their existing communications service.

“MTN OceanCast is the ultimate social media avenue and event broadcasting tool in maritime,” said Chris Leber, executive vice president, commercial business development, MTN. “It eliminates the complexity of live broadcasting from the middle of the ocean. This turnkey Web solution can be set up to stream in as little as 15 minutes with a simple touch-screen device on the ship connected through a modem to the MTN network. Our Production Services Team can customize the streaming to the customer’s specific needs. This is one more MTN value-add that, aligned with our service excellence and industry innovation, demonstrates our ability to anticipate and exceed our partners’ ever-expanding needs.”

“We conducted our first OceanCast for Lindblad Expeditions last week, when they produced their first TV broadcast from their ship National Geographic Explorer in South Georgia,” said Arthur Theodorou, network and fleet IT manager, Lindblad Expeditions. “James Balog, the founder of the Extreme Ice Survey, whose work was featured in the highly acclaimed documentary ‘Chasing Ice,’ did four live to tape interviews to North American network and affiliate news programs. The HD content from the remote locale provided a dramatic backdrop to Balog’s comments on his expansion of his Extreme Ice Survey to the southern hemisphere.”

With MTN OceanCast, the vessel operator can select who views the broadcast, who gets security access, and ways to generate new revenues through live event streaming. Live chat boxes can be available during a broadcast event, making it truly interactive with the viewing audience.

MTN OceanCast is a new service delivered through the company’s TV and Broadcast Group. MTN introduced MTN Worldwide TV (MTN TV) as the only live, worldwide maritime television service for the enjoyment of passengers and crew on vessels around the world. MTN TV is a turnkey solution, including equipment installation and service provisioning, for MTN partners as well as for vessel operators just using this particular MTN service.

DNV GL opens new Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 27 February 2014 27 February 2014

DNV GL, the world’s leading ship classification society and one of the world’s leading risk and sustainability service providers with more than 500 employees in Singapore, consolidates its operations in its new headquarters to meet the growing demand for its services in the region.

The new headquarters was officially opened today by Mr S Iswaran, Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade & Industry Singapore, and DNV GL President and CEO Dr Henrik O. Madsen.

The new, state-of-the-art office will house DNV GL operations for Singapore and the surrounding Asia Pacific region. This means that DNV GL’s expertise and regional management team will be under one roof. The relocation to a new technologically advanced building will create greater synergies across its four key business areas – Maritime, Oil & Gas, Energy and Business Assurance.

"Singapore is one of the main Asia Pacific locations for the head offices of large international companies and many of our customers are also located here. Besides, Singapore’s vision is very much aligned with DNV GL’s, especially when it comes to research and development work to address the challenges faced in both the offshore oil & gas exploration and clean energy industries,” said Dr Madsen

“Designed to accommodate our growth over the next 20 years, the relocation of the Singapore office also comes at the perfect time. The merger of DNV and GL last September has created a need to integrate the operations of both companies and the new office enables us to do that seamlessly in Singapore,” he added.

Collaborative agreements

Recognising the importance of collaboration, DNV GL will also be signing memoranda of understanding (MOU) with the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University for joint R&D activities. “We are delighted to work with such well-established research institutions. We firmly believe that our collaborative innovation model will contribute to Singapore’s fast moving industries,” said Dr Madsen. “Also, as an independent foundation with a strong technology base and risk management as our core area of expertise, we will continue to fill a unique role in creating trust and confidence among industry stakeholders.”

Located at 16 Science Park Drive, DNV GL's new office brings together 500 employees from the company’s previous four offices around the island.

The new office in Singapore combines intelligent building structures and efficient energy consumption.