2014

“Singapore naturally became the group’s centre of excellence for management of oil tankers and gas carriers.”Capt Sandip Mirchandani, managing director, BSM (Singapore)

Global hub for maritime business and technology

Offshore boom attracts new players

Bunkering sets new standards

www.singaporesolutions.sg Singapore Solutions 2014 | 51

Softship smoothes the path for containersSoftship is an international developer of

software for the container ship industry.

Established in Hamburg in 1989, the

company has more than 120 clients

worldwide and over 200 successful software

installations. Its software automates many

of the core processes required to run a

successful container line, helping to enhance

efficiency, improve customer service and

reduce costs. Software modules cover

commercial, operations, equipment control,

finance and other essential processes.

Softship opened its Singapore operation,

Softship Data Processing, in 1996.

“Recognising that Singapore was quickly

establishing itself as the centre of the Asian

maritime industry, we saw the importance

of opening a sizeable office there to handle

customer service, marketing and software

development,” said a company spokesman

Currently, the Singapore office

employs about 30 people who are mainly

Singaporean and other Asian nationals.

“Singapore is the perfect base from which

to reach out to Asian container lines. It

allows us to deliver immediate and hands-

on customer support. As a global IT centre,

the location also allows us to draw on the

wide range of technical skills available in

the region. The ideal Softship developer

needs a combination of IT skills and shipping

knowledge. Singapore is one of the only

locations that can provide this elusive

combination. And, as other Asian countries

mature, Singapore remains an ideal

location from which to run complementary

IT development activities in neighbouring

countries, such as the Philippines.

“For Softship, Singapore’s readiness

to embrace a relatively small company

was a real bonus. There is a pro-business

framework in place which encourages and

assists businesses such as ours to establish

themselves and grow. This includes an

attractive tax regime, access to finance

and the repatriation of profits. Couple this

with an active and flourishing maritime

community and we are able to benefit from

a forward-thinking business environment

that has greatly assisted our company’s

development,” the spokesman said.

Softship offers software solutions for the container industry

››› expansion in Asia. Ms Patel said:

“Our customers are requiring ever higher

bandwidth and service availability so they

can utilise the latest onboard real-time

applications that can save them money and

time. With an increase in young IT-savvy

crew who want the same social media and

Internet facilities as on shore, our services

help support crew welfare. We believe that

demand in the Asian market will grow

which in turn will mean that our presence

will increase.”

Vanguard hook releaseVanguard Composite Engineering is the

only Singapore-based lifeboat manufacturer.

It is majority owned by the Destini Group

in Malaysia. Its manufacturing facility in

Singapore can produce up to 200 lifeboats

a year.

Vanguard produces a range of lifeboats for

the merchant marine and offshore industries,

including traditional enclosed lifeboats,

freefall lifeboats, hyperbaric lifeboats and

fast rescue boats. Recent significant orders

include a contract with Jurong Shipyard for

28 lifeboats and davit systems plus seven

fast rescue boats for a series of seven new

drillships being built in Brazil and chartered

to Petrobras on delivery for 15 years for

operations offshore in the Santos Basin.

A spokesperson for Vanguard said to

Singapore Solutions: “Many of our clients locate

their Asia Pacific office in Singapore. Being in

Singapore allows us to be closer to our clients

and thus build strong relationships beneficial

to our business.

“Research and development is the

cornerstone of our business. To take on the

demands of the offshore market, Vanguard

spared no time and effort to develop our

11.95m lifeboat that can accommodate up

150 people.

There are few suppliers with lifeboats of

similar capacity, putting Vanguard in a good

position to service the offshore market.”

Following the recent international

controversies over the safety of lifeboat

release hooks resulting from a series of

accidents attributed to these devices, new

international regulations have been agreed at

IMO. Vanguard has been one of the leaders in

developing new release systems that comply

with the latest regulations.

Its Csafe hook release systems have in-built

fall preventive devices. Vanguard’s own-design

Lifeboat Release and Retrieval System (LRRS)

was specifically designed to meet the latest

IMO regulations. Its LRRS fleetwide change-

out programme for owners allows them to

switch in time to meet the new regulations by

the IMO deadline of July 2019.

The new hook release system is available

in 5-, 8.5- or 10 tonne versions. Vanguard

says that the Csafe LRRS is a universal

system that can be installed into most other

lifeboat brands. It received approval and

certification by class societies DNV GL, ABS

and Korean Register of Shipping in 2013. The

system features waterproof cables, ›››