Hamburg/Germany, 18 March 2013 – Optimising the human element in shipping, requires a holistic approach with owners, operators, regulators, crewing agencies and managers and class all working together. In recognition of the vital role of crew members, GL Maritime Software (GL) and Marlow Navigation Co. Ltd. (Marlow), one of the leading crew managers, have undertaken a new cooperation to improve crew training on ship management software.
Working together the partners have installed GL ShipManager in two of Marlow’s training centres, in Philippines and Ukraine. This will enable customers who have crew set to join a vessel running GL Software to be trained in Marlow’s computer labs, before they set foot onboard a vessel. GL has provided and installed training versions of the system in the labs and prepared Marlow’s trainers to familiarise crew with the system and teach its usage.
“Providing training on standard ship management applications, like the one from GL, is a significant effort for a shipping company, especially if the crew keeps changing, ” says Capt. Walter Wekenborg, Director Training & Human Resources at Marlow Navigation, “we can help our joint clients to reduce this effort and their costs through this cooperation.”
“Putting the most advanced systems on the latest ships will not result in the expected efficiencies if the crew is unprepared for the task of operating them. We cannot lose our focus on the human element, this cooperation will help shipping companies to ensure that when a crew member steps onto a vessel equipped with our software, they are familiar with the system and able to work at peak effectiveness from day one. We hope that many of our joint customers will take the opportunity to use this training service, ” said Dr. Torsten Büssow, GL’s head of Maritime Software.
GL ShipManager is a comprehensive software suite that supports key ship management processes, such as planned maintenance, purchasing, stock control, voyage management, port clearance, incident management, and quality and safety management. The software ensures via intelligent data synchronization that the same information are available onboard and onshore. It also easily interfaces with other GL ship management software such as GL FleetAnalyzer, GL HullManager and GL CrewManager, with other GL tools such as Fleet Online or Rules Pilot, and with standard accounting and document management systems.
About Marlow Navigation Co. Ltd.
Marlow Navigation Co. Ltd was established in 1982 as a third party ship management company specializing in crew management. Even though Marlow today provides the full range of third party ship management activities and is able to accompany a vessel from the drawing board all the way to her final days at sea, its core business still remains crew management. Marlow is committed to the improvement of standards of safety at sea, the promotion of environmental protection measures and, most importantly, the general and specific training requirements of seafarers. Such training is provided in Marlow’s main recruitment locations in the Philippines, where its Manila Training Centre (MNTC) is considered to be one of the most extensive private training centres in the Far East and Ukraine where Marlow’s co-operation with Kherson State Maritime Academy (KSMA) achieves tremendous training prospects for their seafarers. Therefore, as the majority of seafarers placed on board Marlow’s crew management vessels are Filipino and Ukrainian Nationals, the cooperation in these locations with GL makes perfect sense.
About GL Maritime Software
GL Maritime Software unit is a software provider and system integrator for the maritime industry. Besides providing the market leading software products, the unit also offers comprehensive implementation support because solving problems with software requires much more than the software itself. These supporting services include process reviews and alignment, pilots and trial runs, installation support, integration services, content and user trainings, and continuous software maintenance and support including 24/7 helpdesk. With decades of experience and stability as well as continuous R&D efforts, GL Maritime Software brings the highest investment security in the industry and the latest functionality and technology to improve your competitiveness. www.gl-group.com
