GL looks for increased software presence in Asia

According to Dominic Ng, director, maritime software, South Asia/Oceania, in a presentation at Sea Asia in Singapore: “It’s been 15 years since we serviced the maritime market with our fleet management software, and today we have developed into one of the few truly independent software providers with our software solutions covering a full ship lifecycle from design, through operations and to decommissioning.”

Ng focused on how GL Maritime software works to bring its users a range of benefits in managing and operating vessels. “Leveraging on GL’s heritage of technical expertise and the highest level of
innovation, GL Maritime Software has put much focus on the enhancement of ship efficiency with a full array of innovative solutions for advanced maintenance management,” he said.

These software applications can be categorised into software for fleet management and that for ship operations. The former includes GL ShipManager, GL Hull Manager, GL Machinery Manager, etc. “Our products are typically used to handle breakdown and planned maintenance, and in particular the condition-based maintenance,” Ng stressed.

The latter consists of GL Sea Scout, ECO Assistant, Energy Efficiency Monitor, etc. For instance, the ECO-Assistant, an advanced tool for fuel efficiency, is being used onboard many merchant vessels to advise on the optimum trim which can be calculated within just a few seconds and help to achieve instant fuel savings without any modifications to the vessel. Good trim leads not only to immediate benefits in terms of reduced costs but also lower CO₂ emissions as a result of lower fuel consumption.

Currently, a growing number of commercial vessels worldwide including Asian ship owners are equipped with these software applications. “GL’s Maritime Software products have a total of over 900 installations. We expect to have more Asian shipping companies on our clientele list,” said Ng.