Shipnet - Experts & Thought Leaders

Norway-based maritime technology business, Shipnet, has launched a new podcast titled ‘Talking Ship’, as it looks to make topical industry discussions more digestible and open the doors of Shipnet to wider audiences.  Available on Apple and Spotify, Shipnet’s first episode ‘Data-driven shipping efficiency’ features Head of Customer Experience - John Wills and Marketing Director - Jenny Duffy, who join the podcast Host and 20-year Broadcaster, Zoe Hanson, to discuss how integral shipping is to the daily lives and how the industry is recognising the need to digitise. Digitising the industry John Wills said: "Shipping is going through the curve that other industries went through ten years ago and teamed with digital-first graduates it’s a really interesting time. We have a lot to say about the industry and a podcast is the perfect place to allow people into our world, engage with us about what we’re discussing and get people talking more about digitising the industry." He adds, "There’s a lot of data available to shipping organisations but a lot of businesses are not utilising it to improve their decision making and operations yet." Element of Shipnet’s DNA They also share an integral element of Shipnet’s DNA - that so many key team members are former mariners The second episode ‘Breaking down the secrecy of shipping’ sees Product Management Director - Niall Jack and John discuss how delayed the shipping industry is to digitisation due to the secrecy that surrounds the industry.  They also share an integral element of Shipnet’s DNA - that so many key team members are former mariners, so they have the on-the-ground experience to bring to development and ultimately benefit customers. Awakening to digitisation Niall Jack said: "I started working at sea in 2015 but it’s only been in the last two-three years that there’s been an awakening to digitisation. Whereas the internet opened up accessing information on every other industry, shipping is notoriously quite secretive but businesses are getting wise to how effective data can positively drive decisions." He adds, "Users of our product are people at sea and our motivation is to build products that allow them to work more safely and efficiently." The podcast, initially in production for six episodes, will release one per month, with the first available now. 

Norway-based maritime technology business, Shipnet, has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointments of a new Finance Director and HR Director. Paula Summers, who joins as HR Director, boasts over 15 years’ experience within HR roles partnering with business pioneers in the retail, manufacturing and nuclear energy sectors. This includes Ethel Austin, Glen Dimplex Consumer Appliances (including brands like Stoves, Belling, Morphy Richards and Roberts Radios) and Cavendish Nuclear. Strategy and initiatives Having departed Cavendish Nuclear in September 2023 to relocate to Queensland, Australia, Paula returned to the UK this year and joined Shipnet. Paula said of the new role: "I am thrilled and proud to be a part of the incredible and talented team here at Shipnet." Paula Summers adds, "Our newly developed people strategy and initiatives will support growth, capability, engagement, and colleague experience, so we can keep the world afloat. I am thankful for the fantastic support and enthusiasm from all Shipnet colleagues on our journey so far and look forward to what we are going to achieve together in the future."  Shipnet’s new Finance Director Newly appointed as Shipnet’s Finance Director, Niamh Burns qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Ireland Newly appointed as Shipnet’s Finance Director, Niamh Burns qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Ireland and then relocated to the Caribbean with EY. After transitioning into industry, she was in a number of roles within the telecoms sector across the Caribbean, overseeing the finance of startups and scale-ups in Bermuda, Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands.  After returning home to Belfast, Niamh Burns continued with various Finance Director roles in tech, most recently contributing to the successful exit of PE backed MSP NewCMI to BCN. Innovative new products Of joining Shipnet, Niamh Burns said: "I am delighted to bring my years of experience overseas to this truly global and vital industry. With his deep knowledge of the shipping industry, Terje is an inspirational pioneer, which is evident from the trust that the customers put in him, and the fantastic team that he has built around him, and I am proud to be a part of it." She adds, "I look forward to assisting the team in building on its success as it launches its innovative new products and continues to grow its geographical reach. It is also great to know it has the solid backing of Volaris/CSI, with their buy and hold acquisition strategy, and its support in helping the business, and the team, grow." Innovation in the maritime industry Shipnet CEO, Terje Kristiansen, said: "We’re delighted to welcome Paula and Niamh to the Shipnet family as we look forward to further growth as a team and as a business. They have joined us at an exciting time as we further our mission to drive transparency and innovation in the maritime industry following the launch of Helix, a groundbreaking data analysis solution." Terje Kristiansen adds, "Helix represents a significant leap forward in our mission to empower shipping companies with actionable insights. By creating a digital representation of your shipping business, Helix seamlessly integrates data from diverse sources such as safety records, freight rates and procurement data." 

Technology advancements have accelerated into the maritime ecosystem at breakneck speed over the past ten years fuelled by a glut of new money, eager to enter the maritime sector. From a time of on-premise solutions that enabled only a select number of users to interact with closed proprietary solutions with defined inputs and outputs, to where a plethora of companion applications have come onto the market. They’re designed to provide narrow answers to the big problems operators face, whether improving operational visibility, efficiencies or regulatory compliance. Business critical solutions The ease in which firms and their developers can create new and exciting platforms creates a world In truth, the ease in which companies and their developers can create new and exciting platforms creates a world addicted to APIs and operators held captive between multiple vendors. Worst still, the long-term market presence of some of these vendors might not yet be solidified, thereby putting operators in precarious positions. The technology itself is not the issue, it’s the relationships to other business critical solutions that generate ambiguity and frustration in operators keen to have seamless transitions between systems in order to shed light where they didn’t deem there to be a problem. AI document management In an ideal world scenario - a planned maintenance system (PMS) that fed decision-making when it came to which equipment to install on newly built vessels at the shipyard, would use the data in the crewing, and learning and assessment solution to identify current skill sets with future requirements accurately.  In short, the PMS with AI document management interfaces could create training and recruitment content specific to the operator's needs for defined future timelines. Mothballing technologies There are multiple vendors present all at life cycle points, either mothballing technologies or introducing new ones With data-backed probabilities on failure likelihoods by whom and when and place actual financial numbers to back up vendor selection. Consider this a step further, an operator could quickly start benchmarking vendors, and shipyards based on probable outcomes.  Within this scenario, there are multiple vendors present all at different life cycle points, either mothballing technologies or introducing new ones. The data relationship breaks down quite rapidly, it also means operators are stuck in long-term contracts where they know they are not achieving the insight they hoped for. End-to-end shipping operations Therefore, the future is not about the applications themselves that are mostly all sophisticated in capturing data, it's in the ability to provide agnostic data that is easily transported, interrogated and harmonised outside of their own applications. Shipnet has developed HELIX for this very purpose. As a full suite of end-to-end shipping operations software, it is arguable that they have access to the widest and deepest data available in the market. Imagine the ability to use this data in unison with other third party data streams and gain insights way beyond what they ever thought possible. The old saying of “data is the new oil”, however it's still unrefined and is actually already a thing of the past.