Ship suppliers introduce One Maritime online marketplace

The following is the text of a press release issued by the International Ship Suppliers Association:
 
(LONDON) — Today heralds the launch of One Maritime, a major industry initiative that will revolutionise the way ship owners, ship managers and ship suppliers select and order ship stores from both onboard ship and ashore.

From January 1st 2011, ship owners and managers, their superintendants and their crews, will be able to access online or by CD, the shipping industry’s premier ship stores catalogues and many others besides, as part of their effort to secure the best quality and most efficiently-costed provisions, bonded stores, pantry and deck and engine stores worldwide.

For the first time ever, purchasing managers and ships’ Masters will be able to access the online ISSA Ship Stores Catalogue to search for their supplies.

The ISSA Catalogue forms a part of the One Maritime solution offering for on-line purchasing, supply, information, procurement and communications. Other main-line industry catalogues are also included, which makes One Maritime the most comprehensive maritime catalogue search engine available on the market today.

They will be able to issue requests for tender (RFQs), order goods and deal with invoices, all at the click of a button. By utilising a host of highly intricate computer plug-ins they will also be able to track owners’ goods, draw up supply contracts and return items should they need to. Ship owners, managers and suppliers will also be able to search by vessel name and vessel position by accessing the Vessel Master database, AIS information or even get information on ports and agencies.

A complete Ships’ stores and provisions supply can be searched generically or by product type or through the individual port of delivery. E-commerce connectivity will also be available through the One Maritime service.

The One Maritime initiative has a number of project partners including ISSA and ShipCentric. One Maritime provides e-commerce connectivity, allowing companies to process their transactions by selecting a specific maritime e-commerce system such as MarineLink from EDB ErgoGroup. Under the arrangement, MarineLink will also connect its e-commerce platform to One Maritime to access its catalogue service from its trading platform. Ship owners and managers will be able to access an overview of their own ships’ ordering details; access the main industry catalogues or search by part or manufacturer; service equipment due for survey and upload relevant service reports; search by supplier, product, vessel or vessel position; and utilise E-Commerce connectivity to order their products.

Suppliers, on the other hand, will have an overview of ships in their own ports with estimated times of arrival and departure; search for owners, vessels and vessel positions; search for items in a large variety of catalogues; upload their own catalogues; service items on certain vessels and customers; prioritise equipment due for survey; and carry out RFQs in addition to ordering, order confirmation and e-invoicing.

Main equipment manufacturers will be able to upload their catalogues for access by marine purchasers; update their catalogues; and update their profile and contact information.
Catalogues immediately available for accessing when the system is fully launched in January will include the ISSA Ship Stores Catalogue; the One Maritime Provisions and Bonded Stores Catalogue; catalogues detailing cargo access equipment; engine spare parts and Medicine.

Torben Brammer, One Maritime Co-Founder and CEO, praised One Maritime as the next step in the development of online platforms which, by the use and mix of multiple information sources and the latest technology, take multiple information searches, worldwide communication, collaboration and ordering processes of ship supply to the next level.

He said: â€Our technology products have allowed us to think of data sources and the use of data in a much different way than ever before. With its unique search engines and data migration technology, One Maritime has managed to build an online platform that gives its users access to a mix of data from multiple data sources at the same time.

It changes the way that catalogues, for example, will be used in the future. It will allow users to search across multiple information sources faster than just opening 1 printed catalogue and then to start browsing the pages one by one for the right information. It ensures updated information at your finger tips, something that the current printed catalogues cannot deliver and it gives subscribers access to download updated data and into their back office systems in a much simpler way.

We have mixed the different catalogue data with specific data for vessel, supplier, owners, managers, vessel locations, industry KPIs and much more – and the result is: One Maritime.

By Professional Mariner Staff