Ship management has always been something that calls for special effort. The responsibilities of owning a ship or a fleet of ships does not end after you have purchased the vessel and having the complete crew. Several things need to be done in order to maintain the life of the ship. Fleet maintenance system is a must on every vessel, large or small. It is not like checking the distance traveled by your car, or deciding that it might need change in the oil. Fleet maintenance system is quite different.


If you have large vessels, they should have a planned Fleet maintenance system. This system involves repairs, handling of spare parts, acquisition of supplies, and more. Maintenance should also help in the preventive of problems that could possibly take place due to wear and tear, so that complete overhauls are avoided and cost of sudden major repairs are lessened. A planned Fleet maintenance system also means that there should be scheduled dates for dry-docking. The inventory, budget and labor should have advanced planning.

Ship management system can be a challenge to implement if the crew, have little or no computer experience. That’s why it needs to be user friendly and easy to learn. A good system also needs to aid in cutting costs by reducing breakdowns of parts in the engine and helping in the logistics of things.

The ship management system must be under the regulations of such government bodies as the US Coast Guard, American Bureau of Shipping, OSHA, and Condition Assessment Scheme, DNV and other class societies.

Providing overview of crew training done and crew training needs is also part of a ship management system. Vessels always need crews that are well trained, and the program, make sure that training needs are highlighted in the system, and easy to spot.

A ship management system can result either to the success or failure of a shipping company. It is an important part of your planning in marine fleet’s investment. Your ships will be technically managed according to your requirements, and if you got a good ship management program, you can also get the following benefits.

• Reduction in costs on ship management through information availability when needed and also through efficient processes. Accidents/malfunctions are prevented, as well as omitted/redundant work.
• Reduction in costs on ship maintenance, increase ships uptime through better planning.
• Compliance to rules and regulations are increased.
• You are allowed to make better business decisions because of availability of data, more transparency, and judgments become less subjective.

Typically the ship management program are focused on preventive maintenance, planned dry docking, ship board management team pre briefing, emergency preparedness, budgeting, accounting, vessel performance and past events reporting, insurance and claims handling, day operations and maintenance, spares and supplies purchasing, cost control, safety, quality and environmental management, safety, and quality system. Also included are analyzing and identifying areas that need continuous improvement, conducting inspections on condition of the vessel/s, complying with procedures, security and quality, communicating with the authorities and commercial entities, and so much more.

Ship management system http://www.oceantiger-software.com/ship_management_system.html and maintenance system http://www.oceantiger-software.com/ship_maintenance_system.html are software you need to see that you can cut unnecessary expenses.