Clients gather in Greece for a glimpse into the future of ship management

Over 140 guests from the Greek shipping community had a glimpse into the future of ship management at an event hosted by V.Ships Greece on 3 October at the stunning Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Athens.

Welcoming guests to the event, Costas Kontes, general manager V.Ships Greece outlined V.Group’s commitment to the Greek shipping market. This commitment was further reinforced as Costas introduced V.Group’s new CEO, Ian El-Mokadem who had travelled to Greece on his first day to attend this event, much to the appreciation of guests:

“We started our operations here in Greece in 1994 with the provision of crew management services, expanding into full management in 2013 and we are continuing to grow the services we offer. From our local office in Piraeus we have been able to develop strategic partnerships with our clients, building on their expertise in the container and bulk carrier sectors. And this local service is complemented by the global support of additional services provided by V.Group.”

Costas paid tribute to his team in the Piraeus office, who, supported by the wider V.Group family help to deliver innovative solutions to clients

Following on from the theme of innovation, V.Group board member Jesper Kjaedegaard took to the stage for an overview of the Group’s commitment to investing in technology solutions:

“There are lots of people talking about digitization but V.Group is actually doing it,” he said. With that he introduced V.Group’s director of IT, Stephen MacFarlane to the stage to share what was the highlight of the evening – a preview of our bespoke vessel management app – ShipSure Mobile.

“The ShipSure app is the future of ship management,” explained Stephen. “Building on the functionality of our desktop version, we’ve brought this and more into the hands of our owners. The ShipSure app offers owners complete oversight, transparency and real time visibility at any time. We’ve moved far beyond the traditional noon report to drill down into a broader range of data in real time,” he added.

Showcasing a prototype of the ShipSure app, Stephen explained the investment in developing a platform that delivers a powerful user experience and at the same time delivers higher levels of automation and powerful data insights.

Client insights were a critical component of the design solution as Stephen shared: “Top of mind for our clients has been how they manage information overload, how can they stay in control for example. We’re in a rapidly changing commercial, technological, social, regulatory environment. It’s a challenge to keep up to date let alone be in a position to adapt to the change as it happens while continuing to operate effectively.”

And as Stephen went on to explain: "The investment is not just limited to the technology solution but also importantly – changes to user behaviour. We must continue to invest in all aspects."

The ShipSure mobile platform has four modules delivering content to the user:

These four modules serve four stakeholders – the client, the shore based fleet team, the crew and the seafarer. Each of the four stakeholders has their own unique version of the app.

“The future of ship management is here,” concluded Stephen. “And it’s in your hands.”

The ShipSure app will be rolled out to V.Group’s current clients from the beginning of 2018 with the seafarer app being made available later in 2018.

Pictured above l-r: George Makrymichalos, Empros Lines Shipping Co. SP. S.A.; Ian El-Mokadem, V.Group; Costas Kontes, V.Group; Costis Constantakopoulos, Costamare Shipping Company S.A.

Pictured above l-r: Kostas Vilos, Signal Maritime Ltd; Minas Gkiaouzis, Thenamaris; Sokratis Dimakopoulos, Minerva Marine Inc; Anastasis Kontaratos, Minerva Marine Inc.

Pictured above: l-r: Martin Gaard Christiansen, V.Group; Panos Dimitracopoulos, Signal Maritime; Ian El-Mokadem, V.Group; Ioannis Martinos, Signal Maritime; Costas Kontes, V.Group