The paper logbook persists on vessels despite efforts over the past 20 years to digitalise it. We hear that 90 per cent of ships still use paper. One obstacle to digitalisation is regulatory issues, including ensuring that digital data is not tampered with, and accepted by authorities.
In this webinar we'll hear how Raytheon Anschütz has developed an electronic logbook suitable for the 2020s, "eLog", which aims to resolve these problems.
Onboard the ship, the logbook can be completed by different crew members, via mobile phone or PC connected to the ship’s network. They can do this via a browser based app . It should be much easier for them to complete, which can be a particular advantage in times of stress.
Where possible, the data is automatically populated from systems onboard the ship, including the AIS system and other navigation systems, providing position, speed, heading, ETA, and weather data.
The data goes straight to the cloud, for permanent storage, easy accessibility, and no changes allowed to entries once approved. There are tools to download and analyse the data.
The advantages over the paper log book are clear. It avoids the need to handwrite entries, it avoids the need to manage logistics of posting paper logbooks to the company office, and it avoids the work of typing in the handwritten entries into digital systems in the office, and the associated potential for inaccuracies or gaps to emerge, including due to logbook handwriting being hard to read, or gaps in the original logbook entry.
The eLog was winner of the first "RAN-Dock" innovation competition organised by Raytheon Anschütz, where employees in the audience vote for their favourite ideas, and the winner gets company R+D funding.
Digital Ship