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Accreditations
- Microsoft Certified Partner
- Investors in People
- ISO 9001 Certified
_vPrep
_vPrep is a next generation passage planning tool. It encompasses marine data integration, digital portfolio management, the online Chart Agent, immediate purchasing, updating and ECDIS support.
On a modern commercial vessel, preparing for each voyage is a demanding and multi-faceted activity. Assembling the required information, updating charts, passage planning, document preparation, ECDIS management. All these aspects place increasingly greater demands on the bridge crew who in turn look to the Chart Agent for support. Key to this support infrastructure is reliable, cost effective and efficient chart management. In fact not just charts but the whole wealth of marine data necessary for safe passages.
The digital market place is here and with it comes immense challenges and immense opportunities. For the contemporary chart agent to supply a complete service a substantial technical infrastructure is required which will handle management of voyage requirements, data delivery and permits. This needs to integrate with existing inventory, invoicing and stock control systems.
_vPrep is a complete voyage preparation system:
- Passage Planning
- Data integration – routes, weather, tides, ports
- Purchasing and data delivery
- ECDIS support
Voyage preparation typically begins with passage planning. The _vPrep shipboard application is a powerful tool for creating, managing and visualising passage plans. Routes can be created, reused, adapted, imported or automatically generated.
Standard ENC charts provide a context on which routes, points, lines, areas and other annotations are displayed.
Additional information such as tides, radio signals, lights, ports, weather and satellite imagery can be overlaid so as to bring together a complete and detailed realisation of the complete passage.
A scheduling facility supports planning for departure and arrival times. En route information such as waypoint arrival and leg speed are supplemented automatically with sun rise/set, tides, reporting points and other information. This provides a complete, time based, description of the voyage.
The data requirements facility analyses the route to determine requirements in terms of ENC, ARCS, ADP, paper charts and other publications. Once the portfolio is determined it can be ordered and delivered online along with any required updates. The purchase and permit management side of this process is designed to interface with existing commercial systems.
Updates and new data are processed and available within _vPrep. The charts, route and other overlay information can be further processed for delivery to an ECDIS using standard transmittal and data formats.
_vPrep reporting presents the voyage plan in a formatted, readable way which can be printed directly or integrated with other documentation. The plan includes a route description along with statements and certificates on the status of the required charts and other data used in the passage plan.