Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for managing the maintenance, repair and servicing of marine vessels by users, shipyards and parts suppliers. Particularly, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing the repair, maintenance, retrofit and/or conversion of ships.

Background of the Invention

[0002] According to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), all merchant vessels require a complete survey of the hull, propellor, rudder and any other parts that are immersed in water during typical use in a dry dock twice within a period of five years and an intermediary survey within thirty-six months. All passenger vessels require an annual inspection of the hull, propeller, rudder and any other parts that are immersed in water during typical use. Two such inspections in a period of five years must be carried out in a dry dock and the maximum interval between these inspections should be no more than three years.

[0003] When a ship needs maintenance or repairs, typically the ship owner or manager must contact a vessel maintenance management company, via direct communications, such as email or phone call. The vessel management company then provides the ship owner or manager a form of up to ten thousand data fields to fill out, outlining the nature of the maintenance services, retrofit services, conversions or repairs required. The vessel management company communicates this data to the relevant shipyard(s) and parts supplier(s) to request quotes from each party. This typically allows the vessel management company to provide a quote to the ship owner or manager within twenty to twenty-five days.

[0004] Each different shipyard quotes different prices for different maintenance operations, has different availability of maintenance facilities such as cranes, dock type, dock dimensions, time slots for available dock usage and the like. Work schedules need to be organised around public holidays, dock availability, availability of specialist personnel to do specialist maintenance operations, and a host of other factors involved in achieving the overall objective of maintaining a marine vessel.

[0005] Since this is a lengthy and involved process, there is a need for a more efficient and uniform system to manage ship servicing and repairs, for use by ship owners, managers, shipyard managers, and parts suppliers.

Summary of the Invention

[0006] The specific embodiments and methods described herein, aim to provide an efficient and uniform or standardized system to manage the maintenance, repair and servicing of marine vessels, particularly although not exclusively ships by users, shipyards and parts suppliers.

[0007] According to a first aspect there of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing the maintenance, repair and servicing of marine vessels by users, shipyards and parts suppliers comprises: one or more processors; a memory device coupled to one or more processors; a ship management platform stored on the memory device; a Wide Area Network (WAN); a maintenance logistics module

[0008] Preferably, further comprising an authentication sub-module, which receives information about the individual user and their company and validates this information.

[0009] Preferably, further comprising an International Maritime Organization (IMO) number conversion sub-module, which receives the IMO number of the vessel and uses a database to output further information about the vessel.

[0010] Preferably, further comprising a service request sub-module, which uses data from the shipyard and the user to match vessel size with the appropriate dock size, match the dates selected by the user to the availability of the docks and match shipyard with region.

[0011] Preferably, further comprising a deferred payment sub-module, which uses data input by the user to create a deferred payment option for the user.

[0012] Preferably, further comprising a pricing sub-module, which uses data input by the user, shipyard and parts supplier to display instant pricing data, estimated figures and a calculation sheet.

[0013] Preferably, further comprising a retrofit sub-module, which uses data input by the user and parts supplier to draft a quote.

[0014] The key advantages of the presently disclosed novel system are that it increases the efficiency of the method for providing a vessel maintenance, servicing or repair quote; it uses databases to increase the efficiency of inputting the data for the user and it standardises the documentation associated with the repairs, maintenance or servicing.

[0015] According to a second aspect there is provided an apparatus for scheduling maintenance of a marine vessel, said apparatus comprising: an authentication module for authenticating a marine vessel operator and/or a maintenance facility operator; an IMO number conversion module for converting an IMO number into a list of technical parameters describing a marine vessel; and a service request module for processing a request for a maintenance service of said marine vessel.

[0016] According to a third aspect there is provided a method for scheduling maintenance of a marine vessel, said method comprising: authenticating a marine vessel operator and/or a maintenance facility operator; converting an IMO number technical data describing technical parameters of a marine vessel identified by said IMO number; inputting technical maintenance data describing technical maintenance requirements of said marine vessel; inputting technical maintenance facility data describing physical and I or technical parameters of a marine vessel maintenance facility; comparing said technical parameters of said marine vessel with said technical parameters of said marine vessel maintenance facilities to find a match between the technical parameters of the marine vessel and the technical maintenance facilities of one or more maintenance facilities which can provide said technical maintenance parameters.

[0017] Preferably said process of comparing said required maintenance service operations with said available maintenance service operations comprises comparing technical specification data of said required maintenance service operations with technical specification data of said available maintenance service operations.

[0018] Said technical parameters of said marine vessel may be selected from the set: gross tonnage fuel type hull dimensions; engine type hull type.

[0019] Preferably said technical parameters of said marine vessel maintenance facility are selected from the set: length, width, depth of dock facility; number of available cranes lifting capacity of available cranes; maintenance facility geographical location; maximum docking draft; physical location of maintenance facility whether docking facility is dry dock.

[0020] Said method may further comprise: receiving data describing maintenance service operations required for a service of said marine vessel; receiving data describing maintenance services availability at one or a plurality of maintenance facilities; comparing the required maintenance service operations with the available maintenance service operations; depending on a result of said comparison, selecting one or more said maintenance facilities which can provide said required maintenance service operations.

[0021] Said method may further comprise: receiving unit price data for available maintenance services; receiving technical details of said marine vessel; receiving required maintenance service operations of said vessel which depend upon said technical details of said marine vessel; and calculating price data from said unit price data, said technical details of submarine vessel and from said required maintenance service operation data.

[0022] Preferably said retrofit service and/or conversion service data is selected from the following data types: liquified natural gas technical specification data; ballast water treatment system technical specification data; emissions scrubber equipment technical specification data; hybrid retrofit system technical specification data.

[0023] Said retrofit service and/or conversion service data may be selected from the following data types: liquified natural gas pricing data; ballast water treatment system pricing data; emissions scrubber equipment pricing data; hybrid retrofit system pricing data.

[0024] Said retrofit service and/or conversion service data may be selected from the following data types: liquified natural gas retrofit service availability data; ballast water treatment system service availability data; emissions scrubber equipment service availability data; hybrid retrofit system service availability data.

[0025] Preferably each of said processes operates substantially in parallel to each other. [0026] Preferably each of said processes operates substantially in real time, so that a modified data input for any one said process or data input automatically and in real time results in update of each other said process and/or data input.

[0027] Other aspects are as set out in the claims herein.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0028] For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, there will now be described by way of example only, specific embodiments, methods and processes according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 herein illustrates schematically an example of a marine vessel that requires regular maintenance and repairs, by way of dry docking;

Figure 2 herein illustrates schematically a computing environment including a plurality of data processing terminals communicating data, including the input and output data from the users, shipyards and suppliers, and a set of instructions according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 herein illustrates schematically a typical hardware structure of a user terminal shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 herein illustrates schematically a computing environment, including a computer platform, user interfaces and cloud storage and communication platform for implementing the embodiments and methods described herein;

Figure 5 herein illustrates schematically the communication terminals, data storage devices, processing devices and data involved in the network environment for implementing the methods and embodiments described herein; Figure 6 details the collection of the input data from the user, shipyards and suppliers according to a specific method disclosed herein;

Figure 7 details are set of modules and sub-modules, and an order in which the sub-modules are accessed in one specific embodiment of the present system disclosed herein;

Figure 8 details processes carried out by the maintenance logistics module and the interaction of submodules within the maintenance logistics module;

Figure 9 details processes performed by the terminals of figures 2 and 3 and the maintenance logistics module to process the input data from the user, shipyards and suppliers;

Figure 10 illustrates an operational view of the authentication sub-module of the maintenance logistics module, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 11 illustrates an operational view of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) number conversion sub-module;

Figure 12 illustrates an operational view of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) number conversion sub-module, with input and output data provided as an example;

Figure 13 illustrates an operational view of the service request sub-module and the deferred payment sub-module;

Figure 14 illustrates an operational view of the pricing sub-module;

Figure 15 illustrates an operational view of the retrofit sub-module. Detailed Description of the Embodiments

[0029] There will now be described by way of example a specific mode contemplated by the inventors. In the following description numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding. It will be apparent however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without limitation to these specific details. In other instances, well known methods and structures have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the description.

[0030] In this specification the terms ‘comprises/comprising’ and the words ‘having/including’ when used herein with reference to the present invention are used to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components of groups thereof.

[0031] In this specification the terms “marine vessel” is used to include all marine vessels, including ships, oil rigs, yatches, barges, submersibles and the like. The term “ships” is a subset of a type of marine vessel. Where a feature is referred to as applying to a ship it is to be understood as also being applicable to a marine vessel and vice versa, unless otherwise specifically stated. The methods and apparatus disclosed is directed mainly for use with ships, but the methods and apparatus disclosed may find equal application to servicing, maintenance, retrofit and conversions of marine vessels of all types. Where reference is made to a ship operator or a ship owner it will be understood that if the marine vessel is of a different type, the term ship operator or owner is construed accordingly.

[0032] For convenience of description herein after the following describes a method and apparatus for maintenance of a ship, but it will be understood by the skilled person that the methods and apparatus also apply to other marine vessels

[0033] Referring to Figure 1 herein there is illustrated schematically a vessel which has been completely removed from the large body of water in which it usually operates, allowing maintenance and repairs to be carried out on parts of the vessel that are typically underwater and require regular maintenance, servicing or repairs.

[0034] The image comprises a dry dock 100; a large vessel 101 ; equipment for carrying out maintenance and repairs on the vessel 102; support blocks 103; gates 104.

[0035] A dry dock is typically a dock 100 which is flooded to the same level as the surrounding water, allowing the vessel 101 to be floated in and positioned over the support blocks 103. The dry dock gates 104 are then closed and the water is pumped out, leaving the vessel supported by a series of blocks 103. Once the maintenance and/or repair work has been completed, the docks are once more flooded to the same level as the surrounding water, the gates 104 are opened and the vessel is floated out.

[0036] Referring to Figure 2 herein there is illustrated schematically a network environment, in which several data processing terminals 101 , 102, 103 are connected to one another over a Wide Area Network (WAN) 104, in Figure 1 the internet.

[0037] The network environment comprises data processing terminals 101 , 102, 103; a Wide Area Network (WAN) 104; wireless data transmission 105; communication link relay 106; remote gateway 107; wireless data transmission 108; local wireless router 109; wired telecommunication network 110 and wired connection 111.

[0038] Data processing terminal 101 is a mobile communication device which receives or emits data, including voice and/or text data, encoded as a digital signal over a wireless data transmission 105, wherein said signal is relayed respectively to or from the device 101 by the geographically-closest communication link rely 106 of a plurality thereof. A plurality N of communication link relays 106 allows digital signals to be routed between mobile devices 101 and their intended recipient by means of a remote gateway 107. Gateway 107 is for instance a communication network switch, which couples 110 digital signal traffic between wireless telecommunications networks, such as the network within which wireless data transmissions 105 take place, and the WAN 104. The gateway 107 further provides protocol conversion if requires, for instance if the device 101 uses a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) or Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) to communicate data.

[0039] Data processing terminal 102 is a mobile tablet format device which receives or emits data encoded as a digital signal over a wireless data transmission 108, wherein said signal is related respectively to or from the computer 102 by a local wireless router 109 operating according to the 802.11 wireless transmission protocol (Wi-Fi). The router 109 is itself connected to the WAN 104 via a conventional ADSL or optical fibre connection over a wired telecommunication network 110.

[0040] Data processing terminal 103 is a personal computer configured as a data server connected to the WAN 105 substantially as described in connection with device 102, however a wired connection 111 to each respective router 1099 is preferred to maximize data communication bandwidth.

[0041] In the environment of Figure 2 therefore, the user of each terminal 101 , 102 has the use of a mobile communicating device configured to receive and communicate data encoded as a digital signal over a wireless data transmission, respectively from and to the server 103.

[0042] Referring to Figure 3 herein there is illustrated schematically a typical hardware architecture of either of the networking devices 101 , 102 in further detail, by way of non-limitative example. The mobile phone 101 and the tablet device 102 each include a data processing unit 201 , for instance a general- purpose microprocessor, acting as the main controller of the data processing terminal and which is coupled with memory means 202, comprising volatile random-access memory (RAM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) or a combination thereof. [0043] Each device further includes networking means. Communication functionality in mobile phone 101 is provided by a modem 203, which provides the interface to external communication systems, such as the GPRS, 3G, 4G or 5G cellular network 106, 107 shown in Figure 2, associated with or containing an analogue-to-digital converter 204, which receives an analogue waveform signal through an aerial 205 from the communication link relay 106 and processed same into digital data with the data processing unit 201 or a dedicated signal processing unit. Communication functionality in tablet device 102 is provided by a wireless network interface card (WNIC) 206 interfacing the tablet device 102 with the wireless local area network generated by router 109, and/or likewise by a 3G, 4G or 5G modem 203 as described above.

[0044] The CPU 201 , NVRAM 202 and networking means 203 to 206 are connected by a data input/output bus 207, over which they communicate and to which further components of each device 101 , 102 are similarly connected in order to provide wireless communication functionality and receive user interrupts, inputs and configuration data.

[0045] Accordingly, user input may be received from a data input interface 208, which for mobile phone 101 is a keypad with a limited number of multifunctional keys and/or a capacitive or resistive touch screen feature of the display unit 209.

[0046] Further input data may be received as analogue sound wave data by a microphone 210, digital image data by a digital camera lens 211 and digital data via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 212. Processed data is output as one or both of display data output to the display unit 209 and audio data output to a speaker unit 213.

[0047] Power is supplied to the above components by the electrical circuit 214 of devices 101 ,102, which is interfaced with an internal battery module 215, which itself may be recharged on an ad hoc basis by an electrical converter 216. [0048] Referring to Figure 4 herein there is illustrated schematically a network implementation of the present system and method to provide an integrated platform to manage ship maintenance and repairs.

[0049] The network implementation comprises a communication network, such as an intranet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the internet and the like 400; a computer platform 401 ; a set of user interfaces, including a desktop 402, a laptop 403 and a mobile device or tablet 404, although it should be noted that the user interface is not limited to these devices.

[0050] In the present embodiment, the system is implemented on a computer server 401 , although it should be noted that the present system may be implemented in a variety of computing systems, such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a workstation, a notebook, a server, a network server, a mainframe computer, and the like. It should also be noted that the present system may be accessed by multiple users through one or more computing devices 402, 403, 404, and the number of devices is not limited to the number presented in this diagram. The computing devices are communicatively accessible to the present system through a network 400.

[0051] In one implementation, the network 400 may be a wireless network, a wired network or a combination thereof. The network 400 can be implemented as one of the different types of networks, such as an intranet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the internet and the like. The network 400 may a shared network. The shared network represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/lnternet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and the like, to communicate with one another. Furthermore, the network 400 may include a variety of storage devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, and the like, as outlined above. [0052] Referring to Figure 5 herein there is illustrated schematically a network implementation of the present system, comprising input and output data, a communication interface, a user interface, a main memory, a processor, a ROM and a storage device.

[0053] Referring to Figure 6 herein there is illustrated schematically a block diagram of data flows, into a maintenance logistics module 600 showing the input data collected from the users, shipyards and parts suppliers. This input data is analyzed by the maintenance logistics module and used to produce a preliminary quote for the user, shipyard and parts supplier.

[0054] The maintenance logistics module 600 comprises one or more databases for storing digital data. Stored data may comprise: data of a technical nature describing the technical maintenance requirements and technical parameters of a ship; and also including other data types including part numbers; technical specifications of individual ship components; maintenance schedules for ships; technical information describing dockyard facilities, including size of docks, dimensions, available maintenance machinery, geographical location of dockyard facilities, whether the dockyard is covered or open-air, whether the dockyard’s dry dock or wet dock, transport links to the dockyard, machinery available at a particular location; dates when dockyard facilities and/or particular shipyard maintenance facilities and retrofit facilities are available; unit prices of particular shipyard services for each shipyard; unit prices for parts, supplies, consumable items and services provided by each shipyard; data describing types of service required by ship owners or ship operators, real-time or regularly updated locations of ships for which service or maintenance is to be arranged; ship IMO numbers, from which other data types can be identified from an international register; required maintenance windows and/or docking dates for ships as specified by ship owners or ship operators.

[0055] The data flows comprise a set of input data provided by the shipyard, including but not limited to data describing the dock and wharfage dimensions 601 , data 602 describing the availability of each of the plurality of individual docks at the shipyard; and data 603 describing individual unit prices of all shipyards services for a particular shipyard; data 604 input by parts suppliers comprises the unit prices for all parts, supplies and services.

[0056] The data input by the users comprises data 605 describing the type of service required by the vessel, data 606 describing the physical geographical location of the vessel, data 607 describing the International Maritime Organization (IMO) number of the vessel; and data 608 identifying preferred or required 608 dates the vessel is available for docking.

[0057] By identification of the ship IMO number, data can be received from a centralised database which includes parameters describing the ship, including:

- type of vessel;

- tonnage;

- external dimensions, weight, height;

- type of fuel;

- type of engine;

- number of propellers;

- accident history;

- maintenance records

- country of registration;

- ownership;

- accident history.

[0058] The maintenance logistics module performs the overall functions of, for each ship:

- providing a ship owner or ship operator with a list of available maintenance and retrofit facilities including dockyards, shipyards, including the type of maintenance facilities available, the dates available, and other information such as costs for individual maintenance operations required; - providing dockyard or shipyard operators with information on ships requiring or where the ship operator is seeking upcoming maintenance, including the type of ship, the owner or operator, technical details concerning the ship including required maintenance, specification and technical features of the ship , available dates for maintenance, any restrictions on the dates the vessel is available for maintenance, current geographical location of the vessel.

- Matching ship technical characteristics and technical requirements with the available maintenance machinery and technical facilities and technical maintenance and retrofit services provided at a shipyard or dock yard, so as each vessel type, to filter from the available database of shipyards or dockyards a list of shipyards or dockyards which could perform the type of maintenance required for the specific type of ship in question;

- to match the available dates of suitable shipyard dockyard facilities which are capable of providing the technical maintenance requirements for the ship with the available maintenance window dates input by the vessel owner or operator;

- to provide a range of calculated costs for providing required maintenance services specified by a vessel operator from information input by the shipyard or dockyard operator concerning unit costs for individual maintenance operations, and by performing calculations of cost using the technical information of the ship including quantity, area, dimensions, and other technical information multiplied by the unit cost data provided by the dockyard shipyard operator to arrive at an estimated or proposed cost suited to the particular vessel for which maintenance is being arranged;

- to provide an automatic electronically generated contract which is prefilled with technical information concerning the vessel, calculated price and/or cost information matched to the technical considerations and requirements of the ship and matched to the maintenance time window required by the vessel or ship operator. [0059] Referring to Figure 7 herein, there is illustrated schematically the maintenance logistics module block diagram showing examples of requests and processes comprising or carried out by the maintenance logistics module 600.

[0060] The maintenance logistics module comprises an authentication submodule 701 ; an IMO number conversion sub-module 702; a service request submodule 703; a deferred payment sub-module 704; a pricing sub-module 705; a retrofit scrubber, liquefied natural gas (LNG), ballast water treatment system (BWTS) sub-module 706.

[0061] Referring to Figure 8 herein, there is illustrated schematically a process flowchart for processes carried out by the maintenance logistics module 600. A process 800 starts by a user logging in and bringing up the screen view which activates authentication submodule processes 801. Input data to the authentication submodule 701 and authentication submodule processes 801 comprises the following data types:

- Name

- Surname

- email address

- phone number

- website address

- company name;

- company

- whether the company is a listed company or not

- total vessel fleet size for the company

- market segment.

[0062] Outputs of the authentication submodule 801 comprise validation of a user account.

[0063] In IMO number conversion process 802, entering an IMO number prompts retrieval of data corresponding to the IMO number from a database which contains technical and other details of the ship from the data stored next to the IMO number of the vessel on the database. The retrieved data can be imported from an external database over the communications network to make sure that the IMO data is up-to-date and current. The data input into the IMO number conversion process 802 is the IMO number of the vessel. The IMO conversion process operates by obtaining data via IHS Markit.

[0064] The output of the IMO number conversion process comprises the following data fields /types:

- vessel name

- type of vessel

- build year

- Gross tonnage

- Deadweight

- Depth (hull)

- Breadth (hull)

- Length

- class society.

[0065] In service request process 803, a user, such as a ship operator enters detail of the requested service for the vessel. The service request submodule may receive data from the IMO number conversion process 802 which may contain specified dates or deadlines by which the vessel must be maintained, and the type of required; the service request module also compares the technical requirements of the service and of the vessel with the technical facilities of each of the dockyards or maintenance facilities in the database to make sure that the maintenance facility or dockyard is suitable for the vessel. This involves checking basic parameters such as: comparing the whole dimensions of the vessel with the dockyard dimensions to make sure that the vessel will fit in the dockyard; comparing the technical details of the vessel with the support facilities provided by the main maintenance facility to make sure that the support facilities match the technical details of the vessel, for example engine type, whether propeller maintenance is available, whether hole maintenance is available, and for which types of hole maintenance service.

[0066] The service request module: collates the vessel size with the appropriate dockyard size; matches the date availability of the dockyard to the date selected by the user; matches shipyards with geographical regions.

[0067] Inputs to the service request process 802 provided by a dockyard or shipyard operator comprise:

- requested service type

- requested docking date

- requested country

- shipyard and dock data

- maximum docking draft data

- dock and wharfage dimensions

- unit prices of services

- availability of docs.

[0068] At process 804, the pricing submodule generates cost /pricing data, taking into account as its inputs the type of vessel, the individual prices for individual maintenance operations which each dockyard or maintenance facility has pre - stored in the database, and/or which can be entered by the dockyard or maintenance facility operator in real-time. The pricing submodule collates information on the platform and displays it in a succinct and readily understandable manner. It provides instant pricing data, estimated figures for particular maintenance services, together with a calculation display giving a breakdown of the estimated costs for the maintenance services. .

[0069] Optionally, if the ship operator requests deferred payment, deferred payment process 806 determines whether a deferred payment is available for particular vessels, and may filter out any dockyards where deferred payment is unavailable, so that the pricing process 804 considers only maintenance providers who offer deep deferred payment options. Inputs to the deferred payment process 806 comprise:

- vessel OP EX

- charter hire period

- charter hire rate;

- vessel value

- vessel debt.

[0070] The output data from the deferred payments process 806 is input into scrubber I LNG I BWTS process 807.

[0071] The outputs of the pricing process 804 carried out by pricing submodule 705 and the output of the scrubber/ LNG/BWTS process 807, determined by the respective scrubber/ LNG I BWTS submodule 706, provides a system output and finishes 805 a process session. The output of the scrubber I LNG I BWTS process may be provided as an email containing prices on the list of works, or may be displayed as an online visual display or a display on a computer user interface, or as a data file.

[0072] Referring to Figure 9 herein there is illustrated schematically the process undertaken by the maintenance logistics module 600.

[0073] The input data is analyzed by the maintenance logistics module as follows; the information provided at sign up 900 is authenticated in an authentication process by the maintenance logistics management group. After the user logs in to the system 901 , there is the option to submit a service request, in process 902, through which the service type, location of the vessel, availability of the vessel and the IMO number of the vessel is collected. The IMO number of the vessel is used in conjunction with a database of information about each vessel which is linked to the IMO number, allowing the maintenance logistics module to find and use the vessel name, type, build year, gross tonnage, deadweight, depth, breadth, length, class society. The user can then request products and services and the service type, along with the vessel information acquired via the IMO database and the unit prices provided by the shipyards and suppliers are used to generate and display an estimated quote.

[0074] In process 903, it is checked whether there is a deferred payment option, vessel OPEX, the charter hire period, and any instalments.

[0075] In process 904, a credit review is performed; a host organisation of the apparatus and system gives tenor terms, and a price (if approved).

[0076] In process 906 scrubber, BWTS, LNG and hybrid retrofit data is input.

[0077] In process 907, data is input concerning IHS, inputs to various questions concerning the vessel and related to the type of retrofit which is required.

[0078] In process 908, there are collected a price estimation with the supplier, and input supply cost for retrofits.

[0079] In process 909, the price estimation with the supplier and the supply cost retrofits and the products and services output of process 905 are combined so that the system operator and shipyard may approve a request.

[0080] In process 910 there is generated a digital confirmation which can be converted into a cover letter or a quotation list and a BIMCO repair contract is dynamically prepared. The ship operator user is sent an electronic communication which contains data describing every detail on pricing of specific maintenance services and/ or retrofit and/or conversion services as well as options for the ship operator to choose components based on the ship operator’s preference, such as subjective quality, manufacturer, technical specification or the like, and on pricing. The electronic communication may be converted to an email, pdf or as a graphical user interface displayed communication.

[0081] In process 911 , the ship operator confirms and signs the digitally prepared document to confirm the scheduled vessel maintenance determined by the output of process 910.

[0082] Whilst the above processes shown in Figures 7 to 9 herein are presented graphically as sequential processes, each process operates in real-time in parallel to each other process, with data being transferred between the processes in real-time so that updated data input automatically results in updated data output in real-time, with output displays and visual displays available on demand in real-time to each user category.

[0083] Referring to Figures 10 to 15 herein there are illustrated operational views of the system.

[0084] Figure 10 comprises a name input field 1000; a surname input field 1001 ; email input field 1002; a phone input field 1003; a web address input field 1004; a company input field 1005; a parent company input field 1008; company type input field 1007; country input field 1008; listed company input field 1009; total fleet size input field 1010 and market segment input field 1011.

[0085] Figure 11 comprises an International Maritime Organization (IMO) number input and search field 1100; the IMO number is then used to automatically fill in the vessel name 1101 ; type 1102; build year 1003; gross tonnage 1104; deadweight 1105; depth 1106; breadth 1107; length 1108 and class society 1109 fields. [0086] Figure 12 comprises a completed IMO number input and search field 1200, with all the data mentioned in [49] completed.

[0087] Figure 13 comprises an example service request form 1300 and a deferred payment request form 1301 ; the input data being the service type 1302; docking date 1303; country 1304; shipyard and dock 1305 and the maximum docking draft 1306 for the service request form and the vessel owner 1307; vessel operational expenditure (OPEX) 1308; charter hire period 1309; charter hire rate 1310 and installment 1311.

[0088] Figure 14 illustrates an operational view of the detailed service request interactive system. The illustration comprises a vessel and docking information display panel 1400; a category selection field 1401 ; a detailed service request form 1402; a quote display output 1403 and discount rate and discounted total price output 1404. The graphical user interface also has data field displays for simultaneously displaying information concerning the IMO number; the vessel name; the shipyard name; the docking date; and data describing the docking, tugs, plot and warfage, such as first and last days (docking and undocking dates), subsequent docking days, tugs for docking and undocking, line handlers for docking and undocking, warfage, plot for warfage arrival and departure, and tugs for warfage arrival and departure.

[0089] Figure 15 illustrates an operational view of the scrubber installation preferences, comprising a scrubber configuration input field 1500; operational model input field 1501 ; a required efficiency input field 1502; a Vessel General Permit (VGP) compliance input field 1503; a boiler treatment input field 1504; a maker input field 1505 and an estimated time of arrival (ETA) input field 1506.

Retrofit services

[0090] Concerning the scrubber, liquified natural gas LNG, ballast water treatment systems BTWS emissions scrubber retrofit and hybrid retrofit module 706 and process 807, in a first specific embodiment and method a retrofit questionnaire is provided to a ship operator and is required to be completed and based on information and data populated as questionnaire answers. In the first embodiment and method, the host operator of the apparatus and method may manually obtain the specific component prices from suppliers/engineers etc. and enter these into the pricing sub module 705. A separate graphical user interface is provided for each of the four retrofit services or conversions, LNG, BTWS, scrubbers and hybrid conversions I retrofits. In the first specific embodiment and method, the four retrofit options and pricing quotations are not generated automatically, as they are for drydocking services.

[0091] However in a second embodiment and method, as described herein, the retrofit services type information or retrofit options pricing data will be entered by the shipyard operator users via the pricing module 705, to mirror as much a possible the other digital processes of data input as described for drydocking.

[0092] In the second embodiments for retrofit services, immediate real time data entry and pricing is implemented by the retrofit services module 706 and corresponding retrofit process 807, using separately generated graphical user interfaces for input and output of data types describing the four retrofit services as identified herein.

[0093] It should be noted that the illustrations of operational views provided herein are not exhaustive and are provided for exemplary purposes.