Noble Company Wins Linux Award

HONG KONG - Jul 12/05 - SNS -- A member company in the Noble group won the Industry-Based Grand Award of the 2005 Linux Business Awards here.

It was given to Fleet Management by the Government of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hi-Tech Weekly and Hong Kong Linux Industry Association. The award was given for the company's deployment of an IT application on the Linux platform for use by its fleet of ships around the world.

Called Planning And Reporting Infrastructure [Ship] (PARIS), the system makes it possible for users on land to view vital shipping details in transit via an automatic synchronized satellite link.

Developed as a subset of the company website and running on Linux mini-servers across a fleet of over 120 ships, PARIS allows the ship’s crew to maintain its Planned Maintenance System (PMS), crew details, portage bill, inspection reporting, incident records and surveys on board. This information is accessible through the satellite link allowing two-way swapping of data between ship and office computers. Designed as a user-friendly application, PARIS can be accessed on PCs throughout the ship and requires no special training or software.

John Barcy, Group Head of Development, Fleet & Chartering Systems and leader of the project is thrilled his team’s diligence and innovation has paid off. "We are delighted to receive this award in recognition of our efforts and success with PARIS," he enthuses.

"Over the last year, our team of developers has been working closely with our colleagues in Fleet Management to bring a web-like system to our ships. Our use of Linux ensures a reliable and seamless interaction between the systems in the office and those on the ships."

With more than US$1 billion worth of vessels under management and recently celebrating its 10th year anniversary, Fleet Management’s Rajvanshy attributes much of its success to a pioneering approach to IT development. "We believe this is the first ship management system of its type that is fully synchronized," he says.

"It gives us an edge in a very competitive industry. Our philosophy of ship management is to provide a superior service in a cost effective manner. We feel that the adoption of Linux for PARIS provides a higher-quality onboard solution that fits this philosophy."