Mitsubishi Ore Transport (MOT) will be revamping its ship management system around the autumn of 2025 by introducing NiBiKi, developed by its parent company NYK. MOT is currently in the process of migrating to the new system.

“Revamping our ship management system – the very foundation of our ship management operations – as well as our safety management manual was a big decision for us.” This is how Yasuhiro Ikeda, Health, Safety, Security, Environment & Quality Group General Manager and Technical Support Team Head, described the introduction of NiBiKi currently underway.

The decision to introduce NiBiKi stemmed from the aging of the system used theretofore as well as the difficulty of keeping the safety management manual up to date with limited human resources to ensure compliance with the industry's ever-increasingly sophisticated safety standards. NiBiKi is a ship management platform comprising the Safety Management System (SMS) manual used throughout the NYK Group as well as approval workflows for shipboard operations. Although the SMS manual can be used in a standalone fashion, it was determined that incorporating the platform and the manual as a pair via NiBiKi would facilitate both migration and cooperation at the NYK Group, so introduction was approved in October 2024.

One of the anticipated benefits of switching to a new system is improved operational efficiency. The old system required that reports and requests be entered into a special template and then sent by e-mail, while NiBiKi comes equipped with a module to handle request workflows for shipboard operations: various reports, confirmation of onboard maintenance work details, instructions to the vessel, and approvals can all be completed on the system by both the vessel and the ship management company. More specifically, the vessel submits reports and requests for onboard maintenance work via the module. The personnel in charge of managing the vessel in Japan are notified of the vessel’s reports and requests for onboard work, and can respond to these on the system. The aforementioned changes reduce workloads and ensure timely responses.

MOT is engaged in a step-by-step transition and is currently holding briefings and training sessions for crew members on the use of NiBiKi and on the contents of the SMS manual. The company is also in the process of installing server PCs for the new system on all vessels under its management.

Even after the upgrades has been made, the old system will continue to be utilized in parallel until it is determined that vessels can be operated safely without trouble and that the system is running problem-free. Mr. Ikeda describes the transition to the new system as follows:

“It will take us almost two months to reach all the vessels, even just to install the PCs. Our vessels sail all over the world, so delivering the computers is a very time-consuming process because we need to time these deliveries with their port calls. Dispatching instructors to the ships to train the crews is also fraught with difficulties, so we are currently offering training to crew members on shore leave. Eventually we will hit a requisite number of crew members who have completed the training, at which point we can completely switch over to NiBiKi without any need for ships to pull into port.”

Mr. Ikeda offered his impression of the new SMS manual to be introduced alongside NiBiKi: "There are no major differences from the SMS manual we have put together and utilized in-house, but the new manual does incorporate the experience and know-how of the entire NYK Group in many areas.”
There was some initial controversy within the company about switching to the NiBiKi SMS manual, with the arguments against doing so including “The manual is our life, and we should continue following our own independent and original approaches” and “We are latecomers with respect to NiBiKi so we cannot compete on an equal footing with Group companies that were early adopters.”

Nevertheless, the decision was made from a broader perspective that the introduction of NiBiKi should proceed. One of MOT’s strengths is the closeness between onboard crew members and onshore workers. Many of the Japanese employees, the Filipino crew members, and the executives of the dedicated company responsible for assigning Filipino crew members have experience both onboard and onshore, having taken part in personnel rotations between crew and shore-side management. Leveraging the natural ease of cooperation between crew members and land-based personnel arising in this environment, MOT decided to ensure that the manual is thoroughly followed by every last employee. Mr. Ikeda had the following to say about the sense of distance vis-à-vis frontline personnel:

“We will no doubt be at a disadvantage compared to other companies because of our initial unfamiliarity with the SMS manual. While we will inevitably find ourselves in a tough situation over the short term, I do not think that this will last for ten or even five years. Many of us who work onshore have crew experience and are close to the crews now serving, so we should be able to make sure that each and every crew member understands the SMS manual and that following it to the letter will truly make a difference.”
The sense of closeness with frontline personnel will serve not only to ensure that the SMS manual is meticulously enforced all down the line but also to convey the views of frontline personnel to MOT’s parent company NYK.

MOT has also introduced “Starlink Maritime”, a satellite communication service that can be used at sea and that will complement NiBiKi in improving operational efficiency. This service was introduced in October 2023 as an addition to the existing satellite communication service, and is currently available on all vessels under MOT management. Shiori Okojima, a member of the Health, Safety, Security, Environment & Quality Group’s Technical Support Team, pointed out the following:

“We had been using a satellite communication service on ships for some time, but the slow communication speed, about 1/60th of that on land, meant that sending even a single e-mail took a long time. Images and other attachments could contain no more than 2MB of data, so large data files inconveniently had to be sent in multiple installments.”

Crew members also had only 2 GB per month of cellphone data capacity freely available for private use, so communication with family members was limited to voice calls and chats. The slow communication speeds and limited data capacity had long left crew members dissatisfied.

MOT chose to introduce "Starlink Maritime" to resolve these issues, and an in-house proposal was presented to make MOT the first company in the industry to sign up for this service as soon as it became available in Japan. However, senior management who took difficulties in communicating with family members and others while on board for granted because of their own experiences questioned the need for such improvements and were very reluctant initially to give their approval. They were concerned not just with the welfare of crew members but also with business facets such as system stability and backup security. In the end, they were won over by proposals and appeals noting that the new satellite communication service could be used at significantly less expense than the satellite communication service then being utilized, that the initial costs for purchasing antennas would be low, and that MOT could migrate to a plan that optimized the cost of the existing communication service and continue operating the earlier communication system as a backup line.

Communication speeds onboard matched those onshore after the introduction of Starlink Maritime, and there were no longer any restrictions on the amount of data that could be attached to e-mails. Should problems arise, the captain and chief engineer were able to communicate in real time with minimal delay via Facetime video calls and short message images from their iPhones, allowing them to receive and respond to prompt and precise instructions from management. This has dramatically improved the quality and efficiency of information sharing.

The cellular data capacity allocated to crew members as part of their benefits has also been significantly increased to 10 GB as of September 2024, giving crew members the ability to enjoy video calls with family members and others as well as use video subscription services onboard.

Ms. Okojima pointed out that "access to 10 GB has been well-received by happy crew members”, mentioning at the same time a creative approach adopted in providing this access:

“When we were using the older satellite communication service, we occasionally had crew members who had used up their 2GB ask for additional communication data capacity. Based on this experience, we thought that if we gave them 10GB – a month’s allocation – all at once, they might use it up before the end of the month and come asking for more, so we opted to provide data capacity on a weekly basis to encourage more calculated use: weekly allocations of 2GB, 3GB, 2GB, and 3GB for a total of 10GB.”

There is considerable interest across the industry in crew welfare. It is important that companies provide an environment where crew members can communicate with their families and others while they are away from home so they can apply themselves enthusiastically to their work onboard. As with the safety management manual, placing greater focus on this issue is crucial.