Blessey Marine Services Inc.
"Blessey Marine is most satisfied with the Helm product thus far and is anxiously awaiting the deployment of the new Safety and Incident module!" – Albert Cavalier, Blessey Marine
Based in Harahan, LA, Blessey Marine Services Inc. manages a fleet of approximately 60 workboats and 100+ barges with the responsibility of picking up and delivering refined fuel and delivering from refineries to tank farms from Houston all the way up the Mississippi River.
Challenge: Blessey’s refinery customers are on a consistent need-to-know basis with regards to the location of their tugs and fuel barges so that peak capacity is never reached and a suspension of production isn’t necessary. They expect Blessey to notify them twice daily of the location of every tug in their fleet.
The onboard system that Blessey was using aboard its tugs was developed in an era of the dial-up modem, which required their captains to manually dial out, until they received a connection to shore, to transfer their logs. Updating their system was also virtually impossible due to the lack of support from the small company that developed it and their refusal to share the source code.
Once the logs were transferred to shore, up to four dispatchers had to review all logs toensure receipt, translate each captain’s free-form short hand text entires, plus manually copy and paste from each log entry to send emails to their customers, confirming the location of each workboat and barge.
Blessey required a new dispatch system as well as a new onboard system, but couldn’t manage a disruption in operations while a new software system was implemented.
Proposed Solution: Blessey approached Edoc because of our familiarity with the fuel barging industry, having just implemented a dispatch system for a bluewater fuel barging company, Penn Maritime. To minimize any shore-side disruption, Edoc proposed a dispatch solution with a custom interface that looked identical to their original system. Helm Dispatch Manager was then implemented for only one dispatcher in parallel with the original system to ensure that it operated properly.
Edoc then interviewed captains and crew at Blessey to learn what issues they had withtheir current onboard system and what they would require of their new system. The response was resounding: “Create boater-friendly software that doesn’t get in our way.”
Edoc then created an intuitive, onboard system with a simple interface that allowed captains and crew to easily input data. It also was developed with an onboard database, so that it did not require a persistent connection with shore. The software would auto connect with shore through a series of protocols, starting with the cheapest method, WiFi, then cellular, the satellite. The software would continue searching until a connection was found. Captains would not have to babysit the system any longer. They could concentrate on running their vessel.
In order to minimize disruption, once the new Helm Onboard system was developed, it wasimplemented on one vessel in parallel with the original system to ensure that it operated corrected, and that adoption was seamless.
Outcome: All Blessey tugs now operated Helm Onboard for their Captain’s Log entries. Due to the simplicity of the interface, adoption was seamless. Captains no longer have to babysit the software to ensure a connection with shore, and a picking list of options ensure all language transmitted from vessels is consistent, which allows for easy analysis and searchability.
Dispatch no longer has to copy and paste from log entries. Check boxes automatically verify which information gets deployed to customers and what stays internal. Reporting is also much quicker. Daily position reports on Blesey’s old system took 15 minutes to generate. Now they take mere seconds.
Helm Onboard has been so successful for Blessey, that they have since adopted a Purchasing component, allowing them to order directly from their vessels.
“Since going live with several modules I have had many complementary comments from our various department. Our vessel captains are also very pleased with the Helm Onboard product and find that the ease of use is far superior to our old logs application" - Albert Cavalier