Ship Waste Agency, a French start-up created in 2010, has just launched a new groundbreaking solution to facilitate and ameliorate the ship waste management along with the participation of all the different maritime actors involved in this process, explains Sylvain Perrier, CEO of Ship Waste Agency.
The protection of the world’s oceans is a major issue for the future and whatever is said by media or some opinion makers, a large majority of maritime actors try to do their best to be in conformity with waste discharging procedures. Moreover, there is some European and International regulation like Directive 2000/59/EC or the Marpol Convention for which the different actors have to deal with. The next coming implementation of the new directive 2010/65/EU will deeply modify the way to transmit the reporting formalities for the arrival and the departure of every vessel in a Member States port. The purpose of this Directive is to simplify and harmonise the administrative procedures applied to maritime transport by making compulsory the electronic transmission of information standard and by rationalising reporting formalities. Regarding this observation, and taking advantage on an experience of more than 15 years in the Ship Waste Management (collection and treatment of waste all over the world) and IT Development, it was decided to create the Ship Waste Agency to provide an innovative tool to ease and standardised the ship waste management.
A New platformShip Waste Agency provides an eco-responsible and collaborative platform called SWANET®. This platform, composed by 2 modules, allows all the maritime actors to work together using the same language, units and referential. Each of them will play an essential part of the process, starting from the vessel which will generate the different waste along with the ship agent which will organise all the waste discharging in addition with the waste collector and the treatment centre, not to mention the Port Authority which will be able to have access to the different documents.
For the first time, all these actors together with the ship owner and ship manager may participate to a collaborative process and have the opportunity to access to data that have been recorded into the platform only one time. Through a secured access to the platform and depending on their rights, the different actors will have the possibility to access vessel waste information, issue the document, and validate their participation to the waste discharging operation. It is also possible to follow the waste to its recovery phase with a full traceability.
SWANET, SWABOARD and SWASHOREThe first module of the SWANET® solution is an embarked application called SWABOARD®. It consists of an embarked software of 60 Mo easily installed into the shipboard computer thanks to a USB Key. This embarked application includes a large database of information such as all the ports and terminals of the worlds, the different Marpol Annex and Categories but also more than 20000 different waste components. This database will authorise the shipmaster to complete easily and quickly the description of its waste in order to generate to the ashore actors all the information required documentation in accordance with the regulations. Besides this information, the person in charge of the vessel waste will have the possibility to give more information regarding the waste details such as its composition (component percentage), the waste flash point or specify if the wastes are or not segregated on board or recyclable.
The SWABOARD application, through the On Board Waste Management Tool (OBWM) allows the shipmaster to record all the onboard waste operations of the vessel such as the storage of generated waste, the waste to be discharge, treated on board, rejected at sea or incinerated. The person in charge of the operation will easily complete the details of the operation such as date, time, coordinates, speed, type of waste tank, waste type, process used, output location of potential residual process treatment in accordance with Marpol Convention. This tool will provide an electronic report which will facilitate the filling of the log book and will be eventually an official format to prove the waste-management transparency to the port authorities.
All the on board recorded data from the SWABOARD® will be automatically synchronised to an ashore website: the SWASHORE®platform through an internet connection or SMTP mode (if the vessel is not always connected). To ease the flow of data, and avoid communication costs, sent files will not exceed 100Ko.
The purpose of the SWASHORE® platform is to provide, via an internet website, a collaborative platform where local actors will be invited to access and manage some waste information or documentation which is automatically generated. Every authorised actor such as the ship agent, port authority or the collector will have the opportunity to receive before vessel’s arrival the waste data information and will issue easily some documents as the “Ships’ Waste Notification form” which is a detailed description of on-board waste or the “Waste Unloading Request” which permits to the collector to have a precise description of waste to be unloaded or the “Ship Waste delivery Receipt” filled by the waste collector after any discharged operation. At the end of the unloading process, as a cooperative platform designed to promote quality and transparency, all the involved SWANET members will participate to the validation/approval of the final “Waste Delivery Receipt” issued during the call.
All forms issued via the SWANET platform will become a unique electronic document that can be accessed from anywhere in the world according to some specific rules.
The SWANET® platform is also a useful tool for the ship owner and ship manager to define a mid or long term waste management strategy. Through a dedicated dashboard, the platform allows the manager from the head office to have a complete fleet overview of running operations. Via our Port Reception Facilities Portal, vessel’s side operators can access to an updated description of PRF’s available within port of the worlds including the tools and equipment which are being provided, their cost and their schedules.
Corporate responsibilityFinally, for an environmental point of view, the different users will be able to show their corporate social responsibility through the validation of these documents. The aim is to guarantee that generated waste ends up in an adequate treatment centre in order to allow ship manager to comply with ISO 14001 standards given a 100% traceability of maritime wastes.
Some major actors have already decided to join the SWANET platform as Maersk Tanker, V Ships or CMA-CGM for the ship management side, Inchcape Shipping Services for the Ship Agent. Some Ports such as the Port of Le Havre and the Port of Marseille are actually developing an IT interface to upload the document within their own IT system. Ports without any waste management system can easily manage all operations within their own port online via the SWSHORE platform.
To benefit of the SWANET® innovative and eco-responsible platform, an annual subscription is required. A two month trial version is also available.
More info can be found on: www.ship-waste.com.
