MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ship Crew Management in the Cloud: Shipping Joins the IT Race

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While cloud software solutions in aviation and ground transportation are not a new phenomenon, the shipping industry is only at the beginning of its IT transformations.

Those businesses that manage to join the IT race among the first will gain a competitive advantage. It is the crew management software that is currently on the radar of major shipping companies, like Hartmann Gas Carriers Germany. It is not surprising, given the efficiency, automation, and scaling it can provide.

Why Shipping Lagged

It is mostly due to poor internet connection and the necessity to rely on costly satellite connections that have withheld the shipping industry from joining the IT race earlier. Now that having Internet access on most marine routes is technically available and affordable for many businesses, the shipping companies implement cloud solutions that allow for swifter and smoother operations, and crew management is one of them.

Cloud-Based E-CMS Among Top-Choices

Many shipping companies analyze the options to improve their crew management, as it is key to:

- real-time data turnover;
- de-centralized office operations;
- fewer errors in scheduling;
- more efficient rotations planning and scheduling;
- enhanced document management;
- improved payroll.

E-CMS solutions can meet all those expectations of shipping companies, so they often buy them from leading companies like Sealogic.

What Is E-CMS?

E-CMS, or Crew Management System, is a digital tool used by shipping companies and crewing agencies to manage everything related to seafarers (e.g., their contracts, schedules, documents, and compliance status). You might think of it as a smart dashboard that replaces messy spreadsheets, email chains, and manual tracking.

It is a powerful solution for core records, as it allows crew management teams to store seafarer profiles, ranks, sea time, medicals, visas, and STCW certificates all in one place and with smart alerts. Moreover, compliance and payroll are handled more easily with this solution, as the team can issue contracts, calculate overtime and leave, apply pay tables, etc.

Why the Shift to E-CMS Cannot Wait?

Buying e-CMS from a trustworthy company is the first step to efficient and productive work of your crew management team. Moreover, it allows you to optimize the work process. Some of the clear benefits of e-CMS from Sealogic experts or similar companies include:

- It issues contracts, applies pay tables, calculates overtime and leave, and produces auditable payroll.
- It can set rules, drive plans, and run checks 24/7, ensuring smoother work and fewer unnecessary expenses.
- Training and endorsements that secure lower compliance risks.
- Payment days become more transparent and clear.

Those are the main benefits of this solution that enhance the work from the very start, so many European shipping companies see it as an obligatory transition.

How to Start Using E-CMS for a Shipping Company?

First of all, you will need to audit all the data you have and standardize ranks, document types, and pay items. Map access for masters, crewing, agents, HR, and finance. Then, just integrate HR and accounting to end re-keying.

After that, make sure to run a pilot. If all is good, then you can start rolling out in waves and track time saved.

Even though the transition to e-CMS might seem complex and time-consuming at first, once everything is set up, the benefits are obvious. Hundreds of hours saved per year, fewer errors, and higher satisfaction of seafarers, so it might be just the right time to join the IT race.