Bringing buyers and sellers in shipping together with what has worked well for aviation

Author: Ed Haskey, Director of Aircraft IT and Seacraft IT

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Bringing buyers and sellers in shipping together with what has worked well for aviation

Ed Haskey, Director of Aircraft IT and Seacraft IT

There is a new name and a new platform in the maritime technology sector: Seacraft IT keeps ship owners, operators and seafarers up to date with the latest maritime IT developments, enabling them to review the market, without sales pressure, for an IT solution to fit their needs. From the same stable as Aircraft IT, which has been successfully serving aviation for more than fifteen years, Seacraft IT provides a place where users can review, without sales pressure, what the best maritime IT Vendors have to offer, and consider which one might best meet their needs. With a full Website, Webinars, Conferences and a quarterly eJournal, Seacraft IT offers both sides of the shipping IT market new ways to meet and work together.

To access all of the benefits of Seacraft IT, just register for free here for:

• The Seacraft IT eJournal delivered straight to your inbox on the day of publication
• The opportunity to take part in the platform’s interactive features
• Attend live and in-depth maritime software demo Webinars
• View on-demand webinar recordings to fully understand the market
• The chance to request private product demonstrations
• Full details and discounted rates for Seacraft IT Conferences (available exclusively to vessel operators)
  
  

CONNECTIVITY OPENS THE DOOR

Until recently, connectivity limitations meant that the maritime sector was restricted in its use of IT solutions and the solutions available to it. At sea, systems were limited just to on-board operability, often only synching with head office systems when in port. With the advent of satellite communications, ships are now able to establish the kind of connectivity that supports modern cloud-based platforms and solutions, opening the door to new technologies, data driven digital solutions and AI. Seacraft IT will leverage the qualities and experience of Aircraft IT’s more than fifteen years of growth to a service that connects 80 aviation IT solution vendors, utilizing the platform to promote their products, with more than 43,000 registered users and readers in commercial aviation around the world. This has been achieved because both vendors and users appreciate the huge savings in time and effort that can be gained from using the platform’s various capabilities.

A UNIQUE PLATFORM FOR THE SECTOR

At the heart of Seacraft IT is a website that enables busy professionals who are considering or about to embark on the adoption of an IT solution, to find the developers and vendors who can offer solutions appropriate to their needs, all in one place. Whether looking to move away from traditional paper-based processes or seeking to replace an older IT solution with one that deploys the latest technologies to ensure that their business stays at the forefront of its market, Seacraft IT is the most efficient way to go. The website includes a popular software search engine where vendors set out their stalls and users can browse a huge range of solutions then book private demos of products that interest them, saving hours of laborious research. It’s not just time saving, it also ensures that users won’t miss out on any solutions that might apply to their needs. Seacraft IT includes a News section with full details of new products, product implementations for shipping lines, and much more. A couple of hours using the website can save days or weeks searching for the right vendor for your business’s exact requirement.

DEMO WEBINARS, LEARN ABOUT WHAT MATTERS

Webinars are a great tool to enable potential buyers to compare different vendor offers with their own requirements with just one-hour each viewing time so that the research can be fitted into a normal working day, without causing disruption. Upcoming and past Seacraft IT demo webinars can be accessed through the website, helping users to further refine their understanding of what various vendors, who might have the solution they’re seeking, can offer. In these popular and informative programs, vendors set out their stall and introduce their latest developments as well as taking questions during then live broadcasts. Webinars can be watched live on the day of broadcast, separately for western and eastern hemisphere time zones, plus there is a large library of past demo webinar recordings that can be accessed through the website. Users can build their own library of information on their desktop to review and compare at times and in places convenient to them, without any sales pressure.

CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS

For those who value face-to-face contacts but don’t relish weeks of travel to meet with all of the vendors who might have the right solution, there are conferences and exhibitions where attendees can sit in on live presentations of case study experiences presented by other shipping businesses facing much the same challenges as do attendees. Other presentations, from experts in various subject areas, help to maintain sector knowledge. In the exhibition area, visitor can further refine their search and can book one-to-one demos, during the conference, from those vendors whose products seem most likely to fit their business’s needs. Think of the amount of time, travel and expense that can save.

eJOURNALS, PACKAGING THE INFORMATION YOU NEED

All of the above will be a great help when looking for a solution, but professionals will also want to be able to keep up with current market and solution developments at all times. Seacraft IT eJournals are quarterly online publications that can be read at the desk or on a tablet or even on a smartphone – wherever and however is convenient for the reader. As well as case studies from shipping businesses explaining their real-world experience from a buyer and user point of view, there are also introduction to new technology developments and white papers offering expert views from pan-industry contributors such as regulators, industry organizations and academics. The eJournals include brief Q&A pieces, Vendor Voyage Logs, so that readers can compare like with like. A round-up of news for the sector plus a directory of IT developers and vendors with their contact details, products, business areas served and a short profile of the company, complete the eJournal.

BRINGING ESTABLISHED SUCCES TO THE MARITIME SECTOR

Why has the team from Aircraft IT decided to move into the maritime sector? As explained earlier, because of problems with connectivity, marine businesses have been limited in the quality of IT solutions that they could adopt and employ. And yet, maritime transport is a huge and growing sector, critical to the global economy, as we are learning with current global disruption, and facing a lot of the same issues as commercial aviation. Safety, navigation and tracking, journey planning, fuel and emissions management, and maintenance and repair planning are all challenges for maritime businesses plus a few of their own such as the hotel management side of cruise ships, cargo loading and more. Now, with the arrival of satellite links and cloud solutions, a whole new world of IT solution opportunities has opened for the sector, making now the perfect time to introduce to the sector the benefits and efficiencies of an all-round IT market platform.

SEACRAFT IT IS COMING TO THE SECTOR

Seacraft IT will follow very similar lines to Aircraft IT to serve the maritime industry’s three main operational sreas: cruise, ferry and cargo. The website, with all of the features as mentioned above can be accessed at https://www.seacraftit.com/ . Then, in Spring 2026 this first of four quarterly eJournals has been published with case studies and other articles from the sector; Ambassador Cruise Line, Celestyal Cruises with SuitePad and Ultrabulk with Signol, as well as articles from IT vendor Seaber and recruitment specialist Corbell Beaumont. Users can learn from the experiences of people working in their sector. There is a News section to mirror the News section on the website and a directory of vendors plus Vendor Voyage Logs, Q&As.

Demo webinars will soon follow, offering users an industry unique feature for those charged with implementing IT solutions in the maritime environment to be able to evaluate different systems against their own needs and to keep up to date with the latest systems that could help them in their operation. It will save time and users will be able to do all of their evaluation from the comfort of their own desktop or wherever it is convenient to them. Viewing the webinars helps businesses clarify what they need. In fact, the webinars, the website, the conferences and the eJournal let users see across the market; perhaps even seeing a product that they can discover addresses a problem that they didn’t think could be addressed before.

Researchers and decision makers in shipping will be able to access all of these key benefits at no cost simply by registering and signing up to the new platform.

We are excited to be transferring our successful platform into another market and look forward to seeing it become as popular and valued in the shipping market.

And remember, there’s no charge to ship owners, operators and seafarers when you register for free here now for your access to everything above.