BASS awarded Microsoft CertificateNew offices for BASS in Malaysia

In June, BASS relocated operations in Kuala Lumpur to a modern office complex close to the landmark Petronas Towers (KLCC). The new facilities are more suited to the needs of the company’s growing business, and increased demand for BASS services in the region.

Our new address and contact details are as follows:

BASS Sdn. Bhd.Level 7, KUB.com 12, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng 50450 Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA

General Line: +603 7490 6488 Fax Line: +603 7490 6499 Support Hotline:+603 7490 6422 (24 x 7 Worldwide)+65 6379 5052 (0830 -1730 local time for Singapore)

Support E-mail: Support@BASSnet.no

news@BASSnet– the corporate newsletter from BASS

The paper clip wasinvented by NorwegianJohan Vaaler in 1899.Like BASSnet FleetManagement Solutions,the paper clip is simple,

effective and future proof – an easy to usetool meeting the demands of ship owners,today and tomorrow.

Future Proof Business Solutions

BASSnet™ Fleet Management Systems recently passed the Microsoft Platform Test for ISV Solutions to achieve the status as a Microsoft certified product. The certification, which is only awarded after rigorous testing, confirms the stability and functionality of BASS software running on the Windows operating system.

To win certification, applications must execute on Microsoft Windows XP and perform their primary functions as expected without crashing or causing the user’s computer to crash, fail or function improperly. In addition applications must use Windows resources appropriately, pass verification on Windows XP and the Windows Hardware Compatibility Test, among other user interface controls.

According to Haakon Dalan, BASS’ general manager of product management and consulting, the certification is a credit to the expertise and hard work of BASS software developers. “To have the stability of our software solutions verified by Microsoft should help confirm BASS market reputation for the quality of our products and services,” he says.

Publisher

Europe/America:

BASS AS

Lysaker Torg 8

P.O. Box 68

1324 Lysaker

NORWAY

Asia/Pacific:

BASS Sdn. Bhd.

Level 7, KUB.com

12, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

50450 Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA

Editorial office

Tel: +603 7490 6488

Fax: +603 7490 6422

Contact@BASSnet.no

Editor-in-Chief

Haakon Dalan

Haakon.Dalan@BASSnet.no

Managing Editors

BLUE International

Communication

Editorial production

& graphic design

BLUE International

Communication

news@BASSnet is published

quarterly. The opinions expressed

in this newsletter are those of the

authors or persons interviewed

and do not necessarily reflect the

view of the editors or BASS.

www.BASSnet.no

All rights reserved. 2006

www.BASSnet.no

BASS Customer Forum: “Creating the future together!”

Over two days at the end of May, the BASS European Customer Forum in Riga, Latvia was the site of knowledge-sharing, interaction and courses intended to streamline maritime operations and improve business.

BASS has hosted two customer forums – one in Europe, one in Asia – every year for several years. By bringing together the community of BASS customers, the forums help all parties strive to the common goal of streamlining maritime operations. The forums are about building and sharing knowledge, improving practices and software, and transforming business solutions to profits.

“The customer forums are aimed to help clients make the best use of our solutions and realise great advantages for their business,” says BASS President Per Steinar Upsaker.

“This has been one of the most constructive user- and customer forums that I have ever attended,”

said Capt. Kjell Rein, Vice President – SEQ of Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Group at the closing day of the Riga event. The day before, Rein made a presentation of Jebsen’s implementation of SAFIR on to 90 vessels, and MTS (Marine Transaction Services) presented their e-procurement integration with BASSnet. These were some of the conference highlights.

Along with newsletters, www.BASSnet.no, product updates and individual meetings, BASS customer forums are one way BASS aims to empower its clients and contribute to streamlining maritime operations.

BASS clients benefit from rich presentations and discussions on maritime IT and operations at forum in Riga.

Clients and BASS staff socialising at the BASS Customer Forum in Riga.

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :E D I TO R I A L : Staying ahead of the curve 2

news@BASSnet0 2 : 2 0 0 6

BASS celebrates launch of BASSnet™ 2.0Four years after BASS began re-engineering its products into Microsoft.NET, the company has already started the process of upgrading existing customers with new software, giving them access to a broad range of exciting new functionalities.

As one of the first fleet management software companies to migrate to Microsoft.NET, BASS is once again taking a leadership role in the industry. BASS has recently released BASSnet™ 2.0, a new application framework hosting its .NET technology-based product suite. This release will significantly improve the functionalities of BASS’ procurement, planned maintenance and document management solutions.

Already, the company has started to upgrade existing customers, including Regional Container Lines (RCL), Barber Ship Management (BSM) and International Tanker Management (ITM). According to Martin Bjørnebye, BASS general manager, BASS completed the upgrade for 36 vessels in RCL’s fleet last spring, and is - at the

time of writing - about to complete the BSM upgrade. “BSM’s head office, five site offices and 34 vessels slated for upgrades are now online,” he says. “Work to upgrade ITM’s systems is also ongoing.”

Significant challengeFor BASS, the migration to .NET was a significant challenge. “We had to merge the database structures of a number of our core systems originally developed in Visual Basic into the new BASS suite on the .NET platform,” he says. “Now that we have completed this work, we can offer new and existing customers improved products and services.” Bjørnebye explains that the .NET platform is both more stable and flexible than Visual Basic, and because Microsoft is

continuously developing the platform, systems built on .NET are future-proof. “We regularly offer customers upgrades and patches to improve the functionality of their software,” says Bjørnebye. “The .NET platform enables seamless integration between related modules, and it is much easier to roll out upgrades to a fleet now.”

Core productsWhile the company’s core products are now available in .NET -- including BASSnet™ Planned Maintenance, BASSnet™ Procurement, BASSnet™ Document Manager and BASSnet™ Administrator -- more are scheduled to come on line soon. “We will offer an upgraded version of our safety reporting module SAFIR by the third quarter 2007, and hope to begin work on CrewNet and PayNet shortly,” he says. In the meantime, elements of other BASS products have already been made available in .NET, including CrewNet Onboard and BASS Gateway (for e-procurement).

While Bjørnebye acknowledges that the company still has a lot of work to do, he is quick to point out that investing so much time, effort and capital into migrating to .NET is a real advantage for customers and for BASS. “We remain committed to offering advanced software solutions which will substantially improve fleet management,” he says.

BASS gains market share in Asia 2

Helping Farstad meet customer expectations 3

New offices for BASS in Malaysia! 4

BASS awarded Microsoft Certificate 4

“We remain committed to offering advanced software solutions which will substantially improve fleet management.” Martin Bjørnebye, BASS General Manager - R&D

Future Proof Business Solutions

www.BASSnet.no

Tarbit chooses SAFIR

BASS gains market share in Asia

The contract, announced in June, includes BASSnetTM Planned Maintenance, BASS Accounting, BASSnetTM Procurement and SAFIR, which will be installed in TCCS’ offices and throughout their entire fleet of 19 vessels. Work to implement all four integrated BASS modules is scheduled to be completed by 2006.

According to Captain Vinay S. Patwardhan (General Manager) of TCCS, the decision to choose BASS came after an exhaustive review. “We were impressed by the seamless integration between the various modules of BASSnetTM Fleet Management Systems,” he says. “Once TCCS has the system up and running, we believe that efficiency and higher performance can be achieved throughout the fleet.”

According to BASS regional sales manager Frank Liang, the contract is further evidence that the Asian shipping community is steadily adopting Information Technology (IT) as part of daily operations. “As shipping company’s requirements and regulations continue to grow, more and more shipowners and ship managers realize that IT solutions are the only tools to lessen their burden for the next expansion and enhancement to come.”

Tarbit Shipping, the Swedish-based operator of a fleet of tankers trading throughout Europe, Mediterranean, Black Sea, West Africa and the Caribbean, recently purchased SAFIR (Safety and Improvement Reporting system) for its entire fleet. In addition to enabling Tarbit to report and systematically analyse un-desired events, the systems will be linked with INSJÖ, a database created by The Swedish Safety Maritime Inspectorate and the Swedish Shipowners Association to help Swedish shipowners share information on accidents, incidents, near-misses and non-conformities.

“We found that SAFIR will assist us in recording undesired events,” says Torkel Hermansson, Tarbit’s general manager. “It is important to us that these reports are followed up and that the conclusions drawn are shared with all employees on shore and at sea.” Jonas Petterson, Tarbit’s nautical superintendent shares Hermansson’s enthusiasm for SAFIR. “The fact that SAFIR has a built-in link to INSJÖ that has already been proven effective with other Swedish shipping companies made SAFIR the right choice.”

According to BASS regional sales manager, Geir Michaselsen, Tarbit first expressed interest in SAFIR two years ago. “We are very pleased that after such a careful evaluation, Tarbit decided that SAFIR is the software system best equipped to fulfil their requirements,” he says.

Michaelsen expects the implementation process for the entire fleet will be complete in a few months. SAFIR has been developed in full compliance with Section 9 of ISM CODE, ISPS Code, ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.

Tarbit Shipping AB cargo vessel, Bit Oktania, in Skärhamn, Sweden.

SAFIR enables Tarbit Shipping to share safety knowledge across their entire fleet and link with INSJÖ, an innovative database developed by the Swedish Maritime Administration.

BASS’ continued success in Asia was confirmed with an agreement with Singapore-based Tai Chong Cheang Steamship Co. Pte Ltd. (TCCS), which serves as the ship management “flagship” of the Hong Kong based TCC Group.

CSK Fortune, one of the vessels managed by TCCS

Four years ago, BASS was among the first fleet management software providers to begin the process of converting all our products to Microsoft.NET. The scale and complexity of this project kept our software developers very busy, but now all their hard work is beginning to pay off.

I am pleased to announce that BASS’ core products are now available on .NET -- including BASSnet™ Planned Maintenance, BASSnet™ Procurement, BASSnet™ Document Manager and BASSnet™ Administrator. These products have given BASS a technological lead in our market segment, allowing us to provide improved services on a stable, “future-proof” platform.

Better yet, we have already taken on major upgrading projects for our customers to move them on to our new .NET platform. These projects have produced genuine benefits and once again, have proven that we can take on large implementation projects. Whether we are upgrading BASS software for existing customers, or replacing the software applications of our competitors for new customers, BASS gets the job done.

Meanwhile, we have stepped up the pace of our product development, launching a broad range of innovative services and new functionalities to existing products. But we can’t afford to rest on our achievements. To remain successful, we must be able to provide our customers with advanced, future-proof solutions and that means thinking ahead and investing in the future. We have many interesting development projects ongoing and our strategy to invest 20 per cent of our revenue into R&D remains.

E d I T o R I A L :

Staying ahead of the curve

We believe this long-term commitment to staying ahead of the curve benefits our customers, and is vital to the future success of our company.

Per Steinar Upsaker, Managing director, BASS

www.BASSnet.no

Tarbit chooses SAFIRC R E w M A N A G E M E N T :

Helping Farstad meet customer expectationsAccording to Lars Wilhemsson, BASS consultant and project manager, CrewNet and CrewNet Onboard are ideal solutions for Farstad. “For a company operating 46 offshore supply vessels in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, global access to accurate crew data is essential,” he says. “At the same time, big oil companies are demanding more access to detailed crew information for sefarers working on vessels operated by service suppliers.”Wilhelmsson explains that the application assists in ship-to-shore communications regarding human resource planning. “CrewNet Onboard tracks crew sea time, vessel and engine type experience, together with profiles, activities and license information,” he says. “Farstad can use Crew Onboard to remain in compliance with the STCW 95 requirements on crew licenses – a key element in satisfying the demands of their customers.”

While Wilhelmsson acknowledges that finding the time to complete crew training has been a challenge, he notes that the system will soon be implemented at Farstad offices in Australia and Brazil, where shore based staff will be able to access the system via Citrix through Farstad’s intranet. “By accessing the central server, Farstad employees working overseas can be assured that the data is always up-to-date and all software maintenance will only need to be done in the central site,” he says.

BASS has successsfully installed CrewNet into Farstad’s central server, and has plans to implement Crewnet Onboard throughout Farstad’s entire fleet early next year. A web-based interface for applicants seeking employment with Farstad can be included in the solution. This interface will allow the crew department to screen the many applicants that send work queries via e-mail.

As a company with vessels and crews operating throughout the world, Farstad sought a powerful solution to help them both keep track of personnel and satisfy the demands of their customers. CrewNet fit the bill.

Captain Stein Olav Hagalid, KV Andenes

The Royal Norwegian Navy uses SAFIR to improve safetyAfter a successful “pilot-implementation” of BASS’ safety solution SAFIR, the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNN) is now ready to deploy the system in its entire fleet -- including submarines.

As part of an initiative to improve safety lead by Admiral Håkon Tronstad, the RNN has been running SAFIR on three Coast Guard vessels for about two years. And according to captain Stein Olav Hagalid of the frigate KV Andenes, the system has performed well. ”We have been able to generate many more reports than before, which I believe is a very positive development,” he says.

Commander Johan Loberg, who serves as Head of the RNN’s Safety & Quality Department (and acted as the project manager for the SAFIR implementation), says that the solution has proven

to be more efficient than the RNN’s existing safety reporting system. “We have migrated from a rather labor-intensive manual reporting system to a computer-based system, which has improved how we process and manage safety reports,” he says.

Jan Furuseth, BASS consultant, says that implementing the system has taken a lot of hard work but has run smoothly. “Most RNN seafarers are volunteers, and rotate in and out of service in six month periods,” he explains. “With such frequent shifts, the new, computer-based way to manage safety reporting will increase consistency

and contribute to these seafarers’ safety.”

Furuseth says that BASS and the Navy are also in the final phase of implementing CrewNet and EasyInfo. Unlike in traditional merchant shipping, the navy makes extensive security clearances when implementing new solutions. Here, too, BASS and the RNN are co-operating well.

Photo: Håvard Hansand

www.BASSnet.no www.BASSnet.no

S A F E T Y M A N A G E M E N T :