“Classification society Lloyd’s Register has bought a 50% stake in ISF Watchkeeper, a digital crew working hours compliance product part owned by the International Chamber of Shipping.
The product was developed by the ICS along with software company IT Energy Systems.
The deal is a rare commercial partnership between a classification society and a shipowners’ association. The ICS represents shipowner associations around the world.
ISF Watchkeeper is a suite of digital solutions that helps global ship operators to plan, manage and report their crew’s rest hours compliance in accordance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).
Some ship managers have in-house solutions but ISF Watchkeeper is the most widely used digital product of its kind and is installed on 9,000 vessels and used by 180,000 seafarers worldwide.
It has recently been upgraded to also include a benchmarking facility.
LR Digital Solutions chief executive Martin Taylor said that ISF Watchkeeper can be used alongside other LR digital ship operation products.
“ISF Watchkeeper has the only comprehensive database of crew working practices and through this, we will be able to provide detailed insights to help improve seafarer safety and efficiency at sea,” Taylor said.
“The ISF Watchkeeper functionality will sit alongside the OneOcean platform and other LR solutions that are now present on half of the world’s SOLAS fleet.”
ICS chief finance and commercial officer Elliott Adams said the investment would help expand the product.
“Being able to benefit from Lloyds Register’s network and complementary tools provides significant benefits for the industry as we look to expand and further enhance the ISF Watchkeeper suite of software solutions,” Adams said.
The value of the transaction has not been disclosed. But the deal forms part of a growing portfolio of fleet management digital products at LR, which most recently included the acquisition of OneOcean.
Taylor said that there is plenty of scope to develop the functionality of ISF Watchkeeper. “There is a clamour for more analysis around this area,” Taylor said.
Safety element
“Traditionally it has been a question of am I compliant or not compliant? But now it is about how do we benchmark our behaviour with other people, what can we do we improve life for seafarers, and how does fatigue connect to work and rest hours. There is also a whole safety element that fits very neatly into what LR does.”
LR said ISF Watchkeeper also provides the largest data set on work and rest compliance in the shipping industry, which could be combined with its other data to provide insight into safety in the shipping industry.
Taylor said LR’s investment also fits in with the marine software industry trends. “Shipping particularly the digital is consolidating and scale is important. LR will be able to provide more investment which is important for software solutions to help them grow quicker and provide more capability,” Taylor said.
