Digitalisation is making its mark in the shipping sector, with many bespoke online tools now being utilised daily to operate and manage the world’s merchant vessel
fleet. Arguably however, the ship repair and retrofit sector has lagged behind in adapting to the digital age, with most of the work around these vital activities still  being conducted via complex spreadsheets, layers of brokers and reams of paperwork.

Newport Maritime Services (NMS) is a new way of managing ship repair and retrofit projects via a bespoke, online platform. The NMS platform enables shipowners and fleet operators to obtain instant quotes for routine maintenance works, have real-time visibility of shipyard availability and get priority access to dry dock slots, all at the click of a mouse.

NMS’ Managing Director, Ege Akcasoy, outlined how the NMS platform bridges the gap between shipowners and shipyards: “Digitalisation is on the agenda of all companies operating in the shipping industry, but the sector also remains true to its traditional roots. We wanted to introduce an online tool that works in harmony with the people that make the ship repair sector what it is today, enabling greater transparency and thereby validating the trust and personal relationships that this industry is built on.”

Subscribers to the NMS platform will have access to instant quotations for a wide range of routine maintenance and repair works, as well as the ability to book slots at a shipyard of their choice with a real-time view on the yard’s current availability. The platform will also provide access to a full set of bespoke solutions in repair, retrofit and conversions with a low carbon focus from an exhaustive list of trusted Newport Shipping supplier partners. This is a potential game-changer for those responsible for the management of multiple vessels, empowering them with a level of transparency and control that more traditional methods cannot give, and also significantly de-risking the whole process.

The team behind the NMS platform has poured over 60 years of organisational experience into refining the design, layout, functionality and operational aspects of the system and is confident that it will benefit users in a number of ways.

“NMS is a fully-automated booking and management platform for high-quality dry docking, retrofit and conversion projects. It combines priority access, on-demand quotes, price stability and live yard availability in a streamlined way that ultimately saves shipowners time and money. In addition to this, the visibility that the platform allows through each stage of the process helps to reduce risk and futureproof ship repair operations,” said Mr Akcasoy.

The introduction of this new digital tool also stands to support the industry with its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) mandate. Audit trails, data points, real-time information and the transparency that comes with further digitalisation all serve to help the ship repair and conversion sector clearly communicate what it is  doing and how it is doing it.

Through implementation of the right processes and digital tools to communicate information in the right way, NMS believes that the sector can attract interest from a broader set of investors and tentatively look forward to a more prosperous and sustainable future.