Srt Marine Systems Share Discussion Threads

[buck581] 17/8/2016 21:28

Bamboo2
Like the chart. It looks like a galloping horse. I hope so.

[boadicea] 17/8/2016 12:27

I suspect that one of ST's frustrations in negotiating contracts is working within the constraints of national pride or strategic tie-ups of potential customers. Being tied to eE could be a major one where a country (e.g. India) insists, wisely or not, on using their own satellite system.
In renegotiating the eE agreement to some advantage for SRT, eE have probably not lost anything they would likely get anyway, so to them it is probably fairly neutral if a near parallel system is set up to satisfy the sensibilities of a specific customer (India?) at some time in the (distant, being India?) future.
The announcement is not specific enough to unravel exactly what it means to each party, but enough to know that SRT are now in a better negotiating position.

[goodapple] 17/8/2016 10:17

From gCaptain today:
"President Joko Widodo vowed Tuesday to develop all of Indonesia’s frontier areas, including the Natuna Islands close to where it is embroiled in a dispute with China, and outlined plans to fund a massive maritime infrastructure program to accelerate growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy"

I like the sound of "massive maritime infrastructure program"

[2vdm] 17/8/2016 09:02

The share price was driven up by the news of the Indonesian contract to unprecedented levels circa 60p quite quickly, followed by a fairly slow retrace to 43p, then the announcement of the ee/SRT renegotiated agreement, sending it back to the current 50p level approx. It's still expensive to buy unless you take a long term view and if you are already a holder, why would you sell unless you think this is going to re-trace some way say to 40p, which could be dangerous as you don't want to be short of stock if more good news arrives e.g. Ecuador/more about India perhaps. The only exception maybe those who bought on T Trades, in which case we may see a re-trace in the next couple of weeks. I suspect that this will be the case unless we get more news.

[donemyhomework2] 17/8/2016 08:41

No trades at all today?

[yumyum] 17/8/2016 08:37

LaValmy, the words 'a' and 'the' can be so important !

[lavalmy] 17/8/2016 04:18

"We are pleased to continue our successful relationship with exactEarth as a preferred industry partner for satellite AIS data services," said Genscape CEO Matthew Burkley (on July 13th 2016)

whereas

“We are very pleased to be selected by Genscape as a preferred industry partner for satellite AIS data services,” said Marc Eisenberg, ORBCOMM’s Chief Executive Officer. (on 30 June 2016)

Must be some new use of the word 'preferred' that we old farts don't understand.

[supernumerary] 16/8/2016 23:49

lfc - that's pretty much my reading. I'm guessing ee missed a moq constraint in the contract and that gave srt an opportunity to renegotiate. An exclusive deal was (potentially) a good thing with srt's original business model, but these days they need to stay data source agnostic as far as possible.

[lfc4ever] 16/8/2016 23:19

"made a mistake entering an exclusive agreement with EE- now extricated ourselves from it." That is it, surely?

[owenski] 16/8/2016 21:34

Sounds like SRT is also - in media terms - becoming a content provider, in which case the EE arrangement would have been limiting.

[hjb1] 16/8/2016 21:20

exactEarth Announces Small Vessel Tracking Contract with the Government of Ghana




CAMBRIDGE, Ontario, August 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

exactEarth Ltd. (TSX: XCT) (the "Company"), announces that it has been selected by the Fisheries Commission (West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme), an agency of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD) of the Government of Ghana, for the provision of Satellite AIS data services as well as a small vessel tracking solution. The contract value is in a range of CDN$1.0-$2.0 million for a 12 month period and will enable Ghana to acquire the technology necessary to monitor its expansive coastlines and deter illegal fishing in its national waters.

Along with a comprehensive Satellite AIS data feed, exactEarth will provide MOFAD with 450 Class B AIS transceivers to be installed on inshore fishing vessels which will be tracked via satellite utilising exactEarth's exactTraxTM small vessel tracking technology. In order to address the rampant Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing around Ghana's Exclusive Economic Zone, MOFAD have provisioned this small vessel tracking solution to gain access to detailed fishing vessel positions and movement analysis services through the exactEarth ShipView™ platform. exactEarth ShipView will be upgraded to include a SOS alerting facility in an effort to support Ghana's government in their "safety of life at sea" initiative, which is intended to help its fishermen. exactEarth will be working with a local partner and academic institutions in Ghana to provide vessel movement analysis and reporting to help inform policy decision making and also to engage the next generation maritime professionals in coastal surveillance to protect and preserve Ghana`s fish stock for the future.

"This is an important strategic win and a major step forward for our small vessel tracking initiative," said Peter Mabson, exactEarth CEO. "MOFAD needs a high performance, reliable and compliant maritime monitoring solution to protect their critical fishing industry and our small vessel tracking capabilities will be an integral part of helping them achieve that objective. This reflects the growing opportunity for both our large and small vessel tracking solutions and our reputation for having the leading Satellite AIS solution on the market."

[supernumerary] 16/8/2016 19:08

I was rather focusing on the paragraph in which ST chose to be directly quoted:

'This new agreement enables SRT to leverage our market position and develop and implement new technology and commercial innovations in this field independently. This will enhance the satellite data product and service options we can offer into the market with our MDM system. Our customers will benefit from increased flexibility and service levels to meet their varied requirements.'

All speculation really. I couldn't care less what he sells, as long as he sells something ;¬)

[lavalmy] 16/8/2016 17:57

super

Yes, of course, SRT's capabilities have changed enormously. eE has also pivoted towards the internet-of-things, where I think they will come a cropper. But the RNS says this:

'The effect of the new agreement is that SRT is now permitted to develop and implement new satellite AIS technologies and data product innovations of its own and to engage directly with the growing number of commercial and government-owned and operated AIS satellite providers.'

It depends where you put the commas, but it reads to me that SRT were restricted in the development and implementation of new satellite AIS technologies and satellite AIS data product innovations as well as engaging directly with commercial and government-owned and operated AIS satellite providers. So new techologies, new data management (as you say GeoVS) and dealing directly with other satellite owners.

I can't see why eE would be dealing with other satellite owners, other than leasing space etc as they have done in the past because with the Iridium constellation that is unnecessary. They have very conspicuously dealt with ISRO, whom Tucker reckons have milked them. But there are, and are likely to be more, satellite providers, and I suppose it is wise that SRT allow themselves scope to deal with any arrangement that the client wants.

As to new satellite AIS technologies, I doubt if anything is underway. It is probably a contingency.

The data product innovations is interesting. As you remember, SRT had only to pay eE a fixed amount and eE had no share in any extras. SRT, OTOH, had a percentage of the revenues generated by ABSEA (today's annoucement reiterates the 'gross' on which this is calculated). So on the face of it, SRT had no financial obligations to pay eE a share of data innovations. So it must have been a restriction on coming up with innovations for the ABSEA data without eE's involvement. At the time of the Harris agreement, I asked Simon about whether value added by eE to the ABSEA data would be eE's or shared. He emphatically said that it would be shared. That may have been dropped as a quid pro quo, which would seem fair.

Just musing really.

[the prophet] 16/8/2016 17:39

I think C5 is correct, see this bit in the RNS:

'The effect of the new agreement is that SRT is now permitted to develop and implement new satellite AIS technologies and data product innovations of its own and to engage directly with the growing number of commercial and government-owned and operated AIS satellite providers.'

I also think Extrader makes a very valid and important point.

begs the question is ABSEA the only way of achieving satellite ClassB/Identifier detection, the RNSNON of today hints that there are other technologies.

All very interesting stuff and it does sound like SRT has the upper hand in the SRT/EE agreement.

[supernumerary] 16/8/2016 17:11

I thought this was less about the collaborations than about being able to add more feeds to their MDM solution. Perhaps there were constraints on using other data sources that have grown more restrictive as GeoVS has become more important to srt's overall offering? Srt's business model has changed radically since the Absea agreement was signed.

[lavalmy] 16/8/2016 16:35

I note too that eE have not felt the need to issue any statement. I would conclude from the limited evidence that the updated agreement is beneficial to SRT and not detrimental to eE. But it could be that it is detrimental to eE, but that SRT hold the whip hand.

What that means in practical terms is terribly unclear. If SRT were not allowed under the previous terms to begin any collaborations with others, then, whilst the future may be bright, it could also be a long time before it is palpable, much like the recurring revenues from ABSEA.

[lavalmy] 16/8/2016 13:49

Countryman

I doubt it. Tucker normally finds it difficult to keep things under wraps!

But more specifically, the R&D efforts are geared towards improving ABSEA (amongst other things) and he expects India to come crawling back to eE once they realise that the 12w signals can be detected by satellite but will still be colliding with each other. It is not just the low power. eE invented their decollision technolgy to decollide Class A messages, not Class B.

[countryman5] 16/8/2016 13:33

Lav,
Yes you are correct until now 'So if a country wants to use its own satellite, they can but it won't work'.
I suspect that today's announcement means that they will be able to use their own satellites so long as they use the latest SRT technology that has yet to receive a name.

[lavalmy] 16/8/2016 13:03

Extrader

No not really. Class A AIS is available from multiple sources and is an open system. Yes some countries have put up their own satellites with AIS capabilities such as Indonesia, but it doesn't really add much.

Class B is altogether different and from what I can understand signals will mainly be encrypted so that only the country that buys the devices can track them. Additionally and because of that, they will be sod all use at collison avoidance. Only the authorities will see them. Most of that will be done from onshore anyway. But when they can't do it onshore, they will need satellite and they will need a reliable method of decolliding the numerous transmissions on each slot. The only method of doing that is by ABSEA, which is jointly owned by eE and SRT, and involves proprietary kit on the satellites, the transponders and the ground stations. So if a country wants to use its own satellite, they can but it won't work.

[extrader] 16/8/2016 12:52

Hi all,

Re satellite decoupling, isn't this about SRT responding to the bona fide sensitivities of a number of prospect countries who " aren't paranoid, we have real enemies ", and who don't want to be dependent on another country's satellites for their security info ?

After all, the EU is spending big bucks on creating an alternative to the US-controlled GPS system...

ATB

[lavalmy] 16/8/2016 12:30

Frankly, I don't know what is behind all this. Possibly eE was trying to insist that people had to subscribe to their Class A service if they wanted ABSEA. It certainly doesn't seem that ABSEA would be available without both SRT and eE being involved.

'The ultimate objective is for end customers to be provided with an improved satellite AIS solution which is optimised and customised for their specific requirements.' and

'Our customers will benefit from increased flexibility and service levels to meet their varied requirements.'

A bit vague as yet.

[kinbasket] 16/8/2016 12:21

India was my first thought but it may have been a sticking point for areas like Saudi. They want the ability to satellite track but they don't want to pay a third party (and a foreign one at that) to do it.

It's a much easier sell without the EE link IMHO.

[piedro] 16/8/2016 11:25

fft
16 Aug'16 - 10:00 - 3299 of 3306
I wonder if the share of revenue that SRT is entitled to from EE has been reduced so that SRT can go it's own way with other contracts.
Otherwise it does not make sense for ee to do this.

Ee also has its own projects such as 'Ship View' etc and is no doubt relieved by this modification in the contract.
Ee and SRT may become competitors for some projects

AIMHO

[supernumerary] 16/8/2016 11:13

Does anyone know if this has any impact on srt's ability to work with drones? Google eg 'marine data drone' and it's clear there's a ton of work going on in this area.

[napoleon 14th] 16/8/2016 11:09

Yes, interesting contract & good news.