Srt Marine Systems Share Discussion Threads

[philburt] 28/11/2018 12:25

LaValmy, YumYum et al, if, as hoped, SRT land between 1 and 3 contracts by Q1'19, I'd be interested to hear your views on when we might hope to see any meaningful recurring revenue from the sale of satellite data? Any informed opinion? Thanks, Phil

[lavalmy] 27/11/2018 13:48

I was just looking out of interest at how mobile phone systems avoid colliding transmissions. It seems that, depending on the amount of bandwidth available, they can handle 100-200 calls per base station, each using two frequencies, one to transmit, the other to receive. The same frequencies are used by the adjacent (and all other) base stations as well (each called a cell, hence the name in some countries). To avoid the transmission from a phone in cell A colliding with that from a phone in cell B on the same frequency, the power gets adjusted downwards so that the signal only reaches as far as the base station in cell A and is not strong enough to reach the base station of cell B.

SRT, I think, do a reverse ferret on this, by sometimes boosting the power so that transmissions can get through to the satellites. They might also be messing around with different frequencies, and I am pretty sure that they have some way of allocating the slots for the Class B devices within a fleet. They have also been a couple of comments from Simon that they are creating a single device that is programable via its software to be a Class A/Class B, or a somewhere in between device. Probably way too clever for the likes of us.

Anyway, the way the mobiles work shows how few simultaneous calls can be handled. So an Inmarsat satellite looking down on a 5,000 km footprint would have a tough time dealing with messages from tens of thousands of boats, which is the scale of the VMS projects that SRT is working on.

[yumyum] 27/11/2018 00:36

Hi fft,

better to have a VSP I think. The timeline is VERY important too but I think VSP divided by timeline is too difficult/dishonest to represent/project. Of course that is what we want as investors or would-be investors (or sellers) but we should know it is not realistic when dealing with governments and the complicated needs/obligations of a marine domain management system.

Would you really rather NOT have a VSP ?

I am still a believer in the pipeline of SRT's forthcoming contract awards. My goodness their arrival is so much slower then I expected, but the basic premise remains. SRT will (in my judgement) be awarded many big contracts over coming years and, hopefully, two or three (or more) before April next year. This will lead to a profitable and cash rich SRT.

I am still a quiet (and small) buyer at these levels. I already hold more than 3m shares. Happy to stay quiet and wait for the takeover when the big shareholders and management decide the time is right.

I do not believe SRT cannot raise cash if they have a timing problem.

For a new investor I think this company and its micro-sector is too complicated to assess. The management profit etc projections have always been missed. Why would you hold, yet alone buy ?

Answer: the VSP and some belief in a not too long timeline. Only time will tell if DJ's tactics will work this time. Anyway a profit is a profit and I wish DJ well. His input on this board is much appreciated by me. Thank you !

[lavalmy] 26/11/2018 12:06

goodapple

I doubt if Defra would even know that VMS can be easily done by AIS, unless SRT have told them. They are probably looking at mobile as an alternative to satellite as it would be much cheaper. Given that the UK has complete AIS coverage anyway, the size of this potential project would be less than one of the fishing buoy ones in discussion.

As to what the Philippines will allow to be disclosed, who knows? SRT have obligations towards the stock market as well that cannot be ignored. There should be nothing to prevent SRT giving details of the amounts and timings of these, as well as of the actual project, eg. over a hundred ports, RADAR, CCTV etc - without naming the customer. It seems stupid that the BFAR by law has to publish the tender document and then would want to keep those same details confidential. I expect SRT to be very vocal about being awarded the world's largest VMS system to date. Hopefully we will see in the next few days.

[alter ego] 25/11/2018 18:38

“And there must be several ports around Britain that would benefit from the installation of a gleaming new GeoVS system.”

IIRC, Poole harbour was the first Uk port to install GeoVs. Just need some bigger ones to follow their lead.

[goodapple] 25/11/2018 15:10

LaV:
"the rest of the 3,078 UK fishing vessels..."

I asked ST some time ago about SRT's interests in securing orders nearer to home for VMS. His response was that the UK and EU fishing fleets were but small beer compared to those of the Far East. And I dare say the Philippines or Indonesia might have this many vessels operating from just one or two ports, so I can see his point.
However, wouldn't the validation of SRT's systems be more apparent if they were taken up by some customers geographically a bit closer to the London Stock Market?
And there must be several ports around Britain that would benefit from the installation of a gleaming new GeoVS system.
Re Philo2 - Since the tender documents and specifications have been in the public domain for some time, is there any element of NDA applicable to the announcement of the contract award?

Meanwhile back to the vigil for RNS@7.

[lavalmy] 25/11/2018 07:13

I think it is pretty variable, being Wikipedia, a composite of data of varying reliability and date.

It is perhaps worth looking at what tracking is currently done. Firstly, you have LRIT, an IMO requirement for SOLAS vessels which has been in force for some time. This allows governments to know when large ships come within 1,000 nautical miles of their shores, for example. The US has only 800 such vessels, to give an idea of the scope. All of this is done by satellite. Pole Star, the US approved operator, uses Orbcomm.

Separately, AIS became mandatory for these same vessels with the aim of avoiding collisions between them, not to track them. AIS can, of course, be received with varying degrees of success via satellite. Pole Star adds the AIS data to the LRIT data to provide more tracking. You would have to think that a separate LRIT system is or should be obsolete.

Then you have VMS which has nothing to do with the IMO. Here the EU took the lead and insisted that vessels of a certain size fit devices - these are expensive to install and operate. But, very few vessels are required to have them. The UK has only 327 such boats. The EU also came up with the once an hour reporting requirement, so when you see that requirement in these third countries, you can be reasonably sure that the EU and its cards is lurking somewhere.

CLS with its ARGOS system is one of the main providers of these, as the Wiki article suggests. But, they are still expensive and limited to only the very large boats - 2,000 in Peru, 3,000 in Vietnam etc. I think that although ARGOS has a tracking system in its own right, the catch reporting and other communications go via Inmarsat. The EU is more or less insisting with these countries that they adopt an expensive system at a scale much greater than has been done before. 30,000 vessels in Vietnam as a start, 70-80k total. Chalk and cheese really, and this is where AIS and its terrestrial nature come in handy, as well as the additional applications of port and security management.

DEFRA, by the way, have just finished a consultation on requiring the rest of the 3,078 UK fishing vessels to install, at the EU's expense, iVMS. This seems to be a mobile phone based VMS system. Quite why they don't choose to use an AIS system is beyond me, as the fishermen could avoid banging into each other as well. I hope SRT made some representations. I can quite see the sparks fly as the rules are only to apply to UK vessels and not similar sized EU vessels fishing in UK waters. Run by Gove is Defra.

[supernumerary] 24/11/2018 23:17

Haven't compared in detail, but it just looks like an earlier version (eg it has less references than the current wiki entry) of the Wikipedia article that someone's copied into private storage somewhere.

[alter ego] 24/11/2018 22:49

This link does work


Article dated Oct 2016 according to the text

[countryman5] 24/11/2018 14:10

hxxps://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Vessel_monitoring_system.html#cite_note-15.
A lot of detail in this article, but I do not know its age or whether the link works.

Google search Vessel monitoring system-Wikipedia

[pinkfoot2] 24/11/2018 13:45

The problem I have is very basic-why is the takeup by any jurisdiction of any system so slow?Are we going to see the odd country adopt or will it be like buses?

The geovs system is impressive but as others say,new technology comes along all the time so the sooner a big contract drops, the sooner we will see wide adoption

[lazyj] 24/11/2018 11:59

LaValmy

Many thanks for your numerous thoughtful, infotmative posts.
I post very little, but read a lot.

Just one small suggested alteration to 7580.

SRT is high volume civilian and "less expensive".....

;-)

[goodapple] 24/11/2018 11:01

Does any of the competitors have anything to really compete with GeoVS at this time? Plus SRT make all the AIS kit (buy in Radar &CCTV) so full compatibility assured.Philo2, when (hopefully soon) announced will transform perceptions of SRT. Meanwhile the wait, as ever, is corrosive for the share price.

[jimpubes] 24/11/2018 10:25

Not ridiculed, a very valid viewpoint.
Glass half full, glass half empty.
Those who look back see failed delivery of promises.
Those who look forward see sunlit uplands.
C5 has 2 separate arguments.
Yes there is a near future global market with strong drivers for nations to invest in AIS.
Second argument SRT will do very well in this market is less certain.
Other competitors are out there and certain nations (like India) decide to do it themselves.
Technology, politics and finance all play a part in who gets the contracts.
I am backing SRT with my money so I sincerely hope they are the market leader (like they tell us).
Evidence from other technology markets suggest the winner often does not need to have the best technology. I am talking as a customer of BT and Microsoft.

[countryman5] 24/11/2018 08:02

I imagine that this posting will be ridiculed by the glums. I expect to see these same souls reinvent themselves, gleefully claiming how clever they are because their average purchase price was 30 p or less. Philo 2 is going to happen and the share price will be far in excess of £1 in 12 months time.
Philo 2 will be quickly followed by other mega contracts and SRT will become a stock market darling. For those that do not know the depth to this company, the following explains why this is one of the finest examples of British excellence (Long may it remain British).
Dedicated management who have recognised the future potential of AIS and have laboured away creating very sophisticated AIS kit and also the incredible Geovs hub. Purchasing Geovs was inspirational but it is the depth of ability that has been added over several years by a very clever team that makes SRT such a unique company.
There are two main drivers for the impending global contracts.
1. Fishing. Countries are increasingly aware of the need to protect their dwindling fish stocks and contain IUU fishing. We, as SRT shareholders, are greatly assisted by the EU which is forcing countries such as Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand to install monitoring systems. The threat of a red card and no exports to the EU drives Countries into the arms of SRT.
2. Security. The likes of Bahrain, Saudi, Kuwait and UAE all need to know what is happening in their waters and Bahrain has shown the way forward. All these Countries talk to each other.

[fft] 24/11/2018 07:46

Yes. The VSP. Contracts that were supposed to be landed within 3 years. And the biggest contract ever landed by SRT wasn't even on the list as I recall !! (Philippines, though it was cancelled after a year).The VSP really has been a complete load of puffery and should be totally discredited by now. The FY is supposed to land 3 contracts if my recollection of comments from the AGM are right. Will thay really happen ? I suspect most shareholders would be happy with just one real, and open , contract. None of this ND rubbish so we don't even know if any cash has been received.

[hjb1] 23/11/2018 19:05

yes, and still suffering! lol. Maybe Tucker is better at selling the potential to us than the actual products to paying customers?

[eagle eye] 23/11/2018 19:01

hjb1,
I'm sure many investors who post here remember those days very well.
What's amazing is that we are all still here, and that includes you!!

[hjb1] 23/11/2018 18:17

ahem! if anyone deserves any luck it's the long term suffering s/h not Tucker! He has been well rewarded for what he has delivered imo.

[pinkfoot2] 23/11/2018 17:32

I remember.Nobody can doubt Simon Tucker’s commitment and energy.The issue is the VSP which so far has proven to be elusive.The last three years have been about last minute deals which have been mixed to say the least.The problem with last minute is the old chestnut of revenue recognition but if one solid contract lands,I doubt anyone would bother with missing forecasts-shareholders have been remarkably supportive as evidenced by the market cap and cash SRT has consumed.

If anyone deserves a slice of luck,it’s Simon Tucker.

[hjb1] 23/11/2018 16:42

anyone remember the days back in 2011/12 when Tucker talked about an opportunity pipeline of 'hundreds of millions of $$$$' and over 1million boats, hmmmm! how much of that figure have we actually seen since, £50m maybe?
Here we all are again at this time every year still sweating that he will pull a rabbit out of the hat in the last few months.

[pinkfoot2] 22/11/2018 16:24

Sounds like you are inhaling the jam Lav.Lets just have one contract and I think all can relax a bit.Until then,I can’t see anyone showing much interest in the stock which is presumably why it’s holding up unlike most other small caps just now

[lavalmy] 22/11/2018 15:48

The mind boggles a bit at how effective that could be as a marketing tool. Say at next year's jamboree, two or three have started with SRT and Bahrain has gone on to the next phase, what will they be talking about? And what encouragement for some of the others...