Srt Marine Systems Share Discussion Threads

[kalkanite] 16/9/2016 17:33

Thanks LaValmy

That's an interesting point that I was not aware of.

[lavalmy] 16/9/2016 17:05

kalkanite

Broadly speaking yes, in the new fishing fleet applications, which are really more national governments protecting their EEZ's and their onshore security, the collision avoidance origin of AIS has been more or less abandoned.

Identification has not been dropped at all, far from it, but it is the government that identifies not other boats.

In contrast, in the West where AIS might take off as something useful for boat-owners to avoid colliding with each other, it is essential that all boats potentially colliding witn yours are seen by you and identified so that you can call them directly by name.

Neither market has yet taken off, but it looks like the project-based adoption will happen long before significant voluntary adoption.

[kalkanite] 16/9/2016 16:09

"The bulk of the small boats will be fitted such that the authorities can see them, but they cannot see each other"

The original idea of AIS being an anti collision device and enabling a boat to communicate by name across a radio frequency does not exist on the fishing fleet then?

I appreciate that AIS is expanding its ability as a service but I am somewhat surprised that identification has been dropped for fishing fleets to protect their favoured fishing locations.

[lavalmy] 16/9/2016 15:56

kalkanite

The bulk of the small boats will be fitted such that the authorities can see them, but they cannot see each other, and the data will be encrypted so that only the country that paid for the installation will be able to idenify their own boats. One of the major angsts that fishermen had was precisely that other fishermen would learn of their favorite spots. On the other hand, this puff spins it as fishermen looking out for their comrades, law-abiding other local fishermen, which reduces the big brother aspect.

All that said, the paragraph you highl;ight is incongruous in the way it seems to mirror what SRT are doing. Indonesia first, tick. Malaysia next (cue SRT's recent photo) etc.

[kalkanite] 16/9/2016 13:39

I'm cherry picking a part of the above report but the following looks very much like the region that SRT have in contract (Indonesia) and the VSP


"The mFish initiative will enable small scale and artisanal fishermen with mobile technology services and applications to report illegal fishing activities. Applications and services will initially be available in Indonesia with plans to expand availability to Malaysia then across south, south-east Asia, Africa and Latin America. Reports of illegal fishing activity will be shared with relevant government authorities for follow up."

I assume that the mobile technology will be of little use without a fishing boat being able to identify (or rather "not identify") a fellow licensed boat. Surely that is where the ability of class B AIS devices mounted on all licensed fishing boats will be a necessity, thus making it easier to I.D. illegal fishing boats.

May be rose tinted glasses so happy to be shot down on this one.

[yumyum] 16/9/2016 12:49

Global Fishing Watch is very interesting. It kindof does all the monitoring for free !

It seems they have little difficulty in picking up the AIS signals. Presumably these are just the large fishing boats.

They say:
''Over the course of the year, 200,000+ vessels, including more than 35,000 known or likely commercial fishing boats, broadcast their position, course, and speed through AIS. Fleets of satellites record these broadcasts and transmit the information to Earth.
37+ billionais messages processed
step-2 data processing

22+ million data points are added to the system every day. Using cloud computing and machine learning, Global Fishing Watch processes the data, identifying which vessels are fishing boats, and when and where they are fishingicon info.
4.5+years of data
step-3 engage


Once the data are visualized on Global Fishing Watch, anyone can track fishing activity across the globe.''

[loobrush] 16/9/2016 12:32

I think you could be right this has probably got a fair way to drop yet as profits a year or so away and price is currently a little overheated-but who knows..

[hjb1] 16/9/2016 12:01

the big question is, just how low this will go? I fear a bit as I think the update will be poor for first half and all those small PI's who have come onboard recently will lose interest and lower and lower we will go.

[yumyum] 15/9/2016 12:23

World's first certified 5W SOTDMA AIS Class B ..
________________________________________
SRT Marine Systems plc, the global leaders in Automatic Identification System (AIS) announces the launch of the WORLD'S FIRST FULLY CERTIFIED SOTDMA CLASS B AIS transceiver with enhanced 5W transmit power.






The AIS communication protocol is specified by the ITU and individual product types by a range of IEC specifications. The latest ITU and IEC AIS standards now specify two different types of AIS Class B transceiver. The long standing CSTDMA Class B with 2W transmit power is defined by IEC62287-1 and the new SOTDMA Class B with 5W transmit power is defined by IEC62287-2. The main difference between the two is that the SOTDMA Class B, reserves a free transmit slot prior to transmitting and transmits at a higher power: 5 Watts instead of 2 Watts.

As with all SRT AIS solutions, the new SOTDMA Class B is available to customers in a range of convenient and flexible solution formats each of which can be extensively customised for specific brand, functionality and performance requirements.
• ARTEMIS: a fully integrated IPx7 waterproof SOTDMA Class B with full charting, WiFi, target overlay and management functionality and SRT’s unique MOB & SART alert and management system
• NEONII: an integrated IPx7 waterproof SOTDMA Class B black box transceiver – with optional WiFi connectivity
• COBALTII: a miniature SOTDMA Class B transceiver module
The new SOTDMA Class B has been tested and certified by BSH in Germany who are the world’s most respected and experienced independent AIS technology test organisation. This exhaustive, independent testing and certification ensures that a product complies with all the requirements of the relevant ITU and IEC standards which is critical for reliable real world performance and interoperability.

Simon Tucker, SRT Marine Systems CEO said: “SRT continues to lead the world of AIS technology and product development and innovation such that our customers always have access to the best AIS products with the best performance. Our new SOTDMA Class B transceivers use SRT’s advanced SDR core technology platform which ensures they can be extensively customised, and further enhanced to accommodate future changes to the AIS standards through software updates.”

END

Contact SRT Marine Systems plc

E: [e-mail]
T: [phone]
W: www.srt-marine.com

About SRT Marine Systems plc:
SRT develops, manufactures and supplies maritime tracking technology and turn-key system solutions to marine stakeholders across the globe. The Company’s products and solutions are used by individual vessel owners, port authorities, maritime infrastructure owners, coast guards and national security agencies to enhance their maritime domain awareness. Applications include the tracking of commercial and leisure vessels; sustainable fishery (VMS); anti-collision; search and rescue (SAR); waterway management, port (VTS) and coast security; pollution management; and environmental management.

[lavalmy] 15/9/2016 11:36

Owenski

The way I look at it eE (or Comdev/Hisdesat) had two options:

raise $400 million or so to put up a constellation of their own or

piggyback on the Iridium system for $10 million upfront (I think)

Either way, they need the AIS and other maritime channels to work commercially for them or they go bust. So option two is the more sensible.

I also think that te bulk of those countries who want tracking but don't have their own systems will choose the eE package. It is after all AIS specific and 'real-time' globally, which gives the decollision more goes. At the AGM, Neil confirmed that success in getting a message from a particular Identifier is simply a matter of how many attempt you get. Iridium will be overhead all the time.

[dieseltaylor] 15/9/2016 10:12

is the abstract. The main piece from gcaptain

[dieseltaylor] 15/9/2016 10:09

The U.S. Coast Guard vessel traffic service (VTS) is a shore-based surveillance and communications system with the authority to ensure the safe and efficient movement of vessel traffic in particularly hazardous or congested waterways in the United States. The system’s primary mission is to reduce the risk of collisions, allisions, and groundings by detecting and resolving unsafe traffic situations in a timely manner.

The NTSB said it launched the study as the result of investigations into six major commercial vessel accidents since the implementation of the Coast Guard’s “Vessel Traffic Service National Standard Operating Procedures Manual” in 2009.

NTSB data showed that information provided by the Coast Guard indicates collisions, allisions and groundings within VTS areas between 2010 and 2014 resulted in two fatalities, 179 injuries and more than $69 million in damage to vessels, facilities, infrastructure and the environment.

What the NTSB found was that the Coast Guard has not developed a standard method for measuring the collective safety performance of all 12 VTS centers as a VTS system and, as a result, there was no standardized public data or statistics available for assessing the system’s overall effectiveness. The study also found widespread variation in the understanding of Coast Guard VTS authority across the system, which has resulted in the inconsistent application of that authority over time.

“Variance within a single safety system is itself a potential hazard and mariners traveling from one VTS to another must be able to rely on consistent Coast Guard services,” said NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart. “The recommendations contained in our safety study, if acted upon, will improve the effectiveness of the VTS system throughout America’s waterways. I note with appreciation the Coast Guard’s openness and transparency with our investigators and the service’s treatment of our study as a thorough and independent effort to improve Coast Guard operations.”

The NTSB issued 17 of its 21 recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard, one to the American Pilots Association, two to the American Waterways Operators and one recommendation was issued to the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services.

An abstract of the Vessel Traffic Service Safety Study is available online, the full report is expected to be published within several weeks.

[owenski] 15/9/2016 09:36

No disrespect on that LaValmy, but there's a world of difference between what companies say and what takes place, Mabson isn't a guy I'd back with my cash. Doesn't matter who's funding what it's still got to happen in reality.

Mexico was US funded and Ecuador is receiving funding, still waiting on those, and SRT are in a better more credible position to me than EE.... EE effectively mortgaged their future to another carrier - Harris - in my books, I reckon the pressure is on EE.

[lavalmy] 15/9/2016 07:13

Not too sure about all that.

About seven minutes into the conference call at eE, Mabson hints at getting their transponders elsewhere, which may explain the glaring discrepancy between the 450 units that they are supplying and the 400 that have been ordered from SRT. I don't know how they will get the ABSEA version of SAT-Trak on the other ones. Maybe they have 50 units sitting around from trials. Somewhat amusingly, it seems that eE will be involved in the installation.

Much more pertinent to us SRT shareholders are comments from 29.5 minutes onwards regarding the World Bank, who are paying for the Ghana project. Tens of millions earmarked for the region.

The pair of them sound pretty shifty to me, particularly with regard to the Canadian government. And never in the history of Comdev/eE conference calls has anyone ever asked about the oversized 18 month contract. I wouldn't lend them my lunch money, even though I am a shareholder.

[owenski] 14/9/2016 21:15

Personally speaking, I think that EE are in a financially weak position and more so with their Harris tie up, not too sure how they will make their money. If I was a shareholder I would have ditched them long ago and their 1m boat park forecast is a fantasy in my view, someday maybe, but not by 2020. Its very ok in my books that SRT loosened the 'marriage' ties in this relationship.

Most of the revenue streams that we were expecting from SRT haven't happened as we were expecting, ie ABSEA seems to move further out if much happens there at all, the other sat.tech developments are still in infancy as far as I'm concerned.

The mandates certainly never and still don't bring home the bacon, and AtoN is still early days relatively speaking.

To be sure, all the bits and pieces are very welcome income streams that are making an approx 6m income difference to the revenue pot, so its not to be sniffed at, but, speaking frankly, it was Geovs that I believe really started opening the doors to the project work, and for the next few years it is the income from the Geovs MDM projects alone that will provide the revenue that affords SRT an attractive valuation. Without Geovs I reckon no meaningful projects would've started, no projects and SRT would have been in financial dire straights in my view.

Any other repeat revenue on a meaningful basis I believe is still some years away.

However, on the project score, the odds are we will see some action at some point this calendar year. Waiting does test the patience, but we have a forward order book that supports current valuations and a collection of active situations that suggest again that the odds favour something dropping into contract phase.

It strikes me that even now the AIS market is still young and a lot of developments still too fluid and evolutionary to pin down with any accuracy. I work my SRT valuations out from project work alone, anything else is an interesting and welcome addition as and when it works out whatever that final tangible shape might be.

[the prophet] 14/9/2016 17:24

Yes, that 1m for EE by end of decade joins the pie in the sky dept of forecasting!

[the prophet] 14/9/2016 17:23

cheers for the reply, LaV, not sure I ever said it was 'nailed on', to the best of my knowledge I've only ever reported back what was told to me by ST/SRT at AGM's, ,meetings etc. But I might have done! Difficult to keep track sometimes, no pun intended.
But anyway, I take note of and heed your caution re the $9-$10 per month per boat, wise words.

I do recall a conversation I had where it was suggested that boats would only be charged if they were in the 'zone' , whatever that zone may be. But as we are some way off this particular holy grail I guess it's not of too much concern at this point. Let's get the MDM systems out there first before this aspect comes into view.

[lavalmy] 14/9/2016 17:12

PS I was going to tune in the eE conference call and ask pertinent questions about how they viewed the 1,000,000 boats forecast and at what price, but unfortunately I had to disconnect the phone due to a storm down here.

[lavalmy] 14/9/2016 17:05

Recurring revenue was my theme, not specifically S-AIS. I am thinking licence fees etc for the software, service fees etc. Of course, that equally depends on having an installed base.

As regards visible versus meaningful, there is a huge difference. It is not yet clear if any customers want S-AIS (or the other fused satellite data) nor what price they would be prepared to pay for it. The recent explanation from Simon suggests both that many envisage such and that SRT will gain more either from being the gatekeeper for those who do not have their own capacity or from licencing their technology to those who do, as well as selling them the boxes. But as yet, there is no indication of how much anyone will pay. I stressed often enough, along with Diesel, my doubts about the $9-10 per month per boat. I think at the time you said that they had done their market research and it was nailed on. I changed my assumptions when the Harris agreement was reached, but still need convincing about whether countries want it, whether it would be useful to them and what they would be prepared to pay for that. It is a much easier sell as part of a bundle of MDA.

So for me, visible means showing that customers want it and are prepared to pay for it. That will be in advance of meaningful revenues from it, and, I suspect, well within three years.

[the prophet] 14/9/2016 15:49

LaV

Wouldn't disagree with too much of your post, other than I would be interested in your view as to how long before we see meaningful S-AIS revs?

I'm not saying 3 yrs to the first revs, but approx 3 yrs till they are 'meaningful' as opposed to your 'visible' term, hope I'm not splitting hairs here, but you see the difference?

My estimate was based on these major projects are going to take 2-3 years to roll out and we are only 6 months into the first major project that will probably require S-AIS, so perhaps another 2-2.5 years for Indonesia and no others that require S-AIS have started, although I guess the stalled mexico project could be a possible contender.
So S-AIS revenues are unlikely to be present in any meaningful way until some time after roll out on suitable projects has completed. That's my take, fwiw, and would seem to be Mr Tucker's as well.

[lavalmy] 14/9/2016 15:27

And from being taken over.

As hjb has said, AIS is a tiny market if you look at the turnover of the market leader. Recurring revenues, where the value is at, are invisible and likely to remain so for at least a while (though not the three years that TP suggests).

On the bright side, large numbers of vessels will have to be fitted before the various governments see the real need to fill the gaps, and that should give ample time for SRT to deal with any technical issues relating to specific satellite/country systems and fusing the various data from multiple sources (and making that intelligible in a friendly format to users).

So boxes (including RADAR, hubs, GEOVS) first, recurring thereafter. £1-1.50 range first, more later as the recurring becomes more tangible, and no takeover until that is very tangible.

[the prophet] 14/9/2016 15:07

fft
the only change to the ABSEA/ S-AIS recurring revenue model is under the new arrangements SRT will get more of it!
Why else do you think SRT changed the EE deal? It weren't to get a worse deal!

As Mr Tucker said the first priority is to get the systems out there, the recurring S-AIS revenue will follow some time after that.
I guess we are still probably three years away or so from generating any sort of meaningful S-AIS recurring revenues.

[yumyum] 14/9/2016 14:45

One decent project win is needed. Then SRT shares get re-rated.