App for Crew Hours of Work and Rest

With all the talk about MLC 2006 regulations, not to mention previous requirements to record work hours, we all know the importance of keeping accurate records of crew work and rest hours. Detailed, concise records allow regulatory agencies, and most recently MLC 2006 inspectors, to quickly and easily determine if seafarers are given adequate rest each day.

Now, Scott Strand, developer of Triton Administrator yacht management software, has created an app based on Triton Administrator’s Work and Rest feature. I caught up with Scott recently to chat about his thought process behind the new app. Here are the highlights of our conversation:

Why did you create the Hours of Work and Rest App?

We’ve spent years developing Triton Administrator into a comprehensive yacht management program. But during that time, mobile devices have become ubiquitous. So I realized that I could take the most frequently used features in Triton, such as hours of work and rest, and create apps for them.

Ultimately, I wanted to give crew an even more convenient and efficient way of updating data. And since virtually everyone these days has a personal mobile device, I wanted a way for individuals to be responsible for inputting their own hours using their own smartphone or tablet.

How does the hours of work and rest app work?

Apps are a growing trend in business software. By creating the work and rest app, we allow customers to access one of Triton Administrator’s most frequently used features with a few quick clicks on a crew member’s mobile device. That means that each crew member can be responsible for recording his or her own hours every day.  

The data on the vessel server is updated upon user entry, and can sync as well as shore side computers. So the app helps keep the data updated at all times for all parties.

Allowing crew members to enter their own data using their own devices is a faster, cheaper and more efficient way for the vessel to maintain its Hours of Work and Rest data. There is no need for someone to go around person by person to collect data or have crew enter their times one-by-one on a vessel computer.

That means that at any time, the captain or owner can generate reports from the data or an inspector can come on board and review it. And shore side managers have accurate Work and Rest data every time the vessel’s data syncs.

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This article originally appeared on the Great Circle Systems Yacht Technology blog.

Since 1999, Great Circle Systems has built an impressive array of products and services to assist in the construction and operation of vessels 30 meters and larger. These products include Triton Administrator yacht management software and the NAS3000 Internet management appliance. GCS has provided IT solutions for many of the most beautiful yachts in the world, including M/Y Cakewalk V, M/Y Lady Sheridan, M/Y Jemasa, M/Y "A" and M/Y Katara. 


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