BASS has launched the BASSnet™ Crew Portal, an advanced progressive web app that provides seafarers with comprehensive access to personal details, sailing plans and travel documents on the go, accessible from ship or shore.
Ineffective communication is the often costly by-product of time delays and the tonne of red tape inherent in traditional crew management systems. The new BASSnet™ Crew Portal app makes a real difference here. The app displays real-time information on a responsive and user-friendly web interface, and can be used on any browser that supports progressive web apps such as Chrome, Edge and Safari. This immediately creates transparency for effective communications.
Customers can also say ‘goodbye’ to the often headache-inducing installation process for traditional apps; being a progressive web app, crew need only register the applicable URL to begin using the Crew Portal. Significantly, all communication is secured by default via secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, through the use of HTTPS.
Crew can directly update personal information, signal availability, and provide details of new or revised licences, certificates and travel documents. In addition, travel details are available at the push of a button, with the app displaying itinerary details for flights, hotel bookings and ground arrangements. To aid supervisory input, app data is synchronised with the powerful BASSnet™ HR Manager System for the crewing manager’s review and approval.
“Managing crew across multiple ships can be a costly, time-consuming and logistically complex process,” said Per Steinar Upsaker, CEO and managing director of BASS. “Our goal was to create an ecosystem that drives stress-free, straightforward and timely information exchange between seafarers on board vessels and their crewing managers at the office. This cornerstone of effective crew management was a must for us to achieve. The Crew Portal app is an invaluable bridge for effortless two-way communication on-the-go.”
“We also wished to increase visibility of business processes for safer and more efficient crew organisation,” noted Martin Bjoernebye, BASS’s VP of research and development. “By providing crew with direct, real-time access to their own data and documents, not only does the Crew Portal keep the crew informed and up to date as they travel, but it is also incredibly easy to instantly update time-sensitive information on travel documentation and claims.”
Interactivity is an essential hallmark of the app’s capabilities. Not only can crew view activities and sailing plans, along with helpful compliance information, but they can also actively accept or reject proposed activities such as training events. Importantly, crew can upload attachments directly via the app. Claims can be posted instantly. As an added convenience, receipts can be snapped from the crew member’s phone and uploaded, with the ability to enter transaction amounts in multiple currencies, all in real-time.
“The BASSnet™ Crew Portal combines the utility of instant browser-based access on mobile devices with a comprehensive selection of useful functions that optimise crew management,” added Upsaker. “We have curated the Crew Portal’s capabilities to create a flexible yet seamless end-to-end crew management experience for our customers.”
The Crew Portal app is the latest offering from BASS in their ambitious 2019 road map. Innovative mobile solutions are now a pivotal component of the BASSnet™ suite, and the powerful Crew Portal app is a great example. This useful tool will undoubtedly expedite organisation of crew activities while ensuring that crew data is always kept up-to-date across a fleet of ships, all from the convenience of a mobile device. BASS plans to build on the app’s current functionalities to further reduce the costs and complexity of crew management during upcoming phases of the app rollout.