146 INTERVIEW Smooth sailing with electronic work permits When undertaking high-risk work onboard a ship, safety and efficiency are key. Tommi Vihavainen tells Amber Hickman how NAPA’s new Permit to Work solution makes the process smoother, faster and safer Ship management isn’t always smooth sailing, and when maintenance is needed, it is important that the crew can start the job as soon as possible. Before this work can begin, however, they must first fill out the appropriate forms and get them authorised by a senior officer. Traditionally this has been a paperbased process, but maritime software provider NAPA aims to digitalise this procedure with its new solution, NAPA Permit to Work. “One of the pain points of a traditional paper-based process is that it can be very slow,” says Tommi Vihavainen, director of development at NAPA. “For example, if a worker needs to physically walk around the ship to get their form signed by a senior officer it can cause delays. However, with a digital solution like NAPA Permit to Work, they can request the authorisation through the application and get a response almost instantly. “Furthermore, using a digital solution allows ship operators to control and monitor processes and validate inputs so there are less errors and increased real-time visibility across the ship of all ongoing and planned work for all departments. This increases safety and minimises the risk of accidents.” In addition to delivering significant benefits for maintenance workers, digital solutions like NAPA Permit to Work can improve the passenger experience. “When the ship is safe, the passengers are safe,” says Vihavainen. “Furthermore, it is important for passengers to enjoy their time onboard. If there is a maintenance issue affecting this then it’s in the shipowner’s best interests to get the problem fixed as soon as possible, which is where a digitalised permit process can help.” The Permit to Work solution is part of a wider portfolio of solutions that also includes NAPA Stability and NAPA Logbook. These tools can work together to collect and exchange data to further enhance operational efficiency and insight. “The different applications complement each other and allow data to exchange fluidly, providing a more holistic view of what’s happening onboard,” says Vihavainen. “For example, if automation data such as fuel consumption figures are higher or lower than normal, ship engineers can compare them to the logbook data and see if there are any contributing factors, like unexpected operations or more passengers than usual.”
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