Simplify Your Ship's Logbooks with DLog

It's a Tuesday afternoon and we're chatting with Remko de Leeuw. He is captain of the Thresher, which is part of the Chemgas fleet. While the vessel is anchored and waiting for approval to enter the harbor, Remko has a bit of time to speak about OneLog, our newest software that replaces traditional paper logbooks with an all-in-one digital logbook system, to make life on the bridge as easy as possible.

Traditional paper logbooks

When asked about the logbook situation before the introduction of DLog, Remko laughs. 'It was not ideal at all. Take the garbage logbook, for example, that helps us to ensure that we comply with environmental regulations and that we minimize the impact of our activities on the environment. In the past, this meant a lot of work. After each disposal operation, we had to create a manual entry including the date and time, type and quantity of the garbage disposed, the method of disposal, the location of the operation (including latitude and longitude), a signature and the receipt. You can imagine that this was a lot of paperwork and resulted in a lot of files on our shelves.'

Hybrid situation

'That's why we started scanning our paperwork a while ago, as a stepping stone to digitalization of the logbooks. But in practice, this led to a hybrid situation that meant double the work. It was far from time efficient. Luckily, that's where Datema came into the picture. We're no strangers. In fact, I've been working together successfully with Datema since 2006. Chemgas is constantly striving for innovation and improvement and the services from Datema always contribute to optimization of our work environment. With DLog, we hoped that they would be able to aid our journey to digitalization.' Spoiler alert: we were.

Time-saving

'It's been two months since we started using the DLog garbage record book and it has exceeded our expectations!' according to Remko. 'Because everything is digital, it's easy to store all information in one place. This saves a lot of space and time. DLog can be run on multiple computers at the same time. The engineer in the control room, the chief mate on the bridge and the captain in the captain's cabin all have access to the same system. Especially on a multi crew vessel like the Thresher, with a length of almost 100 meters and a capacity of 2.700m3, this is very time-effective.'

No errors

'What's more, everything is straightforward when it's digital. Especially considering the fact that not all of us have a neat handwriting', Remko laughs. 'It's just so much easier. And the chance of error is very small. Besides the garbage record book, we're also using the oil record book in DLog to record all movements and transfers of oil on board of the vessel. Besides all other benefits, this is also a smart program that sends a warning whenever it suspects a wrong entry. This ensures that the margin of error is extremely small.'

Future collaboration

For both Chemgas and Datema, success is about more than just the result. Its about what they learn on their way there. That's their greatest strength and ensures that they do things differently from everyone else. Remko concludes: 'We're very happy with DLog and we plan on expanding the service in the future, as soon as other logbooks are approved, such as the engine room logbook, the radar logbook and the cargo handling gear logbook. Plus, we're also preparing to expand DLog to other vessels of Chemgas. It's not a matter of if, but when. And we can't wait!'