Sankar Ragavan, CEO MariApps
Driven by visionary leaders and passionate employees, MariApps is a pioneer in providing digital solutions to the marine industry. The service allows users to track vessels; reduce operational risk and maximize uptime; fetch real-time finance, performance and operational data and so much more. It is facilitating better decision-making and enabling efficient fleet management with new technology solutions, steering the industry towards a bright digital future.
The shipping industry is the principal means of international trade today, managing 90 % of global trade. As it is an increasingly demanding industry, there are challenges to tackle, such as ensuring ship-shore connectivity, maintaining communication, managing voyages, synthesizing data, and upgrading legacy systems. This is where, MariApps as a forward-thinking organization, is broadening many horizons in the industry by providing world-class, comprehensive and effective digital tools for every aspect of maritime fleet management.
Helping Maritime Businesses Embrace Emerging Technologies
Sankar Ragavan, the company’s CEO, has immense experience as an IT professional, having served global organizations such as Jumeriah International, various MNC’s and Bernhard Schulte Ship management where he was the Corporate IT Director.
Sankar was integral to setting up MariApps in 2014 with the vision to help the maritime industry easily adapt and embrace emerging technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and robotics. The core team researched, developed and provided various software, useful ERP, data analytics tools and easier ways to share information.
Leading the Industry with State-of-the-Art Software
MariApps’ exhaustive digital tools bring in key knowledge and expertise to help maritime professionals succeed in today’s increasingly demanding business environment. Its flagship product smartPAL is the first-of-its-kind ERP system for modern maritime fleet management.
It’s a fully digitized, cloud-supported and mobile compliant suite for ship managers and owners to overlook critical day-to-day activities. This is because the suite encompasses all important functions: crewing, payroll, planned maintenance, procurement, finance, HSEQ, catering, voyage, document management and insurance, on a single platform.
The suite’s centralized nature makes every aspect of maritime fleet management straightforward and therefore ensures much more efficient operations. Users can better understand voyage performance and key operational data, to enable better decision-making, to improve overall efficiency and to mitigate risks. And it also allows users to easily connect and network with leading banks, travel systems, and major vendors.
Moreover, the company offers additional innovative products such as:
- LiveFleet: A single app for ship owners to monitor vital information such as fuel optimization and to track vessels in near real time,
- eConnect: An end-to-end eCommerce platform providing an easy and efficient way to process transactions and monitor exchange of goods,
- TRIPplanner: Holistic travel management system bridging corporate companies and travel agent groups,
- New Building: A module used to track the progress of construction and testing activities of ship construction,
- Makers Portal: A data store of vendors and manufacturers of ship parts and machineries,
- Plan Approval Module: A document flow control system to review and approve ship drawings, and more.
MariApps also offers mobile apps to help users stay updated and informed on the go. Some of these functions allow them to streamline crew-related processes, inspect vessels thoroughly, and manage travel plans, payments, and certificates.
An Ever-Present Guide and Partner to Customers
The company’s main vision is to guide maritime organizations on the digital journey, primarily through partnerships with them. Apart from their software, MariApps is renowned as a constant guide and partner to customers, guiding them through the challenges within the industry’s modernization.
“If you buy our solution we will not be a vendor walking away after selling the license to you, we will stay back to overlook the complete implementation. We will come in as a partner and take over organizational change management, communication management and project management,” Sankar assures. MariApps is always available to clients, guiding them whenever needed, training them with the application which in turn will secure a profitable return on investment.
Progression Supported by Partnerships and Networking
MariApps strongly advocates partnerships and networking in business. Through partnerships, the company has been investing in newer, more dynamic technologies such as blockchain and Big Data to upgrade the quality of its services.
“We have a sizeable number of partners who are helping us grow our solutions and implement them across the globe. One of our biggest partners is Microsoft. We use Microsoft technologies everywhere, including their cloud adoption, dot net platform and DevOps platform,” Sankar says. “We also work closely with Deloitte to ensure our system audits and securities side are fully compliant, and this is done annually,” he continues.
The company has also partnered with Chicago-based data transfer company ‘Binfer’, a Bangalore-based blockchain company ‘Krypsy’ and more intending to systematically improve the standards of its service.
Supporting the Company’s Greatest Asset: Employees
“We are a dynamic, young, and passionate company, committed to the development of the best solutions for the industry”, Sankar says. “Employees are our biggest strength and our greatest assets. We have more than 450 employees across the globe. They all are loyal, committed and working hard to ensure our customers are happy. We also provide them with great working environment good pay and benefits, flexible work hours and challenging projects,” he adds further.
MariApps continually trains its employees who bring a blend of varied expertize spanning technology, shipping domain expertise and change management to the company.
Towards Newer Frontiers in Excellent Services
MariApps has a global presence, headquartered in Singapore, with offices in India, Germany, UAE, France, and Cyprus, and its software runs on over 1,000 vessels today.
“We are entering into new domains like Travel and Insurance, which has immediate interactions with shipping industry. MariApps is currently building a digital platform, combining data from smartPAL ERP and telemetry data, which will take us to the next level of digital platform services, enabling new processes in ship management,” Sankar concludes.
