Making reliable connections at sea

AZIMUTH RADIO TECHNOLOGIES I PROFILE

Making reliable

CONNECTIONS AT SEA

Azimuth Radio Technologies, headquartered in Cyprus, provides sales and technical support of marine electronics equipment, and services relating to maritime navigation, internet connectivity and security. Having only been established as recently as 2020, the company has flourished amidst a global pandemic. Yvonne Tsanos, Business Development Manager at Azimuth Radio Technologies, spoke to Richard Hagan about the challenges, lessons and victories the company has recorded in only a few years in business.

For some, setting up a business during a pandemic would have been a daunting prospect to say the least. For others, such as Azimuth Radio Technologies, the decision made perfect sense – and so it has proved.

“A shortfall of highly seasoned marine electronic engineers to undertake bridge communication and navigational aid services and supply of spare parts for bridge resource equipment married with the succession and sustainability of such expertise was identified,” said Yvonne Tsanos, Business Development Manager at Azimuth Radio Technologies.

“We wanted to focus on maximising navigational safety, connectivity and security, ensuring the continuous operation of vessels and minimising unplanned downtimes and exposure to threats.”

In an impressively short period of time, Azimuth Radio Technologies, based in Limassol, Cyprus, has generated a high level of customer trust and loyalty as a marine technical support services company steadfast in servicing, maintaining, inspecting, and selling marine electronic equipment to vessels worldwide. Ms Tsanos attributed this success to its affordability, flexibility, and honest, good old-fashioned service, further crediting the company’s human element for their adaptability and proactiveness in delivering those solutions.

“We were able to respond to customer enquiries and deliver friendly, efficient, cost-effective services and results to our clients,” she noted. “Our highly experienced and knowledgeable team of professionals have been drawn from across the maritime industry. Safeguarding customer loyalty during challenging times was a milestone demonstrating that we were delivering what they sourced in terms of not only favourable pricing, quality of service and reliability but also by building on relationships.

“Despite the challenges inherent in the maritime industry, our support teams harnessed their connections and partnerships within the industry, allowing them to still deliver services remotely, regardless of the time zones in which some of the vessels were operating and global travel restrictions.”

Big business, boutique service

Azimuth Radio Technologies prides itself on the boutique service it provides to its global clients and partners, with the flexibility of a 24/7 service. “No job is too

small,” Ms Tsanos remarked. “And the reality is that equipment can fail at any time, so we are available 24/7.

“Importantly, achieving approval by several classification societies and representing international brands holding a strong market share is also another reason our customers prefer Azimuth,” she added, as further proof, if it was needed, of the company’s credibility and reputation within the market.

Azimuth Radio Technologies’ technicians need to be prepared for anything and everything in terms of the equipment and brands they service, so constant training is absolutely paramount.

“Our service engineers undergo frequent, intense training for all of the brands that we represent, particularly for new equipment as it arrives on the market, but also on legacy equipment that is being phased out and replaced.”

There is added value for the client there, too. By ensuring the company’s service engineers are trained on multiple brands’ equipment, Azimuth Radio Technologies can save the client money by becoming a single point of call for all their onboard electronics needs as well as being in a position of offering an alternative choice of reconditioned bridge navigation spares allowing a reduction in operators’ carbon footprint and OpEx.

“That’s a much better solution than bleeding a vessel’s budget dry with multiple visits from individual technicians, each representing specific brands,” said Ms Tsanos. “Integrity, transparency, attitude and ethical

AZIMUTH RADIO TECHNOLOGIES I PROFILE

best business practices formulate our success, married with being cost conscious and empathetic towards our client’s needs.

“Many clients or their vessel’s command come to us with their problems knowing that we are genuine and resultdriven. We can troubleshoot remotely; this was greatly appreciated by clients during the pandemic where we provided remote support. This and has since transpired into additional enquiries by those clients for physical attendances or spare part sales for their fleets.

Financial pressures relating to the pandemic have forced the downsizing of some service engineer departments at manufacturers, reported Ms Tsanos. That’s been good news for Azimuth Radio Technologies, filling in the gap left behind as it has become a preferred service partner.

Combating Covid isolation with connectivity

IT products and services is an equally important aspect of what Azimuth Radio Technologies offers its clients. With video calling now a part of everyday global life, and the need for upgraded technologies onboard, seafarers have also begun wanting connectivity options with their loved ones back home.

“Video calling and internet usage is a key trend and we’re seeing a higher demand for installations to improve internet connectivity on vessels,” Ms Tsanos confirmed. “The industry is addressing this much needed requirement. Sailors often experience isolation and disconnection from family and friends and ought to feel closer to home by way of technological opportunities.

“The ability for them to connect with and talk to friends and family back home has become one of the primary incentives for seafarers who are now keen to see this included in their packages to either enter employment or to remain with their current employers,” said Ms Tsanos. “They’ve lived through the isolation, the lockdown situations and the quarantine issues relating to Covid. So that’s made what was once considered a luxury, now a deciding factor for seafarers.

Thankfully, ship owners, she explained, are listening, and connectivity packages are becoming the norm.

“The satellite industry has also played its part, where incredible changes over the last few years have taken place in what appears to be primed for an explosion of growth through the deployment of smaller satellites where commercial customers are using them for flexibility, development speed, resilience and the associated lower costs, thus improving ship’s abilities to connect to the world.”

With improved internet access comes greater security risks and a particular issue today is ransomware, as well as progressively more sophisticated hacking attacks.

“The industry now understands that IT departments cannot be solely responsible for cybersecurity matters,” said Ms Tsanos. “They’re often not sufficiently equipped, experienced or qualified to deal with the level of potential attacks. Ransomware, cyber threats and hacking are rising and we can assist companies with ensuring protection from these threats.”

Alongside improved internet connectivity, ship operators are generally working to improve the IT infrastructure onboard their vessels. “We’re realising the replacement of older equipment with the supply of new solutions. There’s also been a higher demand for CCTV installations and services.”

CCTV, noted Ms Tsanos, is desired not only for its usefulness as a deterrent for potential criminality but also for monitoring and gathering evidence of onboard accidents or other incidents, for later use during investigations as well as livestream monitoring of cargo operations to shore based teams.

Fast growth

Thanks to its ability to comprehensively meet a broad spectrum of vessel owners’ navigational, electronic and IT needs, Azimuth Radio Technologies has enjoyed impressive growth.

“We experienced 100% growth in 2021, after only operating for 10 months in 2020. We’ve also seen an 80% increase in enquiries in all areas of our operations, whether it’s for services, spare parts, IT or a combination of them,” Ms Tsanos revealed. This growth was partly fuelled by a sizeable portfolio of repeat clients.”

Not only focusing primarily on bridge navigational equipment services and supply of spare parts with annual

surveys, repairs, installations, monitoring and maintenance – the company quickly evolved its service offering to encompass IT network solutions, cybersecurity and connectivity.

On the investment front, the company has created the Multi-Art Secubox, which offers protection against unauthorised access, manipulation or disruption. Ms Tsanos said the Multi-Art Secubox allows owners or operators to act flexibly when choosing specific applications and offers a solid investment return.

“The Multi-Art Secubox is deemed as advanced technology with 4G/LTE equipment giving a connectivity range of up to 100km from the coast, is easily installed and offers multiple benefits in providing a link to the world,” she said.

The company has already ticked off a number of impressive milestones, according to Ms Tsanos, who outlined some of its achievements since the company opened its doors.

“Through our skilled team at our Hamburg office, we’re currently in the final stages of completing a ship to shore network solutions package for a fleet of vessels owned by a reputable ship management company. Meanwhile, we’re also finalising an agreement with another international organisation to include our shipboard cybersecurity solutions package within their existing cybersecurity team.

“We are also proud of the numerous bridge navigational equipment refits we’ve undertaken since opening,” she added. “We completed each of them in record time. Projects that ordinarily would take anywhere from three to five days, were completed in less time, thus saving the ship owner significant expenses in terms of attendance.”

Globally navigating safely and securely

Looking towards the future, Azimuth Radio Technologies is optimistic. In addition to continuing to refine the comprehensive service for which it has become known and loved, the company has firm plans to expand its operations eastward from its existing locations in Cyprus and Germany.

“We’ve earmarked Singapore as the next location we’ll target as part of our expansion plans,” Ms Tsanos confirmed, adding: “Singapore is an obvious choice as an international maritime hub for the Far East.”

Azimuth Radio Technologies’ people will continue to be a strong focus too, as the company progresses, Ms Tsanos confirmed.

“Continuous professional development is so important and investing in our people is what delivers the best results. As someone once said, ‘You build your people and they will build your company’.”

She concluded with some thoughts on the company’s business ethos: “Listening to our clients’ needs and going beyond their expectations is important to us. We deliver products and services in a friendly and professional manner for an industry that never sleeps. Our integrity, transparency, attitude, our ethical business practices with our never-ending focus on delivering our clients’ needs will continue to drive us forward.” n