Hello, my name is Melvin Tan, and I am the Head of Commercial, Asia at Dualog.
As a former sailor in the Singapore Navy, I understand the importance of seamless collaboration among crew members and the potential consequences of poor communication onboard. In this article I address the key challenges that seafarers and crewing departments face in communication and crew management processes. I also explore how Dualog’s current and upcoming solutions can improve crewing in the shipping industry.
In this article, we explore the following topics:
For both seafarers and crewing departments, the shift from manual, fragmented processes to streamlined, centralised digital solutions is more than just convenient – it’s a fundamental industry need. Let’s explore how Dualog solutions can improve communication, security, welfare, and operational efficiency for maritime professionals.
Improving communication with seafarers: A negative case from the captain.
Challenge
Crewing departments rely on occasional email updates through crew’s private email accounts, physical newsletters, or even word-of-mouth to share company news. This leads to outdated, inaccessible, or inconsistent information on both ends.
An example we learned from one of our customers, Capt. Lee Chee Seong, now Chairman of Singapore Maritime Employer Federation:
“An insurance initiative didn’t reach off-hire seafarers due to full mailboxes, incorrect email addresses and emails received in spam folders. Without this information, some crew members joined other companies.”
Crew retention often suffers due to poor communication, that leads to frustration and turnover.
Solution
We unified corporate information sources in one, through a personal corporate email account for each crew member, integrations with Crew Management System (CMS), corporate social media, and training platforms.
Seafarers can now access real-time corporate news, and updates, no matter where they are. No more missed contacts or inconsistencies in information distribution. This direct connection fosters a sense of belonging and positively impacts crew retention. Read more about the solution here
How to simplify crew account management
Challenge
Managing user accounts for crew members, officers, and other stakeholders is often a logistical challenge for crewing departments, requiring extensive manual work that is time-consuming and prone to errors.
Solution
The Dualog ecosystem integrates with your crew management system (CMS) to automate account management. It enables a unique user identity for each employee, centralised control over all seafarer accounts and their access to company systems in a single interface. This approach reduces administrative workload and minimises errors.
Gaps in access control: How to protect sensitive data.
Challenges
- Maritime operations are vulnerable to cyber threats due to weak security measures, especially when it comes to email communication.
- Weak password policies and the absence of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) leave systems open to unauthorised access.
Learn about the key cybersecurity threats in maritime email in 2025
- Companies don’t know how many off-board and resigned crew members still have access to the company resources and sensitive data. In addition, managing multiple login credentials is inconvenient for crew members, as they often forget or lose their passwords.
Solutions
- Malware protection: Dualog’s built-in malware protection features safeguard sensitive data from cyberattacks. It scans all emails for vulnerable content and spam. Read more about our email protection here
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Dualog provides strong password policies and MFA for all users within its infrastructure, that improves security fleet-wide. It reduces the risk of unauthorised access and helps to keep sensitive information secure.
- Single Sign-On (SSO) and strong access management: With SSO, crew members can access various systems using a single email ID and one login. The automated on/offboarding process simplifies adding and removing users, as well as managing their access to company systems. Learn more about SSO for a crew here
Fair internet data usage as part of crew welfare
Challenge
With Starlink now available on ships, companies have improved seafarers’ welfare. They can use more internet data for private needs such as video calls with family, watching Netflix etc. However, if you leave internet access uncontrolled, the crew can use up monthly data plan in 24 hours. The consequences: unfair data distribution among users onboard, disruption of work-life balance, and a negative impact on the crew’s overall welfare.
Solution
A quota management service ensures that the data plan for crew lasts for a full month. You can allocate internet data quotas per user, role, ship, and carrier. Seafarers can track their data usage on their devices and purchase additional quotas if they exceed their free allowance. Additionally, time restriction helps prevent the crew from using up all their data right away, maintaining a healthy work-life balance on a vessel.
Learn more about quota management here
Upcoming improvements for crewing by Dualog
We are currently expanding our communication and collaboration infrastructure to fundamentally improve the operations of shipping companies. The core principles of upcoming updates:
- Expanded integration capabilities and compatibility with exciting systems
We aim to reduce the number of platforms that seafarers and the crewing department need to log into, to cover their communication needs.
- Stronger connection with the crew and instant access to information
Seamless communication between crew and company strengthens the sense of belonging for both onboard and offboard personnel.
- Compliant and secure environment
With a centralised access to major operational services, you will have a reliable and easy to administer user identity system, tailored to simplify account management and protect shipping environment.
Conclusion
With Dualog, you get a comprehensive solution that contributes to a favorable crew experience:
- Digital identity that allows seafarers to easily log into different systems.
- Personal email address for instant communication with the company.
- Automated access to all the tools they need
- A fair share of internet onboard, lasting for the full month
Looking ahead, we plan to improve seafarers’ experiences even more by letting them collaborate more seamlessly with their colleagues and improving their digital environment experience, both on and off board.
Is your organisation ready to do the shift towards secure and streamlined crewing?
If you want to test our solutions within your company, please contact us.
