Thai Union eCDT and Crew Communications Pilot: Assessment Report

Abstract

This report assesses Thai Union’s 2017 pilot program to test the usability and scalability of CDT technology for at-sea data collection and improved crew communications. Thai Union led the pilot, in cooperation with Thailand’s Department of Fisheries (DoF), Inmarsat, Xsense, Mars Pet Care, and with technical advice from USAID Oceans. The pilot was conducted on four vessels over a 36-week period between May and December 2017 and tested Inmarsat Fleet One Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) technology with two-way communications, an e-logbook and a mobile phone application, Hi-Chat, which was used for crew communications. In addition to understanding the potential for electronic CDT within the Thai fleets, the pilot was particularly interested in human welfare aspects and the ability of the crew to communicate securely to a trusted person on land. To assess the success of the pilot, USAID Oceans’ subcontractor, Marine Change, conducted an assessment and an evaluation on the key data elements (KDEs) collected, using USAID Oceans’ KDE recommendations and key import market requirements as a baseline for analysis.