15 More Companies Sign Up For Helm CONNECT

Today, software developer Helm Operations announced that over the last two months it has signed on 15 more commercial maritime companies to its planned maintenance and compliance software, Helm CONNECT.

The companies come from a variety of commercial maritime industries, such as the fishing, passenger vessel, research vessel, inland / coastal barging and pilotage vessel sectors. The reason for the broad appeal of Helm CONNECT is its simplicity. “Businesses are craving software that’s easy for their people to use,” says Rodger Banister VP Marketing at Helm Operations. “They want software at work to be as easy to understand and use as their smart phone.” Banister believes that the ease of use of Helm CONNECT is driving its appeal outside of Helm’s traditional workboat market.

Weeks Marine selected Helm CONNECT to manage the maintenance and repair program for its fleet of 14 tugboats electronically. Jan Andrusky, Towing Manager says the company chose Helm CONNECT for multiple reasons. “We decided [to select Helm CONNECT] because it gives us the means to comply with AWO's Responsible Carrier Program in preparation for USCG Subchapter M. Helm CONNECT really jumped off the page because of its user friendliness and reasonable pricing. Helm also gives us the ability to implement additional features easily in the future.”

Harbor Towing and Fleeting, a New Orleans based towboat and barge fleeting company also recently signed up for Helm CONNECT. Sarah Hattier, HSQE Manager says, “We chose Helm CONNECT because the product is user-friendly, extremely flexible, and the Helm team is a real pleasure to work with.” Hattier also said that the affordability of Helm CONNECT made it an easy decision.

Helm CONNECT is designed to be intuitive in every way. Helm works closely with workboat personnel when building the product through direct consultation with real life users, like port engineers, crew and shore-based personnel. “The result is intuitive maintenance software that’s really easy to use,” says Banister.

Banister expects the interest in Helm CONNECT to continue to grow because commercial maritime companies are constantly searching for systems that help them get ahead of their maintenance and compliance challenges. “We keep hearing that they want something that’s easy to use to manage maintenance and close the loop on compliance. That’s what Helm CONNECT is all about.”