Internet-based Marine Maintenance Information System

The Marine Region of the Hong Kong Police Force is responsible for policing the waters and 262 islands that lie within the 1,651 square kilometers of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). In addition to routine policing, the Marine Region has responsibilities in other diverse areas like quarantine, immigration, conservancy, and also port and maritime regulations (Hong Kong Police Force, 2005). The Region is now managing a police fleet of over 140 vessels of various classes. A modern police vessel is a complex, technologically advanced, and highly automated machine. As such, the Marine Region Support Bureau (MRSB) insisted that it must be maintained at the highest possible levels of operational availability while its life cycle operating and maintenance costs should be kept at a minimum. To achieve this aim, this article addresses the need to effectively implement a marine maintenance information system. Traditionally, the defects and maintenance data of the fleet were collected and recorded by the crew in writing, and then the maintenance records were used as the basis for maintenance decisions by the MRSB and the Hong Kong Government Dockyard. With the paper-based recording procedure, the following problems often occur: