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Marsoft
Decision Support System (MDSS) – Frequently Asked Questions |
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Manager (SCM) 3.x |
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• New features • Frequently Asked Questions • Known issues with SCM 3.x |
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Manager (SCM) 4.x |
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• Overview • Frequently Asked Questions • Known issues with SCM 4.x |
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What's
New in SCM 3.05 (01Q1: January 31, 2001)? • Loan List report A new report, Loan List Report, has been added. This is analogous to the Vessel List Report, listing information about each loan selected in the Create Report form. The report lists the Outstanding Principal, Interest Payment, Principal Payment and Balloon payment for each loan. It also lists the value of the vessels used as collateral for each loan, the total collateral value and the loan to value ratio. Loan List reports are given the extension "LST" and can be saved or exported like Vessel List reports. Please note that the extension of the Vessel List reports was changed from "VSL" to "LST". • Project SaveAs The Project Save As capability has been fully implemented. The "Save As/Export" button from the Project Overview tab allows the user to either export a project or make a duplicate copy of it (with a different name) in the database. • Web access to Marsoft updates from inside the SCM SCM can now access Marsoft's Web site to check for program or data updates. Web access can be set in Auto mode, so SCM will automatically check for updates at start-up; or, SCM can check for available updates at request by selecting the appropriate option under the new "Web" command, which has been added to the Input Menu. Accessing Marsoft's site requires an Internet connection; SCM searches for an Internet connection; it will automatically start a dial-up Internet connection, if no direct connection is present and auto-dial is enabled for modem connection. • New Layout of the Create Report form The layout of the "Create Report" form has been modified to account for the Loan List report. The Cash Flow, Loan Analysis, Investment Analysis and GAAP reports have been grouped under Financial Report. These reports along with the new Input Report and the project charts are generated together, and thus, have been grouped under the same option. Separate options/buttons in the Report Menu and toolbar allow for single-click navigation between these reports. • New Input Report A new report has been added as part of the Financial Report (see above): the Input Report shows the list of vessels and loans included in the Financial Report. This report is accessed from the Report Menu either via the "Input Report" option under the Reports command, or, via the button labeled "INPUT" of the toolbar. • New Operating Cost and Long Term Outlook Assumptions We have revised certain assumptions regarding operating costs and the long term inflation / trend of our outlook for rates and prices (i.e. beyond the five year period covered by our market analysis). Specifically for the operating costs, the SCM now provides age specific estimates of the operating cost to be used as a reference at the vessel acquisition date. Our analysis has shown that there is approximately an 1% variation in operating costs per year of vessel age (the previously used operating cost values were for 10-15 year old vessels). Furthermore, the default escalation rate is now 2% (versus 3% before). Please remember that these operating cost estimates are used in the cases when no operating cost information is entered by the user. When a user enters his/her own information the SCM uses it instead of the reference values. Regarding the longer term outlook (i.e. past five years), SCM continues to converge to the long term average of rates or values over the period 1980-2005 in real terms (this rule is slightly different for containerships where greater weight is given in the most recent history 1990-2000). SCM is not further inflating this average (as opposed to inflating it by 1% p.a. in the past). This change is the result of our research which has shown a steeper long term decline of rates and values (in real terms) due to declining vessel newbuilding prices than previously thought, and also, slower growth of operating costs. • Miscellaneous Improvements and Comments A number of system and interface improvements have been made, including various (minor) bug fixes, better content help and improved installation. Please note that our testing is not complete with Windows Me (Millennium Edition). We do not anticipate major compatibility issues however, at installation SCM will warn that it is not officially certified to run under Windows Me. We expect to have our testing completed by the April release. Also please note that the Loan Details report is experiencing some formatting problems when SCM is run under German version of Excel 97. Please check or Web site (you can use the new Web feature described above) for any system updates over the next days. • Frequently Asked Questions |
