Multiple personal computers are each situated aboard its own ship and are each communicatively connected to an electronic depository of information for purposes of effecting
real time management of engines and other shipboard machinery. Information is electronically communicated back and forth between each
onboard computer and the electronic depository, such as via
File Transfer Protocol (FTP), e-mail or compact disk (CD). The electronic depository takes information from all of the onboard computers, and each
onboard computer records information including that which is entered therein by a user and that which derives from the electronic depository. Each
onboard computer executes import and export routines for communicating with the electronic depository, and executes start-up routines for displaying user-interactive formal screens that are individually tailored for the user's input and viewing of particular types of information, such as involving maintenance, repair, logistics, inspection and / or operation of the machinery.