One More Thing:It only set sail in May but Dómhnal Slattery's Blue Ocean Wireless is steaming ahead.

The Ballsbridge-based company provides technology to the operators of container ships that allows their crew to use mobile phones while at sea.

The company reckons there are 20,000 ships that could take its service.

Blue Ocean chief executive Robert Johnson tells us that "north of 500" ships have been fitted with the kit. About 400 of these have it on trial but he's confident they will convert into hard sales in 2008.

To fund the rollout of its expensive on-board technology, Johnson said the company is testing the waters for new funds. It is looking to raise more than €20 million to help fund its expansion plans between now an 2010.

Johnson said its existing shareholders could provide the funds. These include Slattery's Claret Capital, Tralee-based technology group Altobridge (in which Claret is a significant shareholder), Bank of Scotland Ireland, which owns 10 per cent, and Philippines' telecoms company Smart Communications, which took a 30 per cent stake earlier this year.

A stock market flotation, most likely on London's Aim market, is also a possibility.

Remarkably, in this technology-driven era, Blue Ocean is one of the first companies to crack a market that seems ripe for picking. The on-board technology was developed by Altobridge and connects with satellites operated by Inmarsat that enable connectivity.

Blue Ocean provides Sim cards that be used in any phones, but only work at sea. They shut down when a ship encounters a terrestrial GSM network.

Ship crew often spend weeks at sea and mobiles allows them to keep in touch with home. Johnson said they are spending about $60 a month on voice and text messages.

Blue Ocean is now working on plans to allow crew use Blackberries or PDAs to receive e-mail.

"2008 will be a coming of age for us," Johnson said. "Our challenge is to maintain the momentum that we've built since May and I've no doubt we'll do that."