Online Connectivity News

Bluetide Communications’ Access Management Portal (AMP) application for wireless network management is changing the way workboat operators manage data, crew and costs. Thousands of miles, and weeks or months out at sea, the next best thing to physically being there, is an electronic connection home, and today, mariners increasingly are reluctant to board vessels without access to some form of it. Internet access and cheap global roaming SIM cards top the list of desired amenities in recent surveys of seafarers.

As Jordan steps up its LNG imports, GAC was entrusted with handling the first gas carriers to offload at Aqaba. The country has signed a sales and purchase agreement with Shell for the delivery of nearly 17 million cubic meters per day of gas, equal to approximately 25 percent of the National Electric Power Company’s daily needs, signaling an increase in demand for shipping and logistics services to support incoming Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers. GAC Jordan acted as agent for the Golar Eskimo when it made its port call to offload 144,218 cubic meters of LNG from Qatar.

Airbus Defense and Space has added new features to its XChange communications management platform with the release of version 3.1 at SMM 2014. Headlining the new version is a unique system that provides Universal Remote Access to any device connected to on board networks or the IT network itself and new functionality that builds on the recently released BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) solution for XChange. Universal Remote Access as a new option for XChange provides secure remote access to computers on board a vessel from anywhere. It meets the growing need from ship-owners, communications equipment manufacturers, satcom service providers and maritime service companies to easily access IT networks on board from shore for maintenance and troubleshooting.

Maritime satellite communications provider Inmarsat says it now connects leisure and fishing vessels with a specially designed broadband service. Accessing weather information and chart updates, keeping in contact with loved ones or simply checking the news are now as simple to do at sea as they are on land with the launch of Fleet One from Inmarsat Maritime. From nnow on, yacht and fishing boat owners can take full advantage of maritime broadband services previously only available to much larger vessels. Whether  on a sailing holiday or an extended fishing expedition, the new Fleet One service ensures small vessel owners have uninterrupted access to the internet, while being able to send SMS messages and have telephone conversations from on board their boat, anywhere in the world.

I must admit that exploring the historical nature of our business is one of my favorite endeavors, and this month we are pleased to continue our series of articles in celebration of our 75th anniversary. Patricia Keefe again graces our pages with her overview of the creation and fate of what is arguably the greatest if not most famous ship in the history of U.S. shipbuilding, the passenger liner SS United States. The SS United States is one of those ships that  has intricately interwoven itself into the culture of this industry…

PositiveID Corporation (NASDAQ: PSID) announced that it has partnered with the International Maritime Medical Association (IMMA), a trade association that promotes the health and medical interests of seafarers, port workers and cruise passengers worldwide, to offer PositiveID's Health Link personal health record (PHR) to approximately one and a half million seafarers per year on a paid subscription basis. The company will launch the partnership with a pilot program for up to 1,000 seafarers in Antwerp, Belgium and Manila, Philippines. Upon successful completion and review of the pilot program, PositiveID will offer its Health Link PHR to millions of seafarers and port workers per year, on a paid subscription basis.

Norwegian satellite equipment provider Nera SatCom AS, together with Inmarsat, introduced the new Nera F33 product concept to the maritime market. The Nera F33 will fill the gap between the existing Inmarsat Mini-M service /Nera WorldPhone and the global Inmarsat Fleet 77 service / Nera F77. The new Nera F33 is based on the Inmarsat Fleet F33 service concept, providing the light marine market with improved data communications from equipment suitable for the demands of today’s commercial and leisure fleet. The launch of the service is due to early 2003. Satellite communications are increasingly being used by marine vessels in order to access online connectivity with the onshore world.