Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT) announced that it has activated the 5,000th FleetBroadband terminal. This figure represents commercially active SIM cards passing operational traffic.
The 5,000 FleetBroadband terminals activated through Inmarsat’s global partner network make it the fastest adopted maritime service in the company’s 30-year history. The latest member of the FleetBroadband family, FB150, launched just 22 weeks ago, already has 500 terminals activated – a rate of adoption which is twice that of FB500 and FB250 at a similar period after launch.
The 5,000th terminal was activated on Happy Rover, a 1997-build owned by Dutch company BigLift Shipping B.V., a member of the Spliethoff Group. Established in 1921, the Spliethoff Group manages a fleet of 70 multipurpose vessels ranging in size from 2,500 to 21,000 tonnes. It has a fleet of 13 purpose-built heavy lift vessels provide lifting capacities of up to 1,400 tons plus ro-ro capabilities for loads up to 2,500 tonnes.
Happy Rover was fitted with an FB500 by Stratos. Stratos has managed Spliethoff’s communication for over 30 years, from the early days of telex through to FleetBroadband; and now works closely with Peter Van de Venne, IT Director at Spliethoff, to utilize new features like remote IT management, and to improve the information flow between ship and shore while maintaining control over the costs.
According to Peter Van de Venne, Happy Rover is the latest of nine vessels to adopt FleetBroadband, with new vessels to follow. With 70 vessels routed around the world, the global coverage and new features delivered by FleetBroadband were a key factor in its selection. Peter Van de Venne said, “We are particularly pleased with the remote maintenance feature. We have refined our software programmes so we are now able to routinely check on progress online rather than talking on the phone, which is not only costly but can often lead to misinterpretation or misunderstanding. This way we check with the Captain and then connect at a time that works for us here in Amsterdam to take over the PC. Effectively, we can ‘mouse move’ across the oceans, day or night, which is not only cost effective but operationally more efficient.”