Service Level Agreement News

Marlink reports it is providing new capabilities to long-term customer TUI Cruises on its Mein Schiff fleet, augmenting its managed hybrid network solution with Starlink LEO connectivity.Marlink will install its Sealink NextGen network solution – combining low-latency LEO connectivity with global 4G/5G and C/Ku-band VSAT - on the combined fleet of six existing Mein Schiff vessels and two newbuildings. These different connectivity links will be orchestrated by Marlink’s SD-WAN solution…

Digital solutions company Marlink has partnered with LEO internet operator Eutelsat OneWeb to provide digital connectivity solutions to cruise company Ponant.Ponant will deploy the Eutelsat OneWeb service on its polar exploration icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, providing guests and crew with high throughput and low latency internet access across the vessel’s itinerary.Leveraging Marlink’s expertise in smart hybrid networks, the bandwidth delivered by Eutelsat OneWeb will enable Ponant’s seamless collaboration between the ship’s bridge, engineering crew and shore teams.

DP World Antwerp Gateway has ordered a fleet of 34 Automated Stacking Cranes for its container terminal in Antwerp, Belgium. The Konecranes Gottwald ARMGs will be an expansion to the current fleet of 20 currently in operation. The first batch will be delivered in Q2 2022, the last batch by 2026. This order was booked in December 2020.DP World Antwerp Gateway was very motivated to continue their current operating concept, using their current ASC system delivered by Gottwald in 2006.

The deep-sea port and adjacent free zone in the Middle East, SOHAR Port and Freezone recently entered into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Sohar University and Qualies (the Organization for Quality and Innovation Strategies).The collaboration will see a tree planting initiative that will further the principle of ecological protection and management, alongside ensuring all the operations of SOHAR are in compliance with Oman’s sustainability objectives, said a press release.The signing ceremony took place on July 17 at the Sohar University, with Suwaid Al Shemaisi, Executive Manager of Corporate Affairs at SOHAR representing the Port and Freezone.

Alfa Laval announced Wednesday that it has received an order from an unnnamed Chinese shipping company to supply its PureSOx scrubber systems for exhaust gas cleaning for 31 vessels in its fleet.The PureSOx systems for 31 existing vessels, which are among the largest vessels in the world, represent orders booked in 2018 and deliveries extending from early 2019 through the end of the year, Alfa Laval said. Each scrubber will handle exhaust gas from one main engine and three auxiliary engines.

Dutch supplier of vessels, equipment and services for the offshore, dredging and wet mining markets Royal IHC said it has acquire all of the outstanding share capital of Dutch based engineering and consultancy company KCI the Engineers B.V. from Dutch-Norwegian offshore service provider Oceanteam ASA. IHC said it plans to maintain KCI as an independent brand and operating company which will continue to serve external clients while also working on IHC projects. Diederik van Rijn, IHC Group Executive Director, said, “The acquisition KCI fits within the overall strategy of IHC to further develop into a provider of knowledge and technology based services and products.

Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government authority charged with regulating, coordinating and supervising all aspects of Dubai’s maritime sector, has signed a strategic service-level agreement (SLA) with Trakhees, a regulatory arm of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone in Dubai, UAE, for sustainable development of the maritime city. Under the terms of the agreement, Trakhees will process all types of permits and approvals along with ancillary activities for all civil engineering and environment, health and safety activities (non-maritime) carried out by third parties within Dubai Maritime City’s geographical area, said Amer Ali, the executive director of DMCA, after signing the deal with Arif Obaid Al Dehail, the CEO of Trakhees.

BIMCO and the Global Shipping Forum have now launched a new standard contract – named “SERVICECON” – which simplifies and harmonises terms and conditions for container volume contracts between shippers and carriers. The new agreement is designed to meet the contractual needs of small to medium sized shippers, which, despite the large number and global value of the shipments they transport, often lack the legal resources to develop their own agreements with carriers. Following a two year period of discussions between carrier and shipper representatives, the BIMCO/GSF SERVICECON Standard Service Contract has been developed to provide a basis for container volume agreements. It provides a comprehensive starting point for negotiations and helps to smooth and speed up the contractual process.

Danish product tanker carrier TORM A/S and UAE-based Albwardy Marine Engineering (AME), an Albwardy-Damen JV, have signed a Service Level Agreement for diving services in the UAE region. The purpose is to further strengthen their relations and respective commercial reliability. The diving services will be handled from AME’s facilities in Fujairah and include full hull cleanings and propeller polishing. Allan Rasmussen, Head of TORM's Energy Efficiency & Innovation team, said, "This agreement signifies TORM's continued commitment to operating our vessels in the most efficient and safe manner.

Stolt Tankers has chosen Marlink to upgrade its entire fleet of deep sea and regional tankers to the Sealink Global Ku-band VSAT service. The contract, signed in April 2013, covers the provision of Sealink to 90 tankers, resulting in significant bandwidth enhancements across the fleet, meeting Stolt’s changing connectivity requirements for operational and crew communication. As the owner of one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated global tanker fleets, Stolt Tankers required a global VSAT service to enable faster…

One of the most innovative maritime communications developments in recent years has been launched by telecom systems integrator, Invsat, with the introduction of a broadband data application communications solution configured to offer DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access) protocol, which Invsat developed to operate initially on Loral Skynet’s Telstar 12 satellite. DAMA is typically a single-hop satellite transmission network that allows direct connection between any two nodes in the network among many users sharing a dedicated “pool” of satellite transponder space. With DAMA, customers sign up to a service level agreement (SLA) and can opt for a number of flexible usage bands, reflecting the size of their network. Subscribers also pay network maintenance.