Satellite Links News

Realizing the full value of digital solutions far exceeds the capability of technology. The technology exists today to help offshore energy and maritime operators radically improve efficiency and cut costs in equal measure. The real trick to driving efficiencies is to take advantage of the latest technologies while at the same time negotiating the necessary culture change within individual organizations, to really reap the benefits.Harvest Technology Group is a relatively young and small Australian company that has caught the attention of a number of offshore and subsea industry heavyweights…

The U.S. Navy uses unmanned and robotic underwater vehicles for a multitude of functions, including environmental sensing, mine hunting, and salvage. The Navy plans to evolve an unmanned systems operating concept that is platform agnostic and capable of operating in highly complex contested environments with minimal operator interaction.The most recent edition of the Navy’s Unmanned Systems (UxS) Roadmap was issued in 2018, and a new version is expected in the near future. The 2018 document states that UxS will operate in every domain…

Final preparations are underway for a 12-meter-long ship to set sail from Canada and attempt the world's first transatlantic crossing without a crew.The USV Maxlimer, an unmanned surface vessel, is bound for the south coast of England and will conduct deep sea surveys on the way, guided by a skipper in a control station in Britain.The voyage is expected to take about 35 days.The ship was built by Sea-Kit International, which develops vessels for the maritime and research industries, for the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a competition to autonomously survey the sea bed.It can launch and recover

We are on the brink of an extraordinary revolution that will change our world forever. In this new world everyone, everything and everywhere will be connected in real time. We call this the Networked Society, and it will fundamentally change the way we innovate, collaborate, produce, govern and sustain. The development of integrated fast on-line computer technologies, new satellite link capabilities, and efficient cloud storage capabilities of information have resulted in huge opportunities for utilizing vast amounts of data for optimizing all kinds of operations.

In 2014, Forbes Associate Director for Maritime Services at Control Risks stated that maritime risks are on the rise. Mariners and ship owner/operators experienced a 26% spike in maritime piracy and armed robbery since 2014  and the North Sea Oil Industry admitted that it had been targeted and thwarted cyber attacks, attacks that if successful could have caused untold financial and logistical damage. •    Within the last decade, plans to attack a cruise ship in a major U.S. port were revealed. Maritime surveillance systems play a key role monitoring sea lanes and ports while supporting worldwide maritime safety and security. The ability to operate effectively and securely in any environment (air, land or sea) depends on an acute awareness and understanding of the surrounding elements.

Europe’s commercial marine and workboat exhibition held in a working port, Seawork International, has released its plans for demonstrations, launches and conferences. Organizers say Voith will announce a new marine propulsion system that produces more thrust, reduces noise and vibration, while cutting operating costs. The Smart Surfaces’ Duplex fouling from Tudor Streamline Surfaces will debut at Seawork, which is expected to attract considerable interest from commercial boat operators having been initially developed by the U.S.

Spliethoff Group, one of the largest ship management companies in the Netherlands, has awarded Imtech Marine a three-year extension contract for the supply of a broad-ranging Ship to Shore Communications service on the global VSAT network of Radio Holland. Radio Holland is Imtech Marine’s solution brand for Nav/Com and maintenance. Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Bevrachtingskantoor BV and Radio Holland have worked together for decades and 27 vessels are already connected. Following the agreement made on February 17th, a further 22 vessels will be added.

Kongsberg Norcontrol IT said it will lead a three-year project called SESAME Straits (Secure, Efficient and Safe maritime traffic Management in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore), which aims to create solutions to significantly improve the safety and efficiency of ship navigation across the world. An important test-bed for IMO’s e-Navigation implementation strategy, the objective of the SESAME Straits Project is to develop and validate a revolutionary concept for a next generation Ship Traffic Management System (STMS) in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS).

Wärtsilä awarded Tideland Signal the contract to equip the new Solan oil platform in the British sector of the North Sea with a completely decentralized warning system in which each light/fog station is equipped with its own control panel, local power supply and battery bank, all certified for Zone 1. The light stations consist of an MLED-180HI EX LED main light with a range of 15 NM and an MLED-150 EX LED secondary light with a range of 10 NM plus an MLED-150EX red subsidiary light.

Despite the critical role of the maritime industry in laying the fiber that connects the world to the Internet, the maritime industry itself relies almost exclusively on satellites for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship connectivity. However, the networking protocols used to transfer data between computers do not operate efficiently over satellite links. This is especially true at the higher data rates that are starting to become more prevalent for ship-based connectivity, but even at low bandwidths, the noisy links typical of mobile satellite systems prevent the efficient use of expensive satellite time. Fortunately, a new class of products…

Despite the critical role of the maritime industry in laying the fiber that connects the world to the Internet, the maritime industry itself relies almost exclusively on satellites for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship connectivity. However, the networking protocols used to transfer data between computers do not operate efficiently over satellite links. This is especially true at the higher data rates that are starting to become more prevalent for ship-based connectivity, but even at low bandwidths, the noisy links typical of mobile satellite systems prevent the efficient use of expensive satellite time. Fortunately, a new class of products…

Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Sperry Marine business unit unveiled its next-generation marine navigation technology last week at the Sunborn Yacht Hotel in London. The new Sperry Marine family of navigation products, which will be marketed under the VisionMaster FT label, will be publicly launched at the Shipbuilding Machinery & Marine (SMM) Technology exhibition in Hamburg in September. “VisionMaster FT is a scalable family of solutions designed with an advanced PC-based Ethernet architecture offering easy upgradeability and built-in redundancy to meet the emerging requirements for shipboard navigation in the 21st century,” said J. Nolasco DaCunha, director of Sperry Marine Systems.

Advances in satellite communication product and service technology seem to have outpaced many of the markets they seek to serve. However, despite some jittery times for the big three global satcom providers, it appears that maritime and offshore markets stand to gain real, bottom-line-driven results by adopting the latest communication technology solutions. The maritime industry has traditionally — with its generous mix of large corporate and small independent ownership — taken considerable flak for its collective conservative nature in regards to the integration of advanced technological products and systems onboard vessels, large and small.

Advances in satellite communication product and service technology seem to have outpaced many of the markets they seek to serve. However, despite some jittery times for the big three global satcom providers, it appears that maritime and offshore markets stand to gain real, bottom-line-driven results by adopting the latest communication technology solutions. The maritime industry has traditionally — with its generous mix of large corporate and small independent ownership — taken considerable flak for its collective conservative nature in regards to the integration of advanced technological products and systems onboard vessels, large and small.