Euronav Inks Fleet-wide VSAT Deal
Antwerp based crude oil tanker company Euronav has signed a deal with Satcom Global for its Aura Ku-Band VSAT service.
With Satcom Global Aura on-board, Euronav’s fleet will benefit from a global service that provides guaranteed bandwidth via a generous Committed Information Rate (CIR). The crew will experience significantly enhanced connectivity while business critical applications are supported with ease.
During 2017, Euronav undertook a comprehensive series of sea trials using Aura and following excellent results decided to begin a fleet wide rollout of the service. Aura has so far been commissioned on a significant proportion of globally trading vessels in the Euronav fleet, with Satcom Global engineers completing attendances and installations in a wide range of ports in locations such as Singapore and the UAE. Installations have also been undertaken on new build vessels in South Korea.
Ben Swallow, General Manager, VSAT at Satcom Global, said, “Building on our long-term relationship with Euronav and understanding their high standards for on-board connectivity, we are delighted that the forward thinking tanker management company are investing in Satcom Global Aura as their VSAT solution of choice across their fleet. We have listened to their needs and developed a solution that is flexible and meets all of their business and crew requirements.”
Euronav are technological leaders in the ship management industry, and to select Satcom Global Aura for their impressive new fleets sends a strong message to the seafarer community. Discussing the reasons behind Euronav’s decision to further their relationship with Satcom Global, Rudi Vander Eyken, Group IT Manager at Euronav, said: “Crew welfare is of great importance to Euronav, and the improved on-board connectivity Aura brings is a big step forward for our crew offering. We were looking for a solution which could provide the optimal VSAT connection in terms of consistent service availability and reliability, and with Aura we get 99.5 percent uptime within VSAT coverage. With service quality guaranteed we know our crew enjoy an excellent user experience, at no detriment to the connectivity required for the operational demands of our vessels. Aura is helping us deliver on our promises and Satcom Global is committed to the ongoing development of the service as our needs grow.”
The Aura service leverages strategic partnerships with key suppliers such as Intellian and Iridium, as well as a number of Ku-band network operators to provide an industry leading global VSAT service. As standard, Aura is provided with a proprietary below deck rack featuring an in house developed IPSignature 4 multi-function smartbox. Through IPSignature 4, Euronav’s crew benefit from always on connectivity accessed through their own smartphones, tablets and laptops, enabling them to keep in contact with their friends and family around the world in private, at a time convenient for them.
The relationship between Satcom Global and Euronav spans over 10 years, and the roll out of Satcom Global Aura is scheduled to be completed fleet wide by the end of 2018.
