High Speed Internet News

Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, has signed an agreement to deliver NexusWave for Coastal Transportation as the family-owned shipping company seeks a reliable and cyber-secure connectivity solution for its fleet of refrigerated and general cargo ships.Operating a regular schedule between its home terminal of Seattle, Washington, and ports throughout Western Alaska, Coastal Transportation depends on stable connectivity to safeguard mission-critical and crew communications.

Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, is installing NexusWave on board selected Northern Marine Management Ltd (NMM) vessels operated by Stena Bulk and Proman Stena Bulk. This is part of their ongoing strategy to continually improve crew welfare through enhanced communications.Building on existing onboard connectivity provisions, NMM recognizes the growing importance of high-speed internet access in attracting and retaining talent and supporting operational performance. Inmarsat’s NexusWave is designed to deliver aggregated speeds…

Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, has signed an agreement with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) to upgrade their fleet from Fleet Xpress (FX) service to NexusWave, to meet evolving operational and crew connectivity needs.The fleet-wide transition to NexusWave will allow MOL to benefit from Inmarsat’s fully managed bonded connectivity service and accelerate the digitalization strategy of the leading Japanese shipping company.Local Inmarsat partner JSAT MOBILE Communications will be responsible for implementing and supporting the upgrades on board…

Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, has announced Caribe Tankers USA, Inc (CTU) will trial Inmarsat’s fully managed bonded connectivity service, NexusWave, on board the chemical tankers Caribe Maria and Caribe Luna as the company seeks a reliable solution to best serve operational and crew connectivity.By combining multiple network underlays in one fully managed, bonded solution, Inmarsat’s NexusWave enables applications to leverage the aggregate capacity of all available networks rather than relying on one underlay at a time.

Later this month Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) will conduct a trial of Inmarsat Maritime's new bonded network service NexusWave on “K” LINE's fleet. “In recent years, there has been an increase in data transmission to enhance safety and quality. As such, we require connectivity services that are fast, reliable and global. Furthermore, high-speed internet connectivity will greatly contribute to reforms to onboard workstyles and automated ship navigation," said Akihiro Fujimaru, Managing Executive Officer of “K” LINE.

Boston celebrated its maritime heritage in June by welcoming tall ships from around the world into Boston Harbor for the celebratory event, Sail Boston. Thousands of people visited the magnificent vessels at anchor to learn about Boston’s rich maritime history.I saw the tall ships with representatives from the New England Seafarers Mission (NESM). Founded in the 1880s by the Swedish Covenant Church, the NESM today serves seafarers in Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts.

American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group Inc. (ARC), a provider of U.S.-flag roll-on roll-off shipping, has added Starlink satellite internet technology to its entire American-flagged fleet to help mariners stay connected with loved ones while at sea.“Our mariners are the most important asset we have,” said Eric Ebeling, ARC President & CEO. “They put in long weeks at sea and make tremendous personal sacrifices in order to help our military partners move critical vehicles and materials to strategically important regions of the world.

NYK Group’s Hokuyo Kaiun has received certifications from ClassNK for the safety management system (SMS) of its crew transport vessel (CTV) for the offshore wind industry.The certifications, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018, were obtained by combining the experience of Hokuyo Kaiun, which operates and manages the CTV Rera As for the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm in Hokkaido Prefecture, with the knowledge of NYK.This certification will enable Hokuyo Kaiun, which mainly operates towing vessels in Japan…

U.S. shipping company Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) announced it will equip all vessels in its fleet with Space X’s Starlink satellite internet service in a move that aims to enhance onboard connectivity for seafarers.Since the introduction to the market of Starlink’s Global Maritime service earlier this year, OSG’s IT department has worked to substantially complete installation of Starlink equipment on every vessel in the fleet of OSG and ATC, with full installation expected by year end…

NYK has delivered Rera As, an NYK-owned crew transport vessel (CTV), to Siemens Gamesa for the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm.The ClassNK certified vessel is the first CTV owned and operated by the NYK Group and is largest gross tonnage CTV currently in operation in Japan (according to NYK research). NYK Group's Hokuyo Kaiun will manage and operate the vessel.The vessel was completed in Singapore in April, and it was reflaged to Japan after equipment modifications, such as fenders and radio equipment…

Ship management services provider Anglo-Eastern Ship Management has selected maritime communications provider Inmarsat to connect its crew.Anglo-Eastern, which uses Inmarsat's Fleet Xpress services, in 2019 became one of the first companies to sign up for Inmarsat’s crew internet solution, Fleet Hotspot, which, Inmarsat says, provides its seafarers "with reliable, high-speed connectivity and the  freedom to use their devices on board." According to Inmarsat, Anglo-Eastern doubled the free internet allowance for its crew in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on crew welfare.

Royal Caribbean Group this week revealed it will be the industry's first cruise ship operator to implement SpaceX’s Starlink for onboard broadband internet service for guests and crew fleetwide.The cruise giant said on Tuesday it will immediately begin installing Starlink high-speed, low-latency connectivity on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of its brands going forward. Initial installations…

Mobile satellite communications provider Inmarsat has reached an integrated connectivity agreement with Norwind Offshore, a Norwegian offshore wind vessel owner established in 2021.The agreement covers connectivity and digitalization needs for three  Service Operation Vessels (SOV) operated by Norwind.The contract includes an existing Platform Supply Vessel undergoing retrofit to become an SOV, with delivery due in May 2022, and a letter of intent covering two newbuilds. All three vessels will have Inmarsat’s Fleet LTE.

President Joe Biden named former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to oversee implementation of the $1 trillion infrastructure plan, the White House said on Sunday.Landrieu, also a Democratic former Louisiana lieutenant governor, led New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. He played a key role in helping the city rebound from the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005.Biden, who will sign the infrastructure bill into law on Monday, named Landrieu senior adviser responsible for coordinating implementation of the bill that includes big jumps in spending on roads…

Russia on Friday begins laying its first undersea fiber optic communications cable through the Arctic as part of a state-run project to bring high-speed internet to its remote hydrocarbon-rich north after a private-led initiative stalled.Moscow is aiming to improve patchy communications and infrastructure in its far north where it has expanded its military presence and is developing the Northern Sea Route to become a major shipping lane.The cable link, due to be completed in 2026…

Tore Morten Olsen, President Maritime, Marlink, discusses the pace and direction of high speed comms in maritime.Using metrics of your choice, put in perspective where we are today in terms of getting shipowners to adopt high speed communication solutions.The term broadband has been used in the maritime industry for at least a decade and if we are to follow the FCC’s definition which was upgraded to 25mbps from 4mbps (download) in 2015, then those high speed internet services are nothing of the sort.However, everything is relative.

Recently, Radio Holland received the order to renew the complete IT infrastructure for the JB-115 barge of Jack-Up Barge. The order includes design, installation and commissioning of an IT network. The JB-115 is an existing platform which has an IT structure on board, that is no longer Future Proof.Segmented networkThe JB-115 operates as a “hotel-at-sea” with fixed accommodation up to 110 Persons on Board and is often stationed at wind energy projects. Next to providing hotel accommodation the JB-115 also provides operational support at sea…

Offshore support vessel (OSV) operator Uniwise Offshore Limited has chosen a new high-speed broadband service to enhance the operations of its entire fleet of more than 30 vesselsUniwise Offshore will use Thaicom’s Nava enabled high-speed connectivity and solutions to focus on operational improvements, including optimized electronic document handling, as well as ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications for safer and more cost-effective operations. The company will also be able to improve its onboard communication services including crew welfare and fleet management.

The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority, established in 1963, which operates three ports: two on the Ohio River, one on Lake Michigan. Port officials refer to the three as “America’s Premier Inland Port System.” They cite location, location, location, providing access via two critical freight arteries – the Great Lakes and the Inland Waterway System and proximity to the world’s most productive industrial and agricultural regions. The Ports is the only statewide port authority in the Midwest.

From humble beginnings KVH has evolved rapidly to become a central player in the maritime world’s global Big Data revolution. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News caught up with Martin Kits van Heyningen in Oslo for his take on KVH’s current position and future direction. “We certainly didn’t envision that we would be in the high-speed satellite broadband business when we started,” is how Kits van Heyningen, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board, KVH, succinctly summarizes the biggest difference between the company he founded in 1982 versus the one he leads today.

VSAT provider NSSLGlobal has launched its first-ever hybrid cellular/VSAT solution for maritime vessels, the Cellular Marine System. This service will complement NSSLGlobal’s airtime VSAT offering, or other services such as FleetBroadband and Iridium Open Port, allowing seafarers accustomed to land services to transfer from satellite to mobile connectivity, while operating up to 25km offshore. Through NSSLGlobal’s Cellular Marine System, maritime vessels can connect to robust, high-speed internet, with download speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s, for commercial and crew welfare broadband use. It is supported by a cellular roaming service, established through a major global cellular operator…

The International Energy Agency states that 2.5% of global electricity demand is today provided by wind power—and that figure is set to grow by 42% through to 2021. In Europe alone, according to the 2016 report from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), 754 new offshore turbines in 15 wind farms were grid-connected from 1 January to 31 December 2015, representing a connected capacity increase of 108% over 2014. By 2020, EWEA expects 192 GW of wind turbines to be installed, representing an investment of between €UR90 billion and €UR124 billion. The leading markets are Germany, France, the UK, Poland and Italy, and by 2020 354,000 people—up from 253,000 today—will be employed in the sector.

In the next few years, demand for bandwidth on the high seas will grow, in no small part due to technology that is making operations more efficient and keeping crews and passengers healthy, happy and connected. Just a few years ago, a cruise-going family might have brought a single laptop computer and maybe a cell phone aboard. Today, cruise companies find that the average family shows up with 10 connected devices. And within the commercial maritime sector: crew members, away at sea for months at a time, are hungry for a robust connectivity experience to stay in touch with family and friends.