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Internet Usage News

11 Sep 2023

AST Harnesses the Power of Connectivity, Digitalization

Today the consolidation of all that AST offers is being rolled up and rolled out to the maritime industry with a single softwarepackage known as the Integrated Remote Asset Management System, or more simply, IRAMS. Image courtesy AST

Latest advances in digital technologies and faster, cheaper connectivity walk hand-in-hand as vessel owners of all sizes aim to cut fuel consumption, cut emissions and increase efficiencies. AST is aiming to do both, offering connectivity plus a suite of productivity solutions courtesy of its new Integrated Remote Asset Management System (IRAMS) solution, as CEO Andrew Peters explains.The maritime industry is often lamented as slow on the uptake of new technologies, but many of these boats and ships were born and raised in an analog society, designed to last up to 50 years.

19 Jul 2016

Security Check List for Internet Access at Sea

An increase in internet access at sea will lead to an increased risk of suffering a cyber-attack, says a research report by Protection Vessels International. However, if addressed correctly, this risk can be lowered to sit comfortably within the acceptable risk tolerance levels of an organisation. Britain is a maritime nation. We depend on the sea to trade with others. Over 90% of the world’s trade goes by sea – this figure is 95% for the United Kingdom. - GBP 13.8 Billion contribution to UK GDP (0.9% overall). - GBP 2.7 Billion in taxation revenue. - 262,700 jobs (0.8% of total UK employment). The maritime sector is a very competitive one. If there is a perceived lack of preparedness against all threat vectors, then a customer may very well choose to use a competitor.

16 Nov 2015

Marlink Inks Broadband Deal with BP Shipping

Marlink will provide BP Shipping with global multi-band high speed VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) services to support operational efficiency and crew communication across its tanker fleet. Under the new contract, Marlink will deliver primary communication capability on its flexible Sealink VSAT service, including MSS (Mobile Satellite System) back-up to BP’s operated fleet. BP Shipping was one of the first operators to adopt maritime VSAT services across its tanker fleet. The company’s current operated fleet will migrate to Sealink Ku-band VSAT. BP’s existing vessels will retain their C-band VSAT antennas, enabling Marlink to deliver a true multi-band broadband service with high availability of connectivity globally.

02 Jan 2014

Five Minutes With: Tore Morten Olsen, Astrium Services

Astrium Services took a survey of seafarer’s usage of crew communication solutions in the commercial shipping sector to establish a picture of mariner communications requirements. According to Tore Morten Olsen, Head of Maritime Services, Astrium Services, the survey was illuminating in more ways than one, helping to shed light on modern comms usage for onboard business and personal reasons. MLC 2006 is here. What is your sense that ship operators and owners will incorporate an increased availability of communications solutions for seafarers? The MLC asks for “reasonable access to ship-to-shore telephone communications, and email and Internet facilities, where available.” The wording is quite soft. Plus it is located in the non-mandatory guidelines. So there’s some room for interpretation.

05 Aug 2013

CMA CGM Add New VSAT Services from Marlink

CMA CGM Jules Verne

Marlink has been chosen by the CMA CGM Group, the world’s third largest container shipping group, to upgrade the majority of its fleet to WaveCall, Marlink’s standardized Ku-band VSAT service. In combination with the XChange solutions platform from Astrium Services, WaveCall will be installed on over 35 CMA CGM vessels, including the CMA CGM Marco Polo, CMA CGM Alexander Von Humboldt and CMA CGM Jules Verne, one of the largest container vessels in the world. As CMA CGM’s fleet covers global trade routes, extensive Ku-band coverage was a key requirement when choosing WaveCall.

17 Apr 2013

Astrium Offers XChange Upgrade

Astrium Services released a new software version for its established XChange connectivity platform, which offers a range of new features to facilitate permanent remote access, allow smartphone usage on board and provide improved VoIP capabilities. XChange v2.3 was developed to meet specific customer demands and is available free of charge by a simple firmware update, through a local file or via the embedded over-the-air update feature. The inclusion of new VoIP technology in XChange enables bandwidth savings of over 50%, whilst at the same time offering high call quality and reliability. This makes regular use of VoIP a more attractive option to the crew…

04 May 2012

Vizada Signs Agreement with Danos Shipping

Vizada and Vizada Elite Partner SRH Marine Electronics S.A. have signed a 24-month agreement with Danaos Shipping Co. Ltd to equip the company’s fleet of vessels with a full broadband communications system. The partners will provide 1 GB connectivity over Inmarsat FleetBroadband terminals, connectivity will be further enhanced by Vizada XChange and the Vizada Crew PC for optimal internet usage. Danaos Shipping Co. Ltd is a Greece based ship manager which provides ship management services to one of the world’s largest fleets of containerships…

06 Feb 2008

Repairs to Internet Cables Begin in Gulf

A repair ship began work at the site where an Internet cable was cut last week in the Persian Gulf, and a second vessel was to arrive later that day at the spot north of Egypt where two other cables were cut just two days earlier, FLAG Telecom said. The cuts have disrupted Internet services across a large swath of the Middle East and India, slowing down businesses and hampering personal Internet usage. There has been wide speculation that the cuts were caused by ships' anchors dragged along the bottom of the sea in stormy weather. But Egypt's telecommunication ministry said Sunday no ships were registered near the location when the first cut in the cables occurred, north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria. The Egyptian statement further deepened the enigma of how the damage happened.

12 Oct 2001

Protocol Gateways Speed Data over Satellite

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…

12 Oct 2001

Protocol Gateways Speed Data over Satellite

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…