Satellite Communication News

Iridium Communications Inc. announced the service launch of Iridium Certus GMDSS, a generational advancement in maritime satellite communication safety services.Iridium Certus GMDSS, the only truly global GMDSS service available, features distress alert, safety voice, and Maritime Safety Information (MSI); includes additional regulated services like Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) and Ship Security Alert System (SSAS), and provides the fastest weather-resilient broadband service available for conducting ships' business when other systems are blocked or unavailable.

Finland's Coast Guard said it has detected constant disturbances to satellite navigation signals in the Baltic Sea since April and in recent weeks has seen tankers spoofing their location data to cover up visits to Russia.Last week, Finland's interior minister Lulu Ranne said Finland believes Russia is behind disturbances detected in Finland and the Baltic Sea region in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals used in navigation.The Coast Guard said the GNSS jamming…

Marlink, the managed services provider of business-critical ICT solutions, has secured a deal to supply its Sealink NextGen network solution for Brazil’s biggest crude and product tanker operator Transpetro.The hybrid solution includes Marlink’s global VSAT integrated to the high throughput, low latency Starlink solution together with MSS as back-up, to be installed on 26 Transpetro’s tankers.The installation will include Marlink’s XChange network management platform to enable software-defined application routing…

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.

Iridium Communications said that U.S. Space Force Colonel (Ret.) Kalliroi Landry has joined Iridium as Government Programs Director. Col. Landry will engage Department of Defense (DoD) communities to help drive business.At the Space Development Agency Col. Landry was the Chief of the Support Cell and oversaw planning, acquisition and fielding of ground and user-terminal systems and launch services that underpin the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Her military career has included various space acquisition assignments spanning developmental planning, research and development, satellite operations, range management, acquisition policy and program management.

Digital solutions company Marlink has introduced flexible and bespoke Starlink LEO internet plans within its hybrid network solutions.The new plans allow customers across maritime, onshore and offshore energy, enterprise and leisure boating industries to benefit from a range of connectivity plans from 10GB to unlimited data, depending on their needs.The plans enable customers to create and customize their own Starlink allowance packages depending on their specific business requirements…

AST Networks has expanded into the navigation and communication (NavCom) system sector.The move reflects their commitment to providing comprehensive communication solutions that address the evolving needs of the marine industry. By integrating NavCom technologies with its existing suite of maritime IT solutions, AST Networks aims to offer unmatched operational efficiency, safety and compliance for maritime operators worldwide. NavCom systems provide real-time data and alerts, helping prevent collisions, grounding, and other hazards.

Marlink has completed a fleet-wide upgrade of its hybrid network solution for long-time client Simon Møkster Shipping.The upgrade to Marlink’s Sealink Nextgen solution, which includes the Starlink LEO service, enables the company to use standard office software applications including MS-TEAMS as its default collaboration platform and primary voice channel.Simon Møkster Shipping sought a hybrid solution that would optimize its operations around high throughput connectivity and managed networks…

Iridium Communications has entered into an agreement to acquire Satelles, Inc., a leader in secure satellite-based time and location services that complement and protect GPS and other GNSS-reliant systems. The service, named Satellite Time and Location (STL), is designed as an easy-to-adopt, secure solution that increases the efficiency and reliability of timing systems for digital infrastructure like 5G base stations, data centers, and other critical infrastructure and protects…

Digital network provider Marlink has completed the integration of internet services on Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot to provide three LEO solutions for the ship’s polar itineraries.The installation is the first in the maritime sector to combine Marlink’s Sealink GEO VSAT, with Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Iridium LEO services. The agreement with Ponant reflects Marlink’s ability to provide guaranteed throughput VSAT services with emerging high speed, low latency LEO services.The…

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.

The 2023 edition of The Future of Maritime Safety Report from Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat business, reveals that the number of distress calls from ships at sea remains high, despite a continuing decline in vessel losses. The new report, which analyses Global Maritime Distress and Safety System information captured by Inmarsat, registered 853 distress calls from January to December 2022 – up from 794 in 2021.With the number of losses of vessels over 100 gross tonnage (GT) falling by 65% in the last decade…

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.

U.S.-based global communications company Viasat has completed the acquisition of its UK-based rival Inmarsat."The combined company enhances our scale and scope to continue to drive growth in the increasingly dynamic and competitive satellite communications industry. The company’s assets, once fully integrated, are expected to increase the pace and scope of innovation in the global satellite connectivity sector, offering new and improved capabilities to customers that will address the ever-increasing speed…

Marlink will install the Starlink LEO service for Athens-based ship manager Polembros Shipping, aimed at helping Polembros to extend its digital toolset to include the new LEO service to support crew welfare and remote technology.Polembros is already a user of Marlink’s hybrid network, including VSAT services across its fleet. The deployment of the SeaLink NextGen service is designed to provide faster throughput and lower latency to the company’s business and crew communications.Sealink NextGen combines GEO VSAT and MSS back-up with customers’ required mix of LEO or MEO connectivity…

Tototheo Maritime added Starlink’s new low latency high speed connectivity to its portfolio of services. The agreement between Tototheo and Starlink was finalized in December 2022, and it will commence deployment of the Starlink Kits this month.With the addition, Tototheo offers the industry flexibility by integrating the Starlink Service (LEO) with Inmarsat GX (Ka-Band & L-Band), TM Flex (Ku-Band), Iridium (L-Band), LTE (3G/4G) and terrestrial connectivity solutions. SpaceX, has launched a huge constellation of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide high-speed…

Maritime satellite communications services firm Marlink is equipping Solstad Offshore vessels with Starlink connectivity integrated with the Sealink VSAT, L-band backup, and 4G services."Solstad Offshore is the first offshore vessel operator on the Marlink network to trial Starlink testing the network in harsh weather conditions. In September 2022, the company completed the migration of its fleet connectivity to Marlink, including Sealink VSAT and 4G connectivity, and is now evaluating if this should be further extended with Starlink integration…

Maritime satellite communications company Marlink has completed the migration of UNI-TANKERS’ owned fleet to its global hybrid network solution.The Danish shipping company UNI-TANKERS selected Marlink as an expert partner to support its digital transformation, combining hybrid high-throughput connectivity with cloud-data access, remote IT support, and proactive cyber security to improve performance and operational safety. UNI-TANKERS runs a fleet of approximately 40 owned and chartered oil and chemical tankers.

Data usage on commercial maritime vessels has jumped more than threefold since 2019, according to new communications analysis by maritime comms specialist Inmarsat.Inmarsat said the study results underline the shipping industry’s reliance on digital connectivity to enhance operating efficiency and safeguard crew welfare during a period of unprecedented disruption to seaborne trade.The internal study undertaken by Inmarsat, which says it connects more vessels than any other provider…

Maritime satellite communications company Marlink said Thursday that it had secured overall responsibility for the provision of hybrid network connectivity to the Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore. In January 2020, Solstad Offshore renewed its connectivity contract with Marlink, committing 65 offshore vessels to Marlink’s high-throughput  Ku-band VSAT service. The remaining 25 ships will now be migrated to Marlink’s smart hybrid network, with an upgrade to bandwidth…

Mobile satellite communications specialist Inmarsat’s Fleet Hotspot has won the Mission to Seafarers Innovation Award at the Seafarers Awards Singapore 2022.Presented in a ceremony at the Regent Singapore hotel on 6 October, the award recognises Inmarsat for its outstanding contribution to crew welfare."With the well-being of seafarers under heightened scrutiny since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing crew-change crisis, recent amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 have made crew connectivity a requirement for shipowners.

Cobham Satcom, provider of radio and satellite communications solutions to the maritime and land has expanded its SAILOR XTR portfolio with the introduction of two new Ka-band antenna systems for Telenor Satellite’s THOR 7 VSAT services.The one-meter SAILOR 1000 XTR Ka and 65-centimeter SAILOR 600 XTR Ka leverage Cobham Satcom’s most advanced VSAT technology platform to secure high availability of broadband service on the THOR 7 satellite, used for a full range of network applications…

Inmarsat, a mobile satellite communications services provider, will roll out an Internet-of-Things (IoT) solution to more than 60 of Saudi-based Zamil Offshore's vessels in the Gulf area.The solution - powered by Fleet Connect and Fleet Data delivered through Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress - will allow Zamil to identify, trial and select the best solutions to meet vessel performance expectations set by its charterer, Saudi Aramco. The news of the deal between Inmarsat and Zamil Offshore follows a successful trial on the fleet’s anchor tug, Zamil 57.