Vsat News

Marlink has provided high throughput hybrid network solutions for Quark Expeditions’ MV Ultramarine since the start of the 2021 Arctic season. After the first full year with the service, the operater said it found that guests and staff on Ultramarine enjoyed continuous, high-quality connectivity despite the high latitudes and harsh operational environment.While Quark Expeditions has operated a fleet of chartered vessels and icebreakers for more than 30 years, Ultramarine is Quark’s first fully owned newbuild and is the newest ship in its fleet.

Marlink has added SpaceX’s Starlink service to its offerings, a move aimed at strengthening its connectivity solutions portfolio.Marlink and OmniAccess will leverage Starlink – a high-speed, low-latency broadband internet service enabled by a constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit – to complement its portfolio of smart network solutions and services globally. Under the agreement, Marlink and OmniAccess will act as global “authorized Starlink integrators” for maritime and enterprise customers.Marlink’s integration of Starlink with existing VSAT…

Royal Wagenborg renewed and extended Castor Marine’s Global Ku VSAT connection for multiple years.Since 1898 the Dutch family-owned shipping company has been crossing the oceans, evolving to a fleet operator with about 200 vessels. Besides the extension of 52 Global Ku VSAT contracts, Castor Marine will equip an additional 15 Wagenborg vessels, currently on 4G, with VSAT. For more than eight years the company has provided VSAT, Iridium, Inmarsat FBB, and IT services to the Wagenborg fleet.

Singapore based shipping company Pacific International Lines (PIL) is installing satellite communication, or VSAT, on its entire fleet as part of its digitalization efforts to enhance seafarer wellbeing and improve productivity on board its ships. Communications technology group Singtel said it is one of the partners providing PIL with communications and cybersecurity solutions for 33 vessels in PIL’s fleet.“As a progressive company, PIL is constantly looking for ways to achieve business excellence and optimize operational efficiency.

Offshore installation and dredging contractor Jan De Nul Group has moved its entire fleet of 82 units to Castor Marine’s global VSAT and Iridium connectivity network on a long-term contract.Castor Marine will provide global VSAT internet and Iridium L-Band services to the entire fleet of almost 80 dredgers, offshore construction vessels, crane vessels, and (environmental) support vessels.Castor Marine said Tuesday it had migrated 98% of the fleet within 3 months after contract signing, with up to 6 migrations a day.

This week, OneWeb's Maritime team had a long-awaited in-person meeting with colleagues at The AST Group.OneWeb's Maritime team – Carole Plessy, Dave Bell and Alexandra Kenworthy got to have that long-awaited in-person meeting. They met colleagues at The AST Group – Gregory Darling, Stuart Castell and Barney Gray. The main business of the day was to plan the smooth onboarding of The AST Group as we move closer to undertaking customer beta trials and delivering fixed services to support remote connectivity in Northern Europe before the end of the year.Together…

Intellian announced the v45C, the smallest antenna the company has yet developed for the maritime satellite communications market. The C in the product name represents its compact form factor: this new 45cm unit will bring VSAT to new markets where there is limited space available for communications equipment, such as workboats, leisure craft, fishing boats, small commercial and government vessels.Intellian's recent launches have focused on enhancing user experience and capabilities with smaller VSAT solutions; first with the 60cm v60E antenna launched last year, and now the v45C.

Gregory Darling and Applied Satellite Technology (AST) works with shipowners to help them use their bandwidth more efficiently for ship business and crew needs.When Gregory Darling, Group MD, AST, worked in the marine industry in the 1980s with a marine survey company, he needed to get word to one of his ships off of West Africa to recalibrate its course and head off to a new job. But the ship had left port, and radio calls to the ship went unanswered, resulting in two days of lost time and revenue.“That was frustrating and costly…

Intellian launches the latest in its next generation GX range of antennas: the GX60NX, designed specifically and now type approved for use with Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band VSAT network. This 65cm terminal, the smallest in the range, completes Intellian’s GX portfolio. The GX60NX is suited to smaller commercial vessels, and supports customers across all markets, including leisure and fishing.The Below Deck Terminal (BDT), single cable antenna connection and AptusNX control software are identical to those used for the larger GX100NX, which is already approved.

Intellian announced the launch of its next generation tri-band product, the v240MT Gen-II antenna. Developed from the tri-band v240MT,  the new product adds many features, including the ability to operate multiple antennas via its dual data center capability, and enhanced Ku-band performance.The ability to switch between C-, Ku-, and Ka-bands, and between GEO, MEO and LEO orbits, makes the v240MT Gen-II truly vendor agnostic and allows customers to select the best and most economical provider at any time, without hardware modifications. The device is also modem agnostic.

Connectivity is the backbone of modern maritime operations as ships and boats at sea increasingly become connected. We recently met with Martin Kits van Heyningen, CEO, KVH, to discuss the evolution of communication in the maritime sector and so much more, as KVH is diverse and engaged in a number of markets -- including autonomy for 10 years with work on about 30 different  platforms for self-driving vehicles.To start, give us a “State of KVH” today.We started originally in the leisure market…