Albacora Deploys Stratos FleetBroadband

Stratos Global Corporation, global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions, has successfully completed an Inmarsat FleetBroadband field trial with Spain’s Albacora Group.

The three-month field trial was conducted onboard the Albacora tuna fishing vessel Albatun Dos in the Indian Ocean. Stratos channel partner Satlink managed the installation of a FleetBroadband 250 terminal manufactured by JRC, which was integrated with the vessel’s local-area network.

The successful trial led to Albacora Group retaining the FleetBroadband from Stratos system, which it will use to manage the Albatun Dos’ daily operations at sea.

Applications successfully tested over FleetBroadband during the trial included the Albatun Dos office applications, videoconferencing and fish-finding programs CatSat and SeaStar. The broadband speed and greater functionality of FleetBroadband helped the Albatun Dos locate tuna more efficiently.

“The data transmission speed over FleetBroadband is very fast. It is also constantly connected, which allows us to download information in real time,” said Albatun Dos Captain Pablo Abaroa. “The vessel’s operations have definitely been enhanced by FleetBroadband, because we can now download fishing data more quickly, and thus save fuel and time.”

Abaroa added, “FleetBroadband enables us to make several data connections at the same time, while also sending emails and making calls. The quality of voice calls was also much better than with previous systems.”

The FleetBroadband system onboard the Albatun Dos is operated under strict cost-control rules, easily configured using Stratos Dashboard. With FleetBroadband from Stratos, the vessel is transmitting higher data volumes than before the trial, at the same spending levels.

The successful Albatun Dos field trial was one in an extensive global series of trials that Stratos is conducting to secure feedback from ship managers on FleetBroadband from Stratos and its wide range of value-added services. Stratos has activated several hundred FleetBroadband systems across all major geographic regions and vessel types.

Stratos President and CEO Jim Parm said, “When the productive Albatun Dos deployment is viewed together with other recent, successful trials, it is clear that FleetBroadband from Stratos is ideally suited to manage all mission-critical applications onboard fishing vessels, container ships and tankers. It is gratifying to know that we are helping the Albatun Dos experience the most profitable voyage possible.”

FleetBroadband from Stratos provides cost-effective, high-speed data and voice communications – available simultaneously – at speeds up to 432kpbs. FleetBroadband from Stratos also provides on-demand guaranteed IP data rates, regardless of the vessel’s location.

FleetBroadband from Stratos also helps Stratos continue to provide ship managers with innovative crew-communications solutions, to support the recruitment and retention of well-trained seafarers. For example, FleetBroadband from Stratos is now available with a pre-paid web-browsing solution and other valuable services.

Communications managers will find that FleetBroadband from Stratos can be rapidly deployed across an entire fleet and, as a standard IP service, seamlessly integrated with head-office networks. Terminals operate globally and the user interface is standard across all products. FleetBroadband from Stratos supports any IP service, as well as traditional circuit-switched voice and ISDN data for legacy applications. Terminal costs are relatively low and the network supports all the latest security protocols.

Stratos offers a wide range of value-added services to provide ship managers with optimal communications performance, management control and cost efficiency. Stratos is the largest supplier of mobile satellite services to the maritime industry, with communications to more than 40,000 maritime terminals worldwide. In addition to FleetBroadband, Stratos’ industry-leading portfolio of maritime broadband satellite services includes the VSAT solutions OceanVSAT and StratosITek and Iridium OpenPort.

(www.stratosglobal.com)