Connectivity News

A ‘Connected Future’ seminar, organized by Inmarsat in collaboration with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News and moderated by Greg Trauthwein, encapsulated the critical roles technology and data sharing play in enabling more efficient and sustainable workboat operations, and in improving conditions for crew.Insights from leading Offshore Supply Vessel owners and operators capture the extent to which technology and data sharing are driving greater efficiency, sustainability and…

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.

Anglo-Eastern completed the 100th installation of Starlink within its managed fleet last week, mere months after announcing its commitment to the service. The global ship manager has seen an overwhelmingly positive response in respect of both operations and crew wellbeing.Torbjorn Dimblad, Chief Information Officer of Anglo-Eastern, expressed his satisfaction, saying “We now have Starlink-equipped vessels operating in every corner of the world and we are delighted with the service.

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.

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.

AmendTec announced the official launch of the AmendTrack after an extensive development process with Applied Satellite Technology (AST) and approval by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.AmendTrack was developed to be a cost-effective and improved alternative to current systems, operating on Iridium Short Burst Data, effectively making use of the Iridium network but priced significantly lower. With competitive prices rising for connectivity and hardware…

Smart network company Marlink has extended its service provision to France-based tanker company Socatra providing high-speed connectivity as well as secure IT management.Socatra provides solutions for deep-sea and inland oil transportation."[Socatra] recognized the need to improve the performance and quality of IT systems, which posed a risk to compliance and operational performance and required a comprehensive approach to upgrading hardware and software on board the vessel," Marlink said.According to Marlink…

Smart network company Marlink has extended its partnership with Intelsat to offer increased Ku and C-band satellite connectivity to maritime customers in cruise and merchant shipping sectors.The agreement will see Intelsat assign capacity to the Marlink network providing a unique level of coverage in waters as far south as Antarctica as well as ocean regions around Africa and the Middle East. Marlink will derive the additional capacity from multiple assets, including Intelsat’s high-throughput satellites…

Marlink is supporting PONANT’s first polar exploration ship Le Commandant Charcot, with data and voice connectivity, aiming to create a seamless communication experience for guests.Le Commandant Charcot became the first vessel of her kind to reach the geographic North Pole on September 6, 2021, during sea trials in preparation for her maiden voyage later this year. Marlink provides a hybrid network solution, combining Sealink dual C- and Ku-band VSAT connectivity, GEO and LEO L-band connectivity and a high-data volume LEO store & forward capability.

Intellian has opened its new Research and Development Center in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, a new home for the engineering team with the latest product and quality verification facilities, helping to accelerate product development. In particular, antennas using emerging phased array technology will benefit from a new compact test range to assist with development and testing.The expansion also allows production to be significantly increased in the existing Innovation Center, meeting…

UK's developer and supplier of connectors, First Subsea has delivered a beach landing Cable Protection System for the export cables on the 25MW WindFloat Atlantic project, located 20 kilometers off the coast of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. Hengtong Group was contracted through its Submarine Business Units to deliver the export cable for the beach export system which was installed on schedule by its contractor DeepOcean at the end of June 2019.The cable protection system is designed to suit the export cable and consists of clamps, bellmouth and cable protection. First Subsea project manager Ross Carrington said: “With the close cooperation and support of our client DeepOcean…

The 700MW COBRAcable interconnector linking the Dutch and the Danish grid will be available for the electricity market as of delivery day, 7 September, Dutch high-voltage grid operator TenneT said."After three years of construction, including the laying of the submarine cables as well as the construction of two onshore converter stations, and a successful test phase earlier this year, COBRAcable will be available for the electricity market as of the delivery day of 7 September, which is exactly on schedule," it said.The first direct connection between the electricity markets of Denmark and the Netherlands was jointly realised and is operated by the two TSCNET shareholders Energinet…

The Shanghai port has topped UNCTAD’s 2019 ranking of the world’s best-connected ports, released yesterday (7 August).The Chinese port garnered a connectivity score of 134 points, followed by the ports of Singapore (124.63 points), Pusan (114.45 points) in Korea and Ningbo (114.35 points), also in China. The index is set at 100 for the best-connected port in 2006, which was Hong Kong, China.Besides the Asian ports, the other ports on the top 10 list are those of Antwerp (94 points) in Belgium and Rotterdam (93 points) in the Netherlands. None of the ports in the top 20 list are from Africa, Latin America, North America or Australasia.“A container port’s performance is a critical factor that can determine transport costs and…

The EuroAsia Interconnector, the Israel-Cyprus-Greece electricity link remains on the official list of European projects of common interest (PCI) making it eligible to receive some €300 mln in EU grants for the Crete-Attica sector of the cable.The EuroAsia Interconnector remains committed to the timely implementation of the project, as submitted to the European Commission, with the Crete-Attica interconnector commissioned in June 2022 and the Crete-Cyprus Interconnector in December 2023, ending the energy isolation of Crete, and Cyprus, the last EU member state not interconnected to the European electricity grid.The European Commission’s…

European shipbuilders have announced a new cooperative initiative to develop and demonstrate a connected vessel platform. This project is named Code Kilo.In order to meet the digitalization challenges of a diverse audience of stakeholders, in a robust, secure and cost-effective way, EUROYARDS members (Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Damen Shipyards Group, Fincantieri, Lürssen, Meyer Werft, Naval Group and Navantia) joined forces to harmonize data management solutions and standards.