Marlink Connects OFW Ships

France's OFW Ships chose Marlink to provide a multi-band connectivity solution, combining high-throughput global VSAT with an L-band back-up for connectivity redundancy.

OFW stands for ‘Ocean Fresh Water’, reflecting the company’s simple but profound purpose: to sustainably convert saltwater into drinks. To do this, OFW Ships vessel is equipped with a seawater selected filtration system and bottling plant will be able to produce 2,500,000 liters of premium drinks every week.

Pure and mineral-rich saltwater is drawn from the high seas, then filtered to remove sodium chloride while preserving naturally occurring minerals. The processed deep sea water is bottled, packaged and stored on board, then delivered to port, after which the vessel’s five-day production cycle begins again. OFW Ships’ environmental consciousness incorporates a promise to recover as many empty bottles as full ones delivered. The collected bottles will subsequently be recycled and transformed on board into pallets to be used for ensuing deliveries. The overall process divides by 10 the average carbon footprint of a bottle of water.

The adoption of Marlink’s multi-band connectivity will help OFW Ships to provide seamless crew connectivity including enabling crew to use their own devices onboard. This is an important factor because only specially hired, technically qualified crew can ensure the successful completion of all technical tasks on board. Greater operational efficiency will be achieved by operating in a more satcom-enabled digital maritime environment and by adapting new applications for smarter decisions and on-board safety.