Dedicated connectivity ensures improved safety for the crew, precise coordination of their work, and better working conditions onboard vessels. With 21,300 vessels operated by shipping companies in Europe, advances in affordable crew welfare solutions and optimisation of operations are empowering European vessel owners and they’re progressively leading the way towards bringing maritime connectivity onboard and making it the norm.
The recent provisions for seafarers’ right to internet connectivity at sea, secured at the Maritime Labour Convention meeting in Geneva in May 2022, reflect the increasingly prominent role that crew welfare is playing in operational decision-making. “Digital connectivity is a must-have in the modern shipping industry. Besides being a key factor in recruitment and retention today, vessels with cost-effective internet access have a distinct operational advantage over those that do not,” says Nabil Ben Soussia, CCO and President – Asia, Middle East and CIS, IEC Telecom Group.
Dedicated connectivity ensures improved safety for the crew, precise coordination of their work, and better working conditions onboard vessels. With 21,300 vessels operated by shipping companies in Europe, advances in affordable crew welfare solutions and optimisation of operations are empowering European vessel owners and they’re progressively leading the way towards bringing maritime connectivity onboard and making it the norm.
The world’s largest merchant fleet is undoubtedly Greek. Exceeding €11 billion in 2019, the Greek shipping industry has seen its fleet grow by over 4% and serves 20% of the global shipping capacity. There has been a whopping 477% growth in the amount of cargo being handled by Mediterranean ports in the past 25 years. With this, comes an increased demand for higher data transmission speeds, digitalisation, big data, and IoT. Greece has invested €5 million to upgrade its satellite tracking system to improve maritime safety. “Ship-owners are increasingly adopting digitalisation as satcom offers high-performance services that have noticeably decreased operational expenses by 20-30%,” adds Mr. Ben Soussia.
Digitalisation enables crew welfare with fast connectivity for VoIP calls, messengers, and videoconferencing. As large vessels rapidly adopt new means of digitalisation introduced by VSAT communications, smaller vessels usually have no room or space for a costly satellite communications set-up. Orion Edge V offers a VSAT-like experience over compact hardware, and enables optimised applications over the OneGate platform for videoconferencing, telemedicine, remote maintenance, IoT and more for all vessel types. As such, it can serve as the primary communications system for small vessels, delivering data services over the Thuraya Orion IP broadband terminal as the first line of communications and voice services over the Thuraya MarineStar terminal as an onboard public phone.
As strategic partners, Thuraya and IEC Telecom offer an enhanced end-user experience over this incredibly innovative maritime communications solution. Besides providing full visibility over the network to the captain and crew, OneGate enables automated failover with least cost routing so that vessels can benefit from the most competitive communications link. “Thuraya delivers coverage to 2/3rd of the globe over all major shipping routes. Its advanced mobile satellite communication system automatically assigns capacity to high traffic areas to offer the maritime industry with reliable voice and data services optimised for critical communications as well as crew welfare,” says Jassem Nasser, Chief Business Development Officer, Thuraya Telecommunications Company.
For large vessels that are fully equipped with VSAT, Orion Edge V seamlessly brings onboard the benefits of digitalisation as a resilient back-up over Thuraya’s L-band network. “This comprehensive solution by Thuraya and IEC Telecom supports the digitalisation of maritime communications with significant cost optimisation of critical applications for SOS alerts, geofencing, push notifications for the weather, news, tracking, and monitoring – all contributing to the seafarers’ right to stay connected at sea,” says Jassem.
Organisations that have successfully leveraged such digital technology have had an almost seamless operational environment and benefitted from inherent business continuity perks in a volatile global landscape.
As shipping fleets seek cost savings to recover $1.7 billion in lost maritime trade revenue (UNCTAD 2020 report) in a post-pandemic world, Thuraya and IEC Telecom enable affordable and future-ready maritime satcom solutions to optimise operations of all vessel types.
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