Minerva Marine and Roxana Shipping have both deployed Inmarsat Fleet Xpress (FX) on their vessels with packages supplied by Navarino and hardware from Cobham Satcom
They have seen increased bandwidth and lower latency since installing FX, which combines Ka-band communications over the Global Xpress (GX) constellation and L-band backup from FleetBroadband.
Minerva Marine has adopted FX and installed Navarino’s Infinity Cube connectivity device on 63 ships. Most of these vessels are equipped with Cobham Satcom antennas providing FX bandwidth packages of high or ultra-high speed.
Minerva Marine IT manager and cyber security officer Eftihia Benaki said this connectivity is used by seafarers for welfare requirements. "FX and Infinity Cube have really opened up the technological possibilities of our fleet, both for crew use and for our business use,” said Ms Benaki.
Using Infinity Cube, Minerva has stopped issuing personal identification numbers to seafarers as crewmember’s data allowance is linked to their registered user account on the Infinity. “The way we have set up the Infinity with our crewing system also means when a seafarer joins or leaves a vessel, the account automatically follows them, which saves a lot of administration,” said Ms Benaki.
She said Infinity Cube with FX “acted as the brain of the vessel” as it enables hourly application data synchronisation between all vessels in the fleet and Minerva’s offices.
“We are also making significant use of video calling with our ships, or sending and receiving videos from on board when needed,” said Ms Benaki. “Generally we are able to use data-hungry applications with ease thanks to FX,” she said.
Minerva is beta testing Navarino’s Spectrum service, which enables remote IT services, and is testing Navarino’s Angel cyber security solution.
Roxana Shipping has completed its technology upgrade on 10 tankers in its fleet. Each ship has a 2 Mb FX package in combination with Navarino’s Infinity Plus management device and Cobham Sailor 60 GX antennas.
Roxana IT manager and cyber security officer Stelios Kontozoglou said FX has facilitated more applications over satellite communications. “Increased bandwidth and lower latency has been a game-changer” he said.
This includes easier remote support, faster and low-cost crew internet and the ability to exchange large amounts of data with the vessel without restrictions or monthly quotas.
FX enables online applications such as remote inspections and audits, remote control and teleconferencing for a fixed monthly fee.
Navarino’s Infinity platform provides functional tools for ship operators to manage communications and monitor usage and capacity.
Spectrum was launched on 1 July as a software suite of tools and processes designed to cater specifically to the needs of maritime IT managers.
Vessel owners will provide insight into their satellite communications requirements and technology needs during Riviera’s Maritime Communications webinar from 20 July, use this link for more details
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