Maritime connectivity: a tale of two generations

The evolution of maritime connectivity significantly improved both professional and personal lives at sea.

Crew could now submit reports in real time that previously took days to send, and make decisions in an hour that used to take a week, said Mr Laurilla.

They could watch their children growing up – even if through a small screen – instead of “coming home after nine months and realising they had grown so much without [them]”.

Mr Laurilla conceded that connectivity “did not make life at sea easy or remove hardship”, but it did “make seafarers less alone in facing it”.

Far from replacing resilience, he said, connectivity supported it; rather than replacing responsibility, it made support more accessible; and while it did not change the seriousness of crew members’ work, it changed the way they endure it.

Crucially, advanced connectivity offered seafarers visibility by allowing them to share real-time insight into life at sea.

Mr Guzman has used onboard connectivity to make short-form video to demonstrated “the true face of the modern seafarer” to the world.

He grew up with social media, video calls and streaming, and when he set sail for the first time, around 2020, he assumed connectivity would be “just as normal on board as it was at home”.

His maiden voyage, however, coincided with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I joined my first vessel when the world was shutting down,” Mr Guzman recalled. “It was not just the usual challenge of being away; it was the weight of a full contract under total restriction,” he said.

“We could not go outside, we could not have shore leave, and the ship became our entire world. In that isolation, I realised that internet access was not a luxury – it was a lifeline.”

By the time Mr Guzman had finished his cadetship and resumed his studies, the pandemic meant classes had moved online.

Connectivity, he noted, had become the foundation for continuous learning, allowing him to “bridge the gap between being a student and becoming a professional”.

Today, when he is working on the bridge, the software he uses for navigation, maintenance, and reporting relies on a continuous ship-to-shore connection.

“Real-time data and remote support do not just make us more efficient – they make us safer,” he said.

High-speed, unlimited data connectivity solutions, such as Inmarsat NexusWave, are designed to enable that, and deliver home-like internet experience at sea.

Indeed, for Mr Guzman’s generation, onboard internet is more than a means of accessing entertainment; it is also, in his words, about “mental health, professional growth, and the fundamental right to stay tethered to the world we left behind on shore”.

NexusWave empowers crew in both their personal and professional lives on board the vessel. The fully managed, bonded multi-network service provides high speeds, global reliability, built-in security, and unlimited data, enabling seafarers to chat, share, stream, play and learn in their free time – with no concerns about losing their connection or accruing exorbitant bills. It is respected as a critical lifeline to seafarers of all generations.

In his time as a deck cadet, Mr Guzman said he once spent US$500 on internet access over the course of a single contract – equivalent to nearly an entire month’s salary. “Quality internet should not be a drain on every seafarer,” he commented. “It should be a tool that supports them.”