New emergency communications terminal unveiled for GMDSS

Cobham Satcom has introduced a new terminal to provide emergency communications to ships over the Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS).

Its Sailor 7200 terminal will connect to Iridium’s constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide maritime safety information and emergency calls over GMDSS, as well as other tracking and identification services.

The terminal combines GMDSS with connectivity to Iridium Certus satellite communications, a ship security alert system and long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) functionality within a single integrated device that Cobham said was designed to simplify installation and GMDSS compliance.

It has a compact omni-directional antenna with built-in intelligence, so no pointing to satellites is required, a graphical user interface, low power consumption and simplified controls to lower requirements for training crew members.