Thuraya unveils new terminal for vessel communications and monitoring

Thuraya MarineStar provides bandwidth for vessel communications, including connectivity for seafarers’ services and for navigation and other ship operations.

It provides two-way voice communications for bridge connectivity with links to mobile phone networks and Thuraya’s satellite constellation.

Thuraya MarineStar also provides two-way tracking and monitoring capabilities for applications including vessel geofencing, tracking, movement alerts and fish catch reporting.

Thuraya expects high demand for its MarineStar terminals from the global fishing industry, which is under increasing pressure to curb unreported and unregulated fishing.

Governments require fishing vessels to report their catches electronically and log their movements while at sea.

“MarineStar makes compliance simple by bundling all the essential elements into one affordable package,” said Thuraya chief commercial officer Shawkat Ahmed.

Tracking is packaged as an end-to-end turnkey service based on time, distance, speed and area, with no extra hardware required.

MarineStar also has an SOS button for communications with search and rescue organisations in emergencies.

“With more than 300,000 small vessels expected to benefit from the service, we are looking forward to working with our distribution partners to roll out Thuraya MarineStar worldwide,” Mr Ahmed said.

Mr Ahmed thinks MarineStar would be ideal for regional merchant fleets needing a backup alternative to radio communications, VSAT and global mobile phone services or any other primary voice communication service.

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One of Thuraya’s distribution partners, IEC Telecom, has added this new terminal to its global service. IEC Telecom vice president for maritime Nabil Ben Soussia said Thuraya MarineStar could come as part of a customised package.

“It is flexible and cost-effective and that makes it a vital onboard communication service available to vessel operators,” he said. “Which should put an end to the risks of ships being out of touch at sea,” he explained.

“Thuraya MarineStar is robust and unaffected by extreme environments, and it supports crucial applications such as condition-based navigation, SOS and other emergency alerts through push notifications,” said Mr Soussia.

Vessel connectivity and its applications for ship optimisation will be discussed at Riviera Maritime Media’s Optimised Ship Forum in London on 11 December