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Safety communications evolve with new GMDSS terminals
Improvements to the L-band Global Maritime Distress & Safety System have led to the introduction of new terminals, faster communications and additional safety applications
Hardware being introduced and developed for Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS) has enabled faster safety and emergency communications and additional safety applications.
Viasat subsidiary, Inmarsat Maritime, continues to operate its GMDSS service over its geostationary orbiting (GEO) satellites, which the London-headquartered company is expanding with new launches in future years.
Iridium Communications operates its GMDSS services over its second-generation low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, providing global coverage and lower latency than with GEO satellites.
In response to the introduction of Iridium’s Certus and GMDSS services, hardware manufacturers have unveiled new terminals.
In Q2 2026, Cobham Satcom introduced its Sailor 7200 terminal to connect with Iridium’s LEO satellites to provide maritime safety information (MSI) 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 (SSAS) 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 and a graphical user interface, low power consumption and simplified controls that the manufacturer said lower requirements for training crew members on its use.
Intellian Technologies launched its Iridium Certus GMDSS services with two terminals, C200 and C700, in October 2025 for MSI, emergency calls and other tracking and safety applications.
C200 has an antenna, a below-deck unit and a safety display unit for operation during distress situations, reading MSI and connecting with maritime rescue co-ordination centres.
A C700 GMDSS system uses the Iridium Certus 700 service for GMDSS, LRIT and SSAS, and L-band connectivity for business data and voice services in one terminal.
Intellian is preparing to unveil its C100M GMDSS system in the coming months, with more applications and faster Certus communications, and is developing radios for calls over medium, high and very-high frequencies.
Lars Thrane has three Iridium Certus GMDSS terminals, including LT-4200S, LT-4100S and LT-3100S with MSI, LRIT and SSAS services and three voice channels.
Thales has developed the WaveLink GMDSS terminal for Iridium Certus connectivity, MSI, LRIT and SSAS with safety voice communications and real-time data transmissions.
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