Shipowners can deploy digitalisation tools using satellite services to transform maritime operations
Shipowners can deploy digitalisation tools using satellite services to transform maritime operations
Even the most fervent advocate of digitalisation will be aware that ‘ease of use’ beats ‘high concept’ every time when it comes to uptake. Cost, of course, is a determining factor, but an owner considering internet-of-things (IoT)-based vessel and fleet management technology may quickly go cold on a project if the installation, connectivity or operation becomes a challenge, rather than an opportunity.
Inmarsat has therefore been prioritising the enablement of Fleet Xpress, so that all constituencies in the shipping and offshore market can secure the operational efficiency and crew connectivity benefits available via high-speed broadband connectivity, backed up by continuous L-band.
The latest example of this enablement strategy is the fully-managed crew wifi portal Crew Xpress, brought to market in March 2019. The new service package serves crew demand for connectivity, but also harnesses that demand to encourage a key owner and operator group to engage with higher-speed broadband services.
“A significant part of our customer base has migrated to full high-speed Fleet Xpress services, but we also recognise crew wellbeing as a separate connectivity imperative,” says Inmarsat Maritime president Ronald Spithout.
“Certain owners and operators seek fully-managed wifi connectivity that crew can use on a self-service basis, but do not yet have the business data needs that require, for example, the sensor-driven equipment maintenance or IoT-based route planning enabled by Ka-band,” he explains. “Crew Xpress allows them to offer a managed, high-speed crew internet solution while staying on an allowance plan that could migrate at any time to full-scale Fleet Xpress.”
“Certain owners and operators seek fully-managed wifi connectivity that crew can use on a self-service basis"
Crew Xpress includes a separate, managed wifi Fleet Hotspot, a leased 60-cm diameter Fleet Xpress antenna and a 6 GB business allowance plan. With usage payable either through credits or by top-up payments by crew, the package can also yield a revenue stream for owners and operators of OSVs.
Owners with greater immediate demand for more data-hungry business connectivity packages are also now emerging. Inmarsat’s Fleet Data service, which was also introduced in Q1 2019, supports application-based vessel management efficiencies.
Fleet Data was developed in partnership with Danelec Marine for merchant shipping and the OSV market. It is enabled by a vessel remote server (VRS) that pre-processes ship sensor data and uploads it to a secure, cloud-based platform with a dashboard and an application program interface (API). Vessel managers can access and analyse the data they need through the API to enhance vessel safety and efficiency, or the fleet’s environmental footprint. They can also make this data available to third-party applications that monitor fuel efficiency or hull performance.
Mr Spithout describes Fleet Data as “the first and only service to enable the maritime IoT through a combination of existing shipboard data infrastructure and dedicated highspeed bandwidth”.
56% of OSV owners consider the delay between data capture at sea and data availability on land as the principle obstacle to committing to IoT-based solutions
Inmarsat states that 56% of OSV owners consider the delay between data capture at sea and data availability on land as the principle obstacle to committing to IoT-based solutions. Fleet Data will overcome this concern. Currently available on Fleet Xpress, Fleet Data will eventually be rolled out across Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband service by the end of 2019, making it immediately accessible for over 45,000 vessels.
Mr Spithout notes that Inmarsat’s Unified Threat Management backbone for cyber security, Fleet Secure, represents a third pillar of its enablement strategy for IoT-based solutions. The service protects Fleet Xpress, FleetBroadband and Fleet One services against cyberattacks by identifying external attacks or malware introduced accidentally or otherwise to the vessel’s local area network.
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