A tug operator has used 4G technology to extend communications up to 20 nautical miles and an installation engineer explains the challenges on passenger ships
Tugboat owner Borinken Marine Group (BMG) turned to 4G wireless boosters to extend wifi technology for its short-range communications requirements in the Caribbean. Its tugs provide port operations and salvage services in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, but suffered from communications outages.
BMG needed cellular communications for management and crew requirements. It wanted reliable wifi that would cover coastal areas even in weak mobile phone coverage. It turned to Microwave Vision Group (MVG)’s NeptuLink wireless communications for wifi connectivity to its eight tugs and two barges, says BMG IT manager Victor Iglesias.
“NeptuLink cellular connectivity was a significant factor in our ability to communicate with our tugs,” he explains. These capabilities were tested when Hurricane Maria struck the region in 2017 and BMG’s tugs responded to the resulting marine salvage.
“Since we were satisfied with NeptuLink’s performance, we decided to install it on all our tugs in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands,” says Mr Iglesias. This has been achieved and enables BMG to use cloud-based fleet management software Helm Connect to manage the vessels’ regulatory compliance.
“NeptuLink provides a secure, reliable and easy-to-use internet connection for all our tugboats,” Mr Iglesias explains. “Reliable wifi connectivity on every tug is critical from an operations standpoint since BMG depends on Helm Connect to manage and access remotely compliance certifications, maintenance records and inventory.”
“Reliable wifi connectivity on every tug is critical from an operations standpoint”
BMG uses NeptuLink to monitor usage history and provide connectivity to crew, which Mr Iglesias says is essential to the company’s operations. “Employees are the biggest asset we have,” he says.
BMG employs four crew on a tug for emergency response, salvage operations or offshore work. Mr Iglesias says these jobs can be strenuous and, at times, dangerous, which means crew need recreation time.
“During off-watch and relaxation periods, crew members have access to streaming TV, films and can use the onboard wifi on their mobile phones to stay connected to loved ones while they are away,” he says.
NeptuLink delivers continuous high-speed internet connectivity of up to 100 Mbps over a range of 20 nautical miles offshore. SIM cards can be used for crew connectivity and there are no service fees. End-users have their own data plan and can decide how much allowance to purchase.
Offshore support vessels (OSVs) and drilling rigs can use 4G/LTE connectivity when within range of coastal networks and those transmitted from Tampnet’s North Sea or Gulf of Mexico production platforms. VSAT on OSV and rigs automatically switches to wireless connectivity, says Marlink president of maritime Tore Morten Olsen.
“LTE has high speeds and lower latency when vessels are in range”
“LTE has high speeds and lower latency when vessels are in range,” he tells Maritime Digitalisation & Communications. “Our smart connectivity means we optimise the usage over VSAT or 4G depending on availability.”
He says onboard wifi is becoming essential for crew welfare on OSVs. This is managed on ships with routers linked to Marlink’s connectivity through the XChange device.
Offshore 4G wireless connectivity will be extended into the Barents Sea following an agreement in January 2019 to install hardware on the Goliat floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) system.
Vår Energi has contracted Telenor Maritime to equip the FPSO with 2G and 4G networks to improve maritime safety and emergency response in the region. Installation will commence in Q2 2019 and it should be available in Q3 to provide communications for vessels within 70 km of Goliat.
Onboard wifi is becoming vital for ferry operators to deliver connectivity to passengers even on shortsea routes. Telenor Maritime deploys wifi, VSAT and mobile broadband on passenger ships, with the next installation on Brittany Ferries’ ship Honfleur in June 2019. This will deliver 3G and digital services to passengers, which Brittany Ferries’ director of sales and customer experience Joëlle Croc says is becoming a vital requirement on ships. “Connectivity drives all our customer communications,” she says.
Passengers use wifi to access social media and video streaming services on their mobile devices.
Wifi challenges solved
A SeaKing engineer installs the hardware of a wifi network on ships
Installing wifi networks on ships comes with challenges new technologies are helping to solve, says SeaKing Electrical project engineer Mal Stein.
“Providing wifi coverage on board ships is difficult, because the signal does not carry well through metal decks and bulkheads,” he tells Maritime Digitalisation & Communications.
Ships are built of steel or aluminium, which is a challenging radio frequency environment “and therefore coverage can often be very poor” says Mr Stein. In addition, the signal usually only has a radius of a few metres on board a ship.
In practice, this means modems need to be located very close to each other. “In locations such as cabins this means the radiation from one modem can reduce the bandwidth available to another,” Mr Stein explains.
“In cabins the radiation from one modem can reduce the bandwidth available to another”
SeaKing Group uses the existing telephone cabling on board ships when installing wifi by adding equipment similar to home broadband in the telephone exchange of the ship and a modem and wifi point in each cabin.
Other solutions include running standard marine cables to provide power and data within the same cable “although the maximum 90-m cable run can quickly be used up, especially on older ships” says Mr Stein.
Another challenge is that ship design drawings are not always updated “meaning additional surveys may be required in drydock to open up the deck heads to identify the exact location of cable runs,” he adds.
Technology is needed to improve wifi performance. Mr Stein says onboard libraries and caching data through onboard servers can enhance wifi. “In practice this could mean downloading popular streams to an onboard cache, so that users link to this rather than repeatedly using the ship’s satellite link,” he explains.
SeaKing can provide an integrated satellite IP-TV and video-on-demand service. This communicates with other shipboard systems to deliver safety announcements and repeat general alarm signals.
“We tend to look at wifi from the point of view of adding many services within the ship context,” says Mr Stein. For example, having access to shipboard servers deploying services such as digital signage and information, safety and instructional videos, IP telephony across local area networks and access to wide area network internet.
Extended wifi technology explained
NeptuLink has two antenna transmitter-receivers that connect directly to distant 4G networks, or 3G and Edge networks where 4G is not available.
It includes a SIM card and a modem for 4G connectivity. This modem is connected to a gateway computer and a wifi router via an Ethernet cable.
LiFi can revolutionise shipboard wireless communications
In the long term, wireless installation and propagation issues on board ships could be solved by switching from wifi to LiFi. This technology, pioneered at the University of Edinburgh, UK, uses light waves instead of radio signals to transmit information.
SeaKing Electrical project engineer Mal Stein thinks this is the future for shipboard wireless communications. “There are many light points on board... any of which could be a LiFi point,” he says.
This technology would be free from problems caused by radiation resulting from modems being placed close to each other and would be faster than wifi,” he says. “While this solution is potentially revolutionary it remains in the early stages of adoption.”
Terminology explained
LiFi – light fidelity – wireless communication between devices using light to transmit data.
Wifi – wireless fidelity – radio-based wireless communication.
LTE – long term evolution (to 4G mobile phone networks).
VSAT – very small aperture terminal.
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