The German shipping company Vega-Reederei is outfitting their vessels with marine satellite services technology via Fleetbroadband.
So far 8 vessels have been installed by Inmarsat Distribution partner Stratos with another 8 expected in the near future.
Vega’s services include shipping operations, shipbuilding, chartering, ship disposal and financial services. They have a total fleet of 22 container vessels, nine bulkers and two tankers.
The marine satellite services fleetbroadband terminal is being utilized for internet access, email and voice communication to assure top vessel performance, business operations and productivity of the crew.
In order for headquarters personnel to manage the ship’s electronics and computers, the vessel has access to a high speed data connection for remote management and maintenance. The onboard fleetbroadband terminal is also set up with a firewall and engineers can achieve high speed, direct remote accessibility through support applications.
Down the road, the German vessel will have the option to use the satellite connection to help to reduce fuel costs and comply with emissions regulations with engine performance analysis and emissions monitoring.
Achim Tober, head of Vega’s IT department, said: “We have already enjoyed the benefits of FleetBroadband from Stratos on several of our vessels for many months and we have noticed it provides very good voice quality.
“FleetBroadband enables us to achieve fast, reliable data communications that maximize the integration and performance of many popular, IP-based applications.”
Because of this technology, onboard internet café features, such as prepaid chatting, prepaid web browsing and access to global and local news services are available in remote offshore waters.