By Anil Sharma, TMCnet Contributor
Stratos Global Corporation, a global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions, has successfully deployed the Inmarsat (News – Alert) FleetBroadband mobile broadband satellite service on 18 commercial vessels managed by Thailand’s Great Circle Shipping Agency Ltd.
Officials with Stratos (News – Alert) Global said that Great Circle, which provides technical management services for all of the vessels owned by its parent company Precious Shipping PCL, will deploy FleetBroadband on three additional vessels by July. All 21 of those vessels operate worldwide.
According to company officials, Great Circle successfully integrated FleetBroadband from Stratos with AmosConnect to manage all email, fax, SMS and interoffice communications.
FleetBroadband from Stratos provides cost-effective, high-speed data and voice communications – available simultaneously – at speeds up to 432kbps.
FleetBroadband from Stratos also provides on-demand guaranteed IP data rates, regardless of the vessel’s location. The above-deck, stabilized, compact directional antennas are smaller than most existing Inmarsat Fleet products used today.
Company officials said that the FleetBroadband service also powers numerous other onboard applications, including remote management, which allows headquarters personnel to manage the ship’s computers without visiting the vessel. It also includes database synchronization and access to the onboard voyage data recorder.
In the future, Great Circle has the option to use FleetBroadband for engine-performance analysis and emissions monitoring, to help reduce fuel costs and comply with emissions regulations.
“FleetBroadband provides us with excellent performance for a wide range of shore-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications, at affordable data rates,” said Jaipal Mansukhani, technical director, Great Circle, in a statement.
Mansukhani said that the company’s crewmembers also find the charges for private email to be very reasonable, which has helped maintain high crew morale.
He said that the combination of strong service performance and Stratos’ diligent customer support convinced the company to deploy FleetBroadband and the AmosConnect messaging solution on the remaining vessels.
Stratos claims to be is the only Inmarsat Distribution Partner to offer a single IP address service that works globally.
The service, known as Public IP Access, enables remote onboard IT support, regardless of the vessel’s position or which satellite is used by the vessel. Public IP Access eliminates the need to change IP addresses when a vessel travels from region to region, thus making it easier than ever to deploy FleetBroadband.
Stratos has activated more than 4,000 FleetBroadband systems across all major geographic regions and vessel types.
“Great Circle is the latest maritime technical service provider to discover how FleetBroadband from Stratos enables the efficient operation of numerous mission-critical applications”, said Jim Parm, president and CEO, Stratos.
Parm said that with FleetBroadband as the foundation, ship managers find it easy to derive maximum benefit from applications that help ensure crew satisfaction, business productivity and cost efficiency.
Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anil’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Alice Straight
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