Bridging ship and shore – streamlining processes & costs

The maritime industry has spent years watching the gap widen between land-based communications technologies and those available at sea. When TDMA VSAT maritime networks first came within reach of the majority of ship owners and operators it was the pioneers who made the VSAT investment. Now, their experiences are helping others in the industry to see in black and white how closing that gap can streamline operations, improve productivity, reduce costs and retain skilled crew.

Rolling out high bandwidth software applications to vessels is an expensive business but as iDirect partners find their customers report significant cost savings in vessel visits thanks to remote IT support, major improvements in crew morale and retention thanks to enhanced crew calling, email, SMS and training, and the immediate reduction of monthly bills as against expensive pay-per-megabyte leased line services, it’s clear that the VSAT advantage is a real one.

One such example is French marine service company Bourbon whose monthly L-band connectivity fees had doubled due to the increased communications activity onboard its vessels. Today, thanks to the initiative to equip the majority of its fleet with state-of-the-art VSAT broadband system built on the iDirect platform and managed by partner Orange Business Services, Bourbon has dramatically reduced its data and phone connectivity costs, expanded its networking capabilities, streamlines vessel operations, improved customer communications and enhanced crew welfare. To read more about Bourbon’s experience click here for the case study.

iDirect’s maritime e-newsletter ‘Sea Connections’ provides ship owners and operators with the very latest developments, case studies and news about how the industry is embracing and benefitting from maritime VSAT connectivity. To receive the e-newsletter directly in your Inbox every six weeks please complete the form to the right.