se@FLEX is the result of the fusion of services from Globecomm Maritime companies designed to offer a complete solution from a single source, providing a global coverage footprint, guaranteed bandwidth throughput and full transparency of costs and service levels.

se@FLEX is offered using flat rate monthly pricing, with options including hardware leasing for approved packages and customers, Ku band unlimited usage and L-band airtime starting at US$2,850 per month. This core package includes all components and configuration needed to provide the vessel with global seamless connectivity.

The service provides both ship and crew with always-on, unlimited bandwidth for business and personal applications. Combined with our existing se@COMM cost management, remote access and imaging applications, users can implement cost-savings while relying on dedicated quality of service.

Globecomm Maritime is able to guarantee that users get the true Committed Information Rate (CIR) they pay for while using its global Ku-band service. Access to Globecomm Maritime’s Ku-band network keeps overall costs down by limiting the time spent on L-band. se@FLEX offers class-leading maritime Ku-band global coverage providing a high bandwidth experience for users. se@FLEX customers will benefit from a service that includes seamless and automatic switching between Ku-band beams and L-band service.

Malcolm McMaster, VP Globecomm Maritime, said:“We think that se@FLEX has the capability to be a game-changer in the maritime market, which is moving progressively towards higher bandwidth VSAT solutions. With a high quality global Ku-band service at its core, se@FLEX offers the best available coverage and throughput speeds at very competitive prices. Globecomm Maritime offers guaranteed service levels and dedicated bandwidth, delivering our customers significant long term cost savings.”

As part of a new agreement with global transportation provider Odfjell Management AS, Marlink is to supply WaveCall™ VSAT systems for installation aboard 40 vessels. Having worked with Odfjell for several years supplying MSS on-demand services, Marlink’s renewed contract represents a further move to VSAT for the transportation company, to support higher usage at a fixed, predictable monthly cost.

Odfjell Management AS is one of the world’s leading logistics service providers and owns and operates a global fleet of chemical tankers for the transportation of special products. Access to high quality and reliable broadband is critical to support a variety of applications for the company, including improved operational efficiency, crew welfare and business administration.

Knut Fredriksen, Vice President of Technology Management, Odfjell Management AS comments: “We have been working with Marlink for many years and throughout this time the company has demonstrated exceptional commitment to offering us satellite communications solutions that satisfy our evolving needs. Marlink’s WaveCall™ solution will ensure the provision of reliable and high quality bandwidth aboard for continuous communication between our vessels and offices ashore which has become crucial to the successful operation of our business.”

The new contract follows a successful workshop with Odfjell Management AS at Marlink’s Eik Teleport, where the provider was able to develop a customised service package to meet Odfjell’s specific requirements for higher usage and increased cost efficiency. Tore Morten Olsen, CEO, Marlink, added: “There is no one-size-fits-all communications solution, so through maintaining an open dialogue with our customers such as Odfjell, we are able to evaluate their requirements and package systems and services together to best match their needs.”

WaveCall™ installations will commence on 9 vessels and each vessel sailing with WaveCall™ will have access to 4 simultaneous voice lines and 3 LANs for crew retention and admin purposes, including Internet web access and crew calling functionality. The vessels will also be equipped with FleetBroadband 500 terminals supplied by Marlink, to provide seamless connectivity for business critical operations.

Marlink’s extensive product range for the transportation industry includes its own regional, multi-regional and global Ku-band and C-band Maritime VSAT systems WaveCall™ and Sealink™ as well as on-demand services such as Inmarsat FleetBroadband, Iridium and Thuraya. The maritime satellite communications provider has also established regional customer service facilities in major regions of the world, supporting its global customer base.

“While the particulars of customer missions vary across the three vertical markets Harris CapRock serves – energy, government and maritime – we consistently hear one need: customers must have confidence in their communications so they can stay focused on their core missions,” said Tom Eaton, president, Harris CapRock Communications. “AssuredCare provides field-deployed personnel and headquarter offices with complete peace of mind in their remote communications, making it an extension of Harris CapRock’s mission to be the industry’s most trusted communications provider.”

Harris CapRock has made considerable investments in training to ensure customers are supported by engineers with wide-ranging expertise. The common industry model operates network “call centers” where those answering customer calls take basic information, and the call is passed up the skill chain as needed. By contrast, Harris CapRock’s five 24/7 customer support centers are staffed by comprehensively trained personnel. As part of AssuredCare, Harris CapRock’s multi-disciplined engineers answer and handle customer calls from end to end, frequently solving issues by accessing networks and equipment remotely. This comprehensive remote AssuredCare support saves customers the time and costs associated with sending technicians to their sites, while still providing hands-on service whenever necessary.

AssuredCare also expands customer service far beyond the customer support center. Customers also benefit from network optimization services including network performance diagnostics, in-depth recommendations and implementation of performance optimizations.

In a separate development, Harris CapRock has recently been named the number one organization in an annual industry ranking of Independent Top Twenty satellite communications companies by the World Teleport Association (WTA). The WTA presents its Teleport Awards for Excellence each year to companies whose accomplishments have been recognized as outstanding by the association and its awards committees, comprised of industry members from around the world.

In addition to the 2011 Independent Top Twenty ranking, Harris CapRock also secured the seventh spot on the Global Top Twenty list, along with placing in the Fast Twenty. Rankings are based on annual revenue and year-over-year growth. Harris CapRock is the industry’s single largest buyer and supplier of satellite bandwidth other than the U.S. Government.

“We are honored that our industry peers have recognized our efforts to further establish our position as the leading, end-to-end communications provider,” said Eaton. “We look forward to leveraging Harris CapRock’s increased service portfolio and new solutions in 2012, with a continued focus on meeting customers’ needs in remote, extreme environments with the reliable communications they can depend on.”

SeaCast SIGMA delivers uninterrupted connectivity around the globe using SpeedCast’s global Ku-band VSAT network as the primary connection and Inmarsat’s Fleet Broadband L-band network as the back-up connection.  The Ku-band VSAT provides the unlimited data connection required for today’s maritime applications, whether it be for crew welfare, operations or regulatory reasons.  The L-band service provides the back-up connection in case the primary is unavailable or to troubleshoot and restore the primary connection in the event of an issue.

Shipping and offshore O&G customers have the choice of three different packages that range from an unlimited 256kbps broadband connection, all the way up to an unlimited 1Mbps, with an entry price of $2800 per month.  These packages include all required VSAT + L-band equipment both above and below deck, as well as back-up Fleet Broadband airtime, at the fixed monthly price.  SpeedCast offers SeaCast SIGMA for all packages with a fixed period of 60 months.

Packages are further enhanced with the most comprehensive set of ICT applications ever offered by SpeedCast.  These services are delivered from the cloud as value added services, to provide link acceleration, WAN optimization, vessel tracking, web filtering, voice calls and, for the IT manager, an advanced online monitoring and reporting portal. The principle benefit is to provide a total communications solution that responds to the needs of the crew as well as the IT needs of the shipping company.  SpeedCast further augments the solution with its industry-leading technical support for SeaCast SIGMA and its ICT applications, delivered via SpeedCast’s network of in-house engineers and via remote access to the on-board LAN.

“SpeedCast was the first company to introduce a global Ku-band maritime service, which allowed seamless auto beam switching between many different satellites and across many Maritime VSATs from different manufacturers, delivering unparalleled coverage and performance for our global maritime customers,” said Nick Dukakis, VP of Maritime and Offshore, SpeedCast.  “In addition SpeedCast was one of the first companies in maritime back in 2007 to realize that the main primary link for most vessels would be Ku-band VSAT with a secondary back-up system dependent on an L-band service.  Now many of our competitors have adopted a similar model. SeaCast SIGMA represents the evolution of our maritime services and experience in the marketplace over the last four years, and we will continue to roll out more innovative products and services in future.”

SpeedCast pioneered the delivery of a seamless auto-beam-switching broadband communications service using multiple satellites operating in the Ku-band for maritime customers.  Over the past several years, SpeedCast has developed an extensive infrastructure for providing this seamless connectivity for maritime data, video and voice communication services.

SeaCast SIGMA is available via SpeedCast’s global network of certified partners, who provide the highest level of service and support for SpeedCast customers wherever they are around the world.

The end-to-end service deployed over the iDirect TMDA network will provide corporate networking, internet access, crew calling solutions and an email service for Farstad, a supplier of offshore supply vessels that operate in the North Sea, Brazil, Australia and Indian Pacific regions.

The turnkey solution includes equipment and installation, service and 24/7 support from Harris CapRock’s help desk.

“We need a reliable information and communication technology infrastructure onboard our vessels to support our values and meet our crew and clients’ needs,” said Helge Warholm, corporate purchasing manager, Farstad Shipping.

“Harris CapRock’s SeaAccess service enables us to extend our corporate applications to the vessels and provide critical maintenance, operations and administrative services. As a result, the vessels operate more efficiently and in turn it reduces our operational costs.”

“We’ve been very satisfied with the reliability of the SeaAccess service and Harris CapRock’s global reach for installations and maintenance. We had five pilot vessels leveraging the SeaAccess service and it met our needs for service availability and quick installs as the pilot vessels were dispersed around the globe.”

“As the acceptance of VSAT caught on, we took a decision to plan for large numbers of customers”, COO  Esben Flo says. “The only way to do that was to simplify and standardize the product, while allowing for customization in the setup.”  This has been solved by putting all the electronics into a 5 unit rack, with a 12” colour touch screen as interface, and standardizing on one stabilized antenna.  As sales increased this turned out to be a key strategy to handle the increase in installation volume. “When the majority of our orders contain the same components it is much easier to scale the volume quickly.  The remaining challenge then to achieve a successful delivery is to get access to the ship in a port”, Mr Flo says.

CEO Ivar Nesset adds: “Based on external market reports, we estimate that around 10% of the market has already installed VSAT, and we see that sales continue to increase. This trend is reinforced by our introduction of XpressLink, with higher data speeds at lower prices. With this new offering we continue to streamline our product to make it easy to use, easy to deliver, customer friendly and with satellite redundancy. We are well positioned to handle the market growth.”

SAILOR 900 VSAT is a powerful, quick and easy-to-install four-axis stabilized Ku-band VSAT antenna, featuring a low-profile and high performance RF design. It can be easily integrated with all leading VSAT modem units and the sophisticated Antenna Control Unit (ACU) features multiple LAN and diagnostics ports, and Built-in Test Equipment (BITE).

During the intensive development and testing of SAILOR 900 VSAT, Thrane & Thrane’s in-house engineers were supported by Marlink’s experience as a key global maritime communication organisation. The result is a cutting-edge Ku-band antenna designed to meet the demanding requirements of shipping and offshore companies with significant operational, installation and maintenance benefits.

“As one of the leading maritime satcoms service providers, Marlink’s input during the development of the SAILOR 900 VSAT was invaluable,” comments Casper Jensen, VP Maritime Business Unit, Thrane & Thrane. “SAILOR 900 VSAT will of course be offered through our entire global partner network, but we are delighted to continue our long relationship with Marlink and co-operate closely as we gear up to bring an innovative new product to the VSAT space.”

“By including the new SAILOR 900 VSAT antenna in our product offerings we continue to bring flexibility to our customers, offering choices of hardware and products that suit their specific needs,” comments Tore Morten Olsen, CEO Marlink. “Ship owners worldwide have very different communications needs. Adding the new SAILOR 900 VSAT antenna into our VSAT portfolio further strengthens Marlink’s position as the most complete maritime communications provider in the market.”

To ensure reliability of the SAILOR 900 VSAT aboard any vessel type, Thrane & Thrane built a unique antenna testing and simulation facility at its HQ. The facility features a multi-axis hydraulic motion testing and simulation platform that uses real-life vessel motion and conditions, to test the SAILOR 900 VSAT whilst it is connected to a live satellite provided. This extra testing ensures that the SAILOR 900 VSAT is ready for installation aboard vessels of all sizes and types.

“Globe Wireless has continued to expand the number of people in our dedicated VSAT group in the last six months as we increase the number of VSAT installations.  The team provides 24×7 live support, and customized solutions to meet specific customer needs on QoS, as well as network configurations.  We look forward to continuing the installations and expansion of our VSAT service with our dedicated support and installation team,” commented Brad Rogers, Globe Wireless VSAT Manager.

Globe Wireless president David Kagan added “I am very pleased to be a key part of Globe Wireless at this milestone achievement.  We will continue to expand our VSAT offerings and increase the pace of our installations.”

To learn more about how the partnership supports maritime customers you can download the case study here.

You can read the full article here and also download your free copy of the VSAT Research Whitepaper here.