Digital Ship

SATCOMS NEWSPiracy calls on Iridium now free of chargewww.iridium.comwww.thrane.comAs part of its anti-piracy initiative Iridiumreports that it has made all calls from shipsequipped with its communications terminalsto the UK Maritime Trade Operations(UKMTO) centre free of charge, effectiveimmediately.The UKMTO office in Dubai is the primarypoint of contact between merchantshipping and naval forces patrolling thehigh piracy risk zone off the Somali coast.UKMTO has direct communication toall naval assets in the area and plays a keyrole in coordinating the naval responsewhen pirates board and attack ships.Under Iridium’s calling plan, all callsto the UKMTO +971 number will be connectedthrough the Iridium network freeof charge.“As a service to our important maritimecustomers, we strongly support theimprovement of communications for shipswho may encounter piracy,” said DanMercer, vice president and general manager,Europe, Middle East, Africa &Russia, Iridium.“Recognising that Iridium can providea critical communications lifeline in apotentially life-threatening situation, it isour responsibility to support the crew byremoving any barriers to free and opencommunication with authorities.”Iridium notes that it has been workingwith its partners to outfit an increasingnumber of ships with ‘citadels,’ wherecrews can take refuge and wait safelywhen pirates board.A key element in the citadel strategy isa stand-alone, secure communications linkto the outside world, so the crew can connectwith rescue operations.Thrane & Thrane has announced thelaunch of a non-SOLAS voice distresscalling system using FleetBroadband,via its ‘SAILOR 3771 Alarm PanelFleetBroadband’.Inmarsat says that the company’srecently launched Voice Distress (Non-SOLAS) Calling service provides full priorityaccess in both ship-shore and shoreshipcommunication in emergency situations,together with pre-emption for distresspriority calls initiated by activationof the ’red button’.The service is able to interrupt nonurgentcalls once the distress button hasbeen activated and give full priority tosubsequent emergency communications.A voice distress call from theFleetBroadband system will be connectedto an operator at an MRCC (MaritimeRescue Coordination Centre). EachInmarsat-4 satellite region has a nominatedMRCC; RCC Australia, RCC DenHelder (Netherlands) and RCC Norfolk(USA), which assesses the call and directsdetails to a suitable rescue co-ordinationcentre closer to the scene of the incident.The SAILOR 3771 Alarm PanelFleetBroadband has been designed for integrationwith Thrane & Thrane’s SAILOR150, 250 and 500 FleetBroadband terminalsand is the first system in the market to providethe Inmarsat Voice Distress (Non-SOLAS) calling functionality.“Inmarsat has, throughout its existence,strived to provide the broadest and mostefficient means of enabling the seafarer tomake contact with the appropriate authoritiesin times of distress or trouble,” saysPeter Blackhurst, head of maritime safetySeveral companies are now offeringcitadel communication packages with aconcealed external satellite antenna andcabling that cannot be easily disabled bythe pirates on the ship.“The anti-piracy patrol zone is solarge that naval forces are seldom able tocome to the aid of a vessel under attackbefore the pirates take over the ship,” saidMichael Capocchi, president and CEOof Beam Communications, one of thecompanies offering Iridium-based citadelsolutions.“It becomes difficult, if not impossible,for a rescue attempt to be made withoutendangering the lives of the hostages. Thisis why it is critically important for militaryauthorities to confirm that all crewmembersare safely barricaded inside thecitadel before any attempt can be made tostorm the ship.”Thrane & Thrane launches FB voice distress systemservices, Inmarsat.“The new voice distress service willenhance safety for any vessel where theoption is fitted to its FleetBroadband terminals.We are also working towardsbringing the system to the IMO in order toestablish it as a full part of GMDSS in thefuture.”The SAILOR 3771 has a ‘red button’ which will activate distress calling,with priority and pre-emption, on FleetBroadbandBroadband by Powerline for shipswww.gentay.co.ukBritish IT supplier Gentay has launched awireless network solution for vesselsusing ‘Broadband by Powerline’ (BPL)networking technology.Gentay says it has devised a system forestablishing a large, stable combination ofa wired and wireless network on board avessel, using power cables to carry networktraffic.The network system developed by thecompany was subsequently tested in collaborationwith Wallem Group, anddemonstrated during sea trials that theBPL technology was equal to conventionalnetworks with regards to speed, capacityand stability, according to Gentay.The aim of the technology is to removecertain disadvantages which Gentay hasidentified in the current wired or wirelessnetwork options usually used on board,such as time consumption in installation,and the expense or difficulties of repairingfaulty networks.“Low cost practical networking solutionswill open the door to many applicationsthat will be of great use to the maritimeindustry but have been unaffordablebecause of the prohibitive costs of installingthe required physical network on board,”said Martin Nygate, director of Gentay.Mr Nygate notes that IP CCTV could beone prime example of an application thatcould be easily installed and operatedusing the BPL system.Integrated FB andVSAT service fromTelemarwww.telemar.seTelemar has launched a new integratedVSAT and FleetBroadband service, namedSeaCall Duetto, offering global satelliteconnectivity for a fixed monthly fee.The service is managed via the TelemarOffice Connect onboard server, whichcontrols selection of the different systemsand the transfer of data between shipsand shore.This switching is done automatically,so the user does not have to manuallychoose the appropriate satellite communicationsoption for their particular location.Various communications optimisationoptions are also managed by this service.While the FleetBroadband service willcome into effect in areas where Ku-bandcoverage is unavailable, Telemar says that,in its overall experience testing the newservice, the vessels using the system onlyneeded to switch over from the VSAT fora few hours over a period of some months.Telemar also says that it will soon beoffering the Duetto product with a numberof additional optional extras, such asits SeaView IPTV@sea and Vision@seaservices.These applications allow crews to viewmultimedia content from PCs or TVs andallow officers to communicate via videocalling through the use of video-ondemandand secured satellite capacity.Modular maintenance contracts canalso be included with the satellite communicationspackage.Elektrikom toexpand VSATcapacitywww.vsat.euwww.telenorsbc.comTelenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc) hassigned an agreement with maritime VSATprovider Elektrikom for the provision ofsatellite capacity from its 1°West orbitallocation.Utilising capacity on TSBc’s IS 10-02Spot 1, Elektrikom will manage and deliverVSAT services throughout Europe."The additional capacity on IS 10-02Spot 1 will be used for maritime VSATservices, providing shipping vessels,specifically in the Mediterranean, withmuch needed capacity to support additionalbroadband communication services,demanded by crew to stay connected at alltimes, whilst at sea," said Andre Eerland,CEO of Elektrikom."This is the first contract we have signedwith TSBc and look forward to workingwith them in the very near future to growour capacity requirements at 1°West."TSBc says that its next satellite, THOR7, due to commence commercial service in2014, should also expand the satellite servicesavailable to maritime customers via itsnetwork.Digital Ship June/July 2011 page 8