Torm Shipping chooses VSAT for entire fleet - Digital Ship

SATCOMS
V
FleetBroadband or VSAT
- the high-speed choice
LPG carrier Varun Shipping recently embarked on a project to implement a FleetBroadband system to replace an
existing VSAT installation. Varun’s S A Amudan told Digital Ship about his experiences with the two technologies
arun Shipping, India's largest
LPG operator with a fleet of 20
vessels, has been working with
broadband communications on its ships
for some time, having used high-speed
regional Ku-band VSAT systems for some
of its business communications.
However, with the launch of Inmarsat's
FleetBroadband at the end of 2007, the
company was curious as to how the new
technology would compare with its existing
systems, and decided to install the
FB500 aboard one of its vessels to find out.
"Varun was looking for a solution that
would provide a high speed internet connection
on a vessel in high sea along with
voice, fax, streaming, etc. in a single
device," explains S A Amudan, senior general
manager, systems, personnel and
administration, Varun Shipping.
"We were looking for a solution, but
actually had already had experience with
VSAT on one of the vessels before looking
at FleetBroadband. However, we wanted
an on demand system, instead of a high
fixed monthly subscription as the vessel is
on Spot business."
Varun contacted Inmarsat distribution
partner Stratos and progressed with the
installation of the system, with high-speed
connectivity of 432 kbps available via the
50 cm antenna.
"We needed a solution which could be
controlled/managed from the office, and
felt that FleetBroadband is the technology
of the future, which was able to provide
these features," said Mr Amudan.
"It has been implemented onboard
AHTS 'Suvarna' operating in the North
Sea, and allowed us to remove the huge
VSAT antenna and put in a smaller antenna
instead."
"Installation of FleetBroadband, changing
it in for a Fleet 77, for us was done in a
day. The antenna is smaller and hence
easier to install."
Digital Ship December 2008 page 8
Varun has so far been using the system
almost exclusively for business data transfers,
and has been pleased to see that the
technology is operating well and providing
the high level of bandwidth advertised.
"We have found that the bandwidth
speeds we have experienced with the system
have lived up to Inmarsat's specifications,"
said Mr Amudan.
"The FleetBroadband is used for e-mail,
chat, ftp, restricted internet surfing, and all
of these things, but it also allows for the
concurrent use of phone, fax, streaming,
data. The vessel is now also using
FleetBroadband for online chart corrections
effectively."
Varun has worked with Stratos to introduce
new crew calling options, though the
company has been careful to limit the
crews' access to the system.
"At Varun, we have provided the crew
with chat cards from Stratos to be able to
speak to their family whenever they wish
to," said Mr Amudan. "The same cost is
then recovered from their salary."
Mr Amudan notes that the company has
also looked at other communications options
that might come online in the future.
"Skype and web e-mail access for crews
is not provided as of today, but we do
believe that they will be a morale booster
and a good HR initiative provided the
costs are within acceptable limits."
"However, since the cost of data transfer
is very high, access to internet has not been
provided right now. We are still looking
for a cost-effective solution for (crew internet
access)."
Benefits and challenges
Having installed the FleetBroadband system
as a replacement for an existing VSAT
installation, Mr Amudan has seen a number
of benefits in employing the technology, but
notes that there are also still a number of
issues to deal with, as with any technology.
"FleetBroadband is a very good tool
provided additional hardware/software is
also installed to monitor and control its
usage," he told us. "However these additional
tools are also very expensive and its
difficult to arrange for technicians every
time a problem is faced on board vessel."
"FleetBroadband's ability to scale up
when the business requires attracted us, for
things like the PMS, remote IT, crew welfare,
telemedicine, etc. We are very particular
about the frequency of data transfers."
"There are also no settings change
required when changing operating region
(as there were with the VSAT). Global coverage
(from March 2009) will be an advantage,
and that is one of the main reasons for
going in for FleetBroadband."
The 'downsides' that Mr Amudan has
'FleetBroadband allowed us to remove
the huge VSAT antenna and put
in a smaller antenna instead'
- S A Amudan, Varun Shipping
experienced are mainly based around the
'pay per usage' model that Inmarsat
employs, as opposed to the fixed rate, 'all
you can eat' available with VSAT
"This is still a new technology, and
though the cost on the voice calls is much
lower than the Fleet 77, the costs on the
data transfer are higher," he said.
"Uncontrolled internet is not recommended
as costs are prohibitive. The
VSAT has the option of a fixed monthly
cost for unlimited usage, and since this
option is not available with the
FleetBroadband you could run up huge
bills if not controlled."
"Restricting access to voice services like
Skype is not possible, as the restriction is
based on IP, so a Firewall or Proxy server
is required on the vessel to control internet
surfing."
Despite having to deal with these
issues, Mr Amudan is convinced that highspeed
maritime connectivity is likely to
become the industry standard.
"Broadband communications is definitely
the thing of the future, and will open
the ships to a lot of facilities, information,
services that can be achieved with access
to the internet," he said.
"Bringing vessels into the company network
is something that is on our wish-list
- but at the moment costs are prohibitive."
Mr Amudan, like most in the shipping
industry, is hopeful that cheaper megabytes
will be the next great evolution in the maritime
broadband story, strengthening the
links between the ships and the shore. DS