Tanker owner Transpetrol has signed a renewal of its VSAT contract with Marlink, which will see the vessel operator expand its use of the Sealink VSAT service to its the entire tanker fleet, as well as two planned newbuildings due for delivery within the next 18 months.
Transpetrol’s ships, from medium range tankers up to Aframax and Very Large Gas Carriers on global routes, are already provided with global Ku-band VSAT and L-band back-up systems under an existing deal, but the Committed Information Rate (CIR) and Maximum Information Rate (MIR) available to the ships will increase with the new contract.
Marlink will also deploy its SkyFile Anti-Virus, part of its Cyber Guard portfolio, on board each ship.
“With more digital applications becoming essential to the efficiency of our business, reliable connectivity at sea is more important now than it ever was,” said Eirik Sanderlien, fleet manager, Transpetrol.
“It’s vital that we partner with a provider that can guarantee always available service levels regardless of where our ships are. Based on our experience as a customer since 2011, we’re very confident that Marlink is that partner.”
Connectivity and value added services will be centrally managed using the Marlink XChange platform, which can also be used to control crew communications and provide remote access to onboard networks from shore for IT maintenance. An XChange Cloud service is additionally included, for the transfer and synchronisation of files between ship and shore.
“Transpetrol is a great example of how our services have evolved over time to follow customer needs,” said Tore Morten Olsen, president maritime, Marlink.
“By providing a future-proof solution at the start of our relationship, we have been able to increase their vessel’s connectivity bandwidth and speed, as well as add new digital solutions without any major hardware change or price increase. We are enabling Transpetrol to run their ships more efficiently while increasing crew welfare in a controlled and very cost-effective way.”
Source:thedigitalship
