For Polar cruise ship operators today, the ability to deliver the enjoyment of passengers to share experiences and impressions with[ds_preview] others in real time via high-speed internet has moved beyond competitive offer to become part of guest expectations.
In inaccessible places reliable connectivity is also key to running of the ship, including the remote monitoring and support of systems on board, while the crews who routinely work such voyages have their own needs to stay connected with family, friends, and the online and real worlds.
A couple of moths ago, the newly-built Oceanwide Expeditions vessel »Hondius« undertook her maiden Arctic voyage, culminating in a call at Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen before returning to her home port in Vlissingen.
»Hondius« is the new five-deck flagship for a company which is one of the pioneers of expedition cruising. Using a fleet of existing ice-strengthened passenger ships, Oceanwide developed the »Basecamp Antarctica« brand and became the first cruise company to connect travellers with Spitsbergen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.
Fully meeting expectations, according to the shipowner, was a new dual Fleet Xpress solution from connectivity partners Inmarsat Maritime and Alphatron Marine, installed to meet performance requirements in Polar waters that only the Ka-band/L-band hybrid solution can achieve.
Meanwhile, some alternatives – such as connectivity offered via Ku-band VSAT – simply cannot reach the remote destinations served by Oceanwide’s ships, says COO Mark Van der Hulst.
As the cruise ship owner’s fleet and cruise experience capabilities have evolved, so have its connectivity needs, the COO explains: »Communication needs are changing continuously in today’s world.«
Today, Oceanwide’s three-mast passenger sailing schooner and Arctic expedition ship »Rembrandt van Rijn« operates the FB500 FleetBroadband service, allowing its 33 passengers and crew of twelve to take advantage of a 5 GB data allowance.
The owner has also already installed the Fleet Xpress high-speed maritime broadband service onboard the Ice Class 1A vessel »Ortelius« and the Ice Class 1D »Plancius«, achieving what Van der Hulst describes as »a good and direct contact«.
»Additionally, we require stable remote access to the IT environment of the vessel in order to keep this up-to-date and in good shape.« Online monitoring possibilities have been an especially attractive capability, he says.
»Because of the number of passengers on board Hondius and the quality we want to provide, we chose the dual Fleet Xpress solution offered by Alphatron Marine, where the aggregate bandwidth available over the GX network is 16 Mbps on the downlink and 4 Mbps on the uplink over the GX network.«
