The maritime satcom market is experiencing a change of pace regarding capacity requirements and added value solutions. Many vessels may still be analogue, but IoT applications are growing as a factor in the equation
The last twelve months have been significant for maritime connectivity, in terms of available capacity and the evolution of solutions[ds_preview] to deliver the benefits of the IoT to shipping, an Inmarsat spokesperson tells HANSA. The period saw Inmarsat launching GX5, the fifth satellite in the Global Xpress fleet supporting services for the maritime sector. The satellite is delivering additional, focused broadband capacity to Europe and the Middle East. Over the next three years, seven more GX satellites will be launched, including two Arctic-specific payloads to ensure continuous coverage beyond 65º North and provide capacity in real-time to the areas of highest demand.
In 2019, Inmarsat also brought Fleet Data to market, the first secure cloud-based IoT platform from a satellite operator in shipping. The bandwidth-inclusive solution allows ship operators to collect data from onboard sensors, process it and upload it to the cloud for interface with third-party applications.
Satcom company Iridium has launched the Iridium Certus network in 2019, an advanced multi-service platform enabled by the upgraded Iridium constellation. It is being claimed to be the only broadband service that provides truly global, weather-resilient coverage for on-the-move internet and high-quality voice access. Iridium has just announced that its Iridium Certus 700 service is now commercially available – providing the fastest L-band speeds in the industry at no additional costs to existing subscribers and at doubleddownload speeds.
And in 2021 the full data speed of 1mb will be enabled. »Here at IEC Telecom we have already installed systems based on the Iridium Certus on many ships worldwide and it is working very well – delivering the capabilities and requirements needed by a wide variety of vessels operating in various sectors,« says Alf Stian Mauritz, Managing Director of IEC Telecom Norway, a provider of managed network communication solutions. »Over the coming year we anticipate even more widespread use of our connectivity solutions using Iridium Certus as more and more vessels and fleets become digitalised,« he says.
Powerful return link required
This trend is also felt by the technology providers at the other end. Jens Ewerling, Director Maritime Broadband at VSAT company Cobham, is currently seeing an increasing demand for higher power amplifiers in the antennas with shipowners seeking a more powerful return link from ship to satellite. »We see social media and messenger systems as the main driver behind an increased desire for better communication onboard ships, with the early use of Internet on ships being mainly passive and downlink focussed as it was primarily for personal use. Business related files were sent at certain times, often related to the noon report.«
However, this is now changing, says Ewerling. »Vessels are now seen as a part of ›the office‹ and more of ›a department‹ looking to optimise business operations.
Higher bandwidths and more stable connections enable better operations at shore with the opportunity to interact with vessels at sea greater than before.« It is no longer just storing and forwarding information ship to shore but rather an instant exchange of information that results in enhanced efficiencies across the entire business. Therefore, satellite communication will undergo the most fundamental changes over the next couple of years with incumbents like Iridium recently completing their new low-earth orbit (LEO) network, and Inmarsat set to launch their all-new satellite constellation in geostationary (GEO) orbit but also in high elliptical (HEO) orbit to cover the Arctic by 2023, Ewerling thinks.
VSAT provider Marlink’s President Maritime, Tore Morten Olsen, has also seen demand for connectivity and services accelerating for a number of reasons recently. »With the IMO 2020 rules and the coming decades of much tougher environmental regulation, shipowners are in no doubt that operational efficiency is essential to reduce emissions and optimise vessel operations – and connectivity enables that,« he tells HANSA.
According to Olsen, regulations and compliance go beyond minimising environmental impact; shipowners must be aware of the need for cyber security and particularly have to comply with the 2021 amendments to the ISM Code which will require them to keep their IT network updated or they will face fines or even detention.
Idea of IoT still in its infancy
As the drive towards digitalisation continues at speed, vessel operators are finding themselves with increasing amounts of data to process and, potentially, transfer from ship to shore.
Inmarsat saw average data consumption of a merchant ship in mid-2019 reach over 200 GB per month, compared to 5 GB five years ago. Some commercial owners are already using more than 1 terabyte per month of data volume per ship. Growth rates among high-data-use offshore customers are even greater. Recent research by Inmarsat suggests that an even greater maritime appetite for IoT-based solutions would emerge if more data could be delivered and analysed in real-time.
According to Marlink’s Tore Morten Olsen, high throughput VSAT is also a stepping stone into providing more added value services to owners. »Vessel operators are looking for technology that can support genuine fuel savings, reduced emissions and better vessel performance, both for regulatory compliance and for an improved bottom line – and that includes security as a standard feature. Providing access to Operational Technology (OT) such as radar, automation, power and propulsion systems, BridgeLink enables Marlink customers to use scalable remote ship management and smart maintenance systems to further enhance and improve vessel efficiency, collecting data for specialised analysis, he explains.
Cobham’s Jens Ewerling is still cautious in his IoT estimates, saying: »The idea of obtaining data from a ship’s systems in order to monitor operations, understand the life cycle of machinery and similar IoT applications is still in its infancy. One of the biggest challenges so far is the fact that the majority of ships are analogue. On most ships there are neither the appropriate interfaces or output to be able to collect data from propulsion, fuel systems, automation and navigation systems.« Therefore, in order for the industry to become digital, projects would need to be implemented to install client computers, run networking cables, enable interfaces and shipboard servers to act as on-board proxies which would then offload data to the shore-based data centres.
Satellite communication will act as the conduit for the data collected on the vessels, Ewerling thinks. »The type of data IoT is generating, does not typically come in large file sizes and would not be a big issue even for the current generation of satcom installations. In the future, constellations such as LEO will enable close to real-time data exchange between ship and shore because of the very low latency inherent with LEO networks«, he says.
More capacity required
As the wave of vessel connectivity continues to swell around the global maritime industry, IEC Telekom sees the greatest challenge for the connectivity sector in being able to deliver enough capacity to handle the vast amounts of data being generated. And as digitalisation becomes more established we will see vessel operators beginning to identify and segregate this data to understand which elements are important for onboard functionality (such as what the captain needs to have access to) and which are beneficial to transfer to shore (such as data which demonstrates compliance with international regulations).
Meanwhile, Inmarsat recognises the role standardisation plays in global mobile communications as the pathway for progress, for network operators, terminal vendors, microchip suppliers and software developers.
As Cobham’s Jens Ewerling tells HANSA, new players entering the market are challenging the incumbents. »Household names like Boeing, Samsung, Facebook, Amazon and SpaceX have all filed for satellite operating licenses with the FCC in the United States.
However, other companies like Viasat, OneWeb, SES, Kepler, Telesat are more likely to enter the maritime market with new powerful satellites, networks and services in GEO, LEO and medium earth orbits (MEO) being able to offer high-speed and/or low-latency services to the shipping community,« says Ewerling. Different satellite orbits and different use of frequencies would trigger a design change for antennas and user terminals.«
