Chemical tanker operator Nordic Tankers, Denmark, is set to migrate the first of its vessels to Inmarsat's XpressLink service after comprehensive sea trials. The company chose to migrate from its existing service to XpressLink because of the reliability offered by the fully-integrated Ku-band and L-band solution.
A comprehensive evaluation of available satcom solutions culminated in sea trials of the Inmarsat service on the Nordic Nelly, a 5,800dwt chemical tanker. In total, Nordic Tankers operates a fleet of nearly 130 vessels.
Lack of reliability has a tangible impact on our business, said Helle Bjerre, Vice President at Nordic Tankers. Voyage optimisation, for example, can only be achieved if the captain and officers have access to the right information, delivered in real-time. XpressLink contributes to making this possible.
The Inmarsat-managed service auto-switches between FleetBroadband and VSAT to deliver broadband speeds of up to 768 kbps, a reliable and high-quality service, and global coverage, all at a fixed monthly cost.
Jorgen Liberg, Nordic Tankers' General Manager for IT, commented that the ability of XpressLink to deliver guaranteed connectivity, combined with having everything integrated into a single service at a fixed monthly cost, were fundamental drivers in the decision to migrate.
As on-board technology advances, the demand for even greater bandwidth will increase due to the ever-growing amount of communication between shore and ship. And with a free migration path to Global Xpress, XpressLink also future-proofs the investment, Liberg added.
XpressLink offers an easy upgrade to Global Xpress when Inmarsat's superfast Ka-band network becomes commercially available from 2014. Frank Coles, President of Inmarsat Maritime said the decision of Nordic Tankers to convert to XpressLink is a clear endorsement of the benefits of this fully integrated solution.
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