The new plans are designed to recognise that there are much greater swings in bandwith usage for OSVs compared to conventional vessels. When on-hire OSVs can use large volumes of data that needs to be transmitted to shore and also often have generous crew internet provision.
To accommodate this the 36-month plans include free upgrades and downgrades in service levels across the period of the contract. This sees up to 5Mbps offered for uploads and 10Mbps for downloads, while for off-hire a 128kbps link can be sufficient. There is also the provision for owners to suspend services for up to 180 days.
“The connectivity requirements of offshore support vessels place unique demands on satellite operators,” Eric Griffin, VP maritime, offshore energy and fisheries for Inmarsat.
“The technology behind Fleet Xpress has the capacity to meet these demands and our new plan sets a precedent in joining the dots between the technical requirements and commercial realities of OSV operation and highlights how Fleet Xpress can be used in the energy sector.”
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