Hapag-Lloyd renews and expands Inmarsat Fleet Xpress commitment

Under the extended agreement, which now covers 77 ships, the Fleet Xpress hybrid of Ka-band and continuous L-band back-up service replaces Ku-band systems onboard ships merged into the Hapag-Lloyd fleet following the earlier acquisition of United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) in May 2017.

“The further standardisation of our vessel communication systems is central to our Maritime IT strategy,” said Florian Liebetrau, Director IT - Marine & Maritime Operations, Hapag-Lloyd.

“Hapag-Lloyd has a mature strategy for its vessel connectivity and management which demands systems-wide predictability, reliability, and integration to sustain our global vision for container transport,” he added.

Hapag Lloyd was one of the first major global shipping companies to commit to Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress following service launch in 2016, transitioning all of its in-house managed ships to Inmarsat’s maritime broadband service for vessel operations and crew connectivity. The five-year contract envisaged expanding data traffic and scalability to handle fleet growth.

 “Standardisation and integration are pivotal enablers for corporates. This agreement and its expansion to 33 additional ships clearly demonstrate Hapag-Lloyd’s objectives are being met by the reliability, performance, and service support provided by Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress,” said Ronald Spithout, President, Inmarsat Maritime.

Related:Major capacity boost for Inmarsat’s Fleet Express service

 “The average committed information rates of data acceptable to deep-sea container lines today are roughly double the maximum information rates they expected in 2016. On average, a container ship’s monthly data traffic in 2021 is around three and a half times the level experienced five years ago. Inmarsat is meeting this rapid growth in demand for connectivity at sea,” explained Spithout.