Inmarsat has announced a deal with MOL to introduce the newly-launched Fleet Xpress service across the majority of its car carrier fleet.
Existing Inmarsat customer MOL says migrating its car carriers to always-on, high-speed broadband connectivity will be pivotal in its continuing drive towards ‘smarter and greener shipping’ operations.
The roll-out of Fleet Xpress on board the MOL fleet will coincide with planned vessel drydockings, with the owner’s car carriers selected for the first installations. Fleet Xpress will effectively and efficiently connect MOL ships to landside offices via VPN.
“Owners have been eagerly awaiting fully integrated connectivity between ship and shore that delivers an unprecedented scale of redundancy and seamless service virtually everywhere on the planet,” says Gerbrand Schalkwijk, Chief Sales Officer, Inmarsat Maritime.
“Fleet Xpress is the first global maritime high-speed broadband service from a single network operator. High-speed, ultra-reliable connectivity will transform the maritime industry by putting big data at the heart of operating decisions and cost-controlled connectivity in the hands of seafarers.”
Fleet Xpress is the maritime service powered by the Global Xpress network – based on Inmarsat’s I-5 generation satellites and the FleetBroadband I-4 satellites. Inmarsat has already announced plans for further Ka-band and L-band service enhancements, after contracting with Airbus at the end of 2015 to build the first two satellites in its sixth-generation I-6 fleet.
Fleet Xpress delivers a unique, fully integrated dual capability of high speed, high capacity services (Global Xpress) together with high reliability safety-level services (FleetBroadband) in a single commercial package which is available across the globe. Fleet Xpress is further enriched by Inmarsat Gateway, a unique service enablement platform designed to provide ship owners, managers and operators with access to a new generation of value-added maritime applications, services and solutions.