Inmarsat's Fleet Xpress enables 'smart shipping'

Just two weeks after Inmarsat’s next-generation high-speed broadband solution Fleet Xpress was officially launched, Cobham SATCOM and Inmarsat have announced that their partner, Beijing Marine Communication & Navigation Company (MCN), has won the largest Fleet Xpress installation project to date.

The project is with Nanjing Tanker Corporation of China (NTC) and will see MCN manage the rollout of Cobham’s SAILOR 100 GX and SAILOR 60 GX antenna systems that will bring high-speed broadband connectivity to approximately 70 ships.

Gerbrand Schalkwijk, chief sales officer, Inmarsat Maritime, said not only will the installation of Fleet Xpress deliver ‘smart shipping’ connectivity to drive performance optimisation for NTC, but it will also change crew communications and welfare onboard the company’s vessels.

“Nanjing Tanker Corporation has been pivotal in China’s expansion in oil, oil products, specialised chemicals and liquefied petroleum gas transportation,” said Schalkwijk.

“We are especially pleased that the benefits which Fleet Xpress delivers for vessel efficiency and crew welfare have been acknowledged so quickly after the launch of our game-changing service by one of the companies focused on driving commercial maritime opportunities in China.”

The installation will allow NTC to benefit from better use of data through video conferencing, remote vessel assistance/diagnostics, telemedicine, video surveillance and information management systems for maritime ‘big data’ applications.

The 1 m SAILOR 100 GX is based on Cobham SATCOM’s SAILOR VSAT Technology platform, designed to simplify installation and operation while delivering high-quality radio performance.

The 60 cm SAILOR 60 GX leverages a compact, lightweight carbon-fibre composites/aluminium design. Cobham said by enabling a high-throughput link to Fleet Xpress in a smaller antenna package, the smaller antenna will bring smart shipping applications to smaller platforms, including work boats, fishing vessels and yachts. 

Image captions: (Top) Contract signing ceremony with Zhang Chuan Qin, EVP of NTC (right) and Song Zhen, vice president of sales and marketing, MCN; (Above) Cobham SAILOR antenna systems. Images courtesy of Cobham SATCOM.