United Kingdom-headquartered mobile satellite communications company Inmarsat has confirmed a new agreement has been made with Clearwater Seafoods that commits the Canadian company to its Fleet Xpress high-speed maritime broadband services.
According to Inmarsat, Clearwater chose to install the Fleet Xpress combination of high-speed Ka-band and continuous FleetBroadband back-up on board seven vessels. It replaces Ku-band services on each vessel.
Deployed off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, each vessel is being fitted with high-performance GX100NX antennas from Intellian.
“Robust connectivity for the crew is imperative for Clearwater,” Clearwater Canadian Fleet Operation Director Brad MacKinnon said. “We have over 400 personnel at sea who expect stable and reliable connectivity in challenging North Atlantic conditions, given that they can be away from home for up to 35 days at a time.”
The contract also includes Inmarsat’s fully managed Fleet Care program for Fleet Xpress, which has been developed to maximize equipment uptime and minimize out of pocket expenses on unplanned maintenance.
“This contract represents outstanding recognition of the Fleet Xpress platform which will make waves among fishing customers along Canada’s east coast and elsewhere,” Inmarsat Maritime Offshore and Fishing Vice President Eric Griffin said. “The fact that this regional breakthrough came when COVID-19 restrictions have been in place also shows what is possible by adapting our processes as required, to deploy our technicians in the field, work with engineers remotely or – where possible – carry out installations virtually.”
Fleet Xpress recently marked its 10,000th vessel installation. While the majority are merchant vessels, Inmarsat said that the maritime broadband platform continues to make inroads among owners and operators in the offshore and fishing markets,
Clearwater fishes off the coasts of Canada, the United Kingdom, and Argentina, and operates 21 vessels in total.
