VesseLINK: A true revolution in global connectivity for fishing and shipping

Could the 500 year old dream of a Northwest Passage through North America to Asia come true?

Some shipping lines and fishing fleets are trying it, but the Arctic voyage has looked too perilous a venture to many without guaranteed telecommunications contact between ships and from ships to shore. That is because, up until now, there was no guaranteed broadband communications solution covering all the earth’s surface.

Today, a true revolution is under way, providing 100 per cent coverage---including the Arctic and the polar region-- assuring vessels and their crew safe and reliable voice and broadband data communications up to 1.4Mbps, anytime and everywhere.

Two breakthroughs in satellite telecommunications link ships across the globe

Thales is at the source of the revolution---in two ways:

--Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the Iridium NEXT constellation of 66 interconnected satellites at a low altitude of 780 kilometers, providing unprecedented global connectivity for communications on the move—people, ships, land vehicles and aircraft.

--Thales is a licensed provider of satellite communications terminal products for Iridium NEXT’s voice and broadband data services known as Iridium Certus.

“The synergies between the two are enormously important” says Mike Kreiner, Global Channel Manager, Thales, “We have developed crystal-clear and extremely low latency  communications because of the low orbit of the Iridium satellites. The quality of the call anywhere in the world, whether on land or sea, is unprecedented”

Assured global broadband data and voice contact for ships anywhere enable their digital transformation

Mike Kreiner points to VesseLINK, the maritime application that is opening up new opportunities for safe operations for commercial fishing fleets, individual vessels, and shipping lines worldwide.

He explains, “Fishing vessels need to go out in any weather and to navigate crowded shipping lanes. And some big fishing fleets stay out on the ocean for long periods of time. Today, the safety of their crews and their operations is vastly upgraded by VesseLINK telecommunications. It assures them of reliable contact between vessels and to shore anywhere they are.”

The Thales expert says that VesseLINK is providing, at once, worldwide 24/7 coverage, excellent capacity and speed, as well as top value in terms of pricing, network, features and functionality.

 “You really can think of VesseLINK as providing the same scope and reliability of services to ships on the seas as that smartphone in your pocket gives you on the go every day. And an added big plus is that it is truly an enabler of their digital transformation across the board for all of their operations”