Loose Specs Sink Shipmanagers

When writing commercial articles about the maritime market, I found analogies for players in the shipping ecosystem most useful. After undertaking recent new research on satellite operators, service providers, shipping companies, ship owners (most of the time the former, however, not in some cases), ship managers and seafarers. I thought a simplification of their roles…

DeSIRE II project

Satellites Driven by DeSIRE

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) have funded two consecutive projects called DeSIRE, in 2013, and DeSIRE II (Demonstration of Satellites enabling the Insertion of RPAS in Europe), in 2015, to examine how drones might operate within controlled airspace when controlled by satellites for commercial and governmental applications. To undertake…

Unmanned traffic management systems

UTM in the Wilds

“I don’t see how he can ever finish, if he doesn’t begin.” Alice thought to herself that unmanned traffic management should be easy, so she checked several countries that are beginning and this is what she found. In the Asia/Pacific region, there is practical experimentation but a willingness to standardise, Russia is ploughing its own…

Apax Vobiscum

Inmarsat started off in 1979 as the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT), a non-profit intergovernmental organisation created to establish and operate a satellite communications network for maritime use. They were funded by a group of 28 mainly maritime nations. In 1999, this rose to 86 countries and at the same time the Global Maritime Distress…

Satellites-U-Like

On 7th of March 2019, Inmarsat PLC announced its unaudited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2018, resulting in its share price rising from £399 to £453 over a four-day period post announcement, equating to 13.5 per cent increased, on the perception of this “excellent” performance. Inmarsat has exceeded expectations in both revenue…

Lithium Energizer Battery

Salts and Battery

Recent interest in reviving mining in Cornwall, the United Kingdom, to obtain Lithium has been reported in The Memo. A problem facing Cornwall, should the consortium discover sufficient concentrations of lithium, is that it will require large amounts of energy to extract. In Cornwall, geothermal springs are proposed to generate the energy needed. Another problem…

In-flight entertainment screen

IFE Content market worth $569 million in 2017

The global market for traditional in-flight entertainment (IFE) content was estimated at $569 million in 2017, growing by 7.3 per cent from the previous year. This consists of movies, TV shows, other shorter content forms, audio, games and ePublications. It excludes the moving map, live TV and ancillary revenue generation. The desire to enhance passenger…