This week, England had a landslide victory in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The win is one in a series that if kept up will result in the team winning the Cup in just four games. Such a winning streak saw our minds turn to the maritime industry. This is an industry that has played a pivotal role in global trade, connecting nations and economies for centuries. It is an industry that despite so many challenges has seen significant innovation and change with explorations into technologies such as AI, automation, and IoT, as well as significant discussions about improving sustainability and crew welfare.
An industry victory which Valour Consultancy has recently explored is the growth of non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) capacity, a key driver that is influencing demand for flat panel antennas. Valour Consultancy estimates that the demand for Comms on the Move (COTM) flat panel antennas will result in vendors shipping approximately 100,000 units between 2021 and 2030. The maritime industry is seeing a growth in flat panel antennas with Starlink and OneWeb activating its global LEO services, which will be joined by other influential players such as SES’ O3b mPower and Amazon Kuiper. This has been further discussed in our recently published report: The Future of Flat Panel Antennas.
OneWeb saw a major victory in June 2023 at the Nor-Shipping conference in Oslo with the launch of its LEO maritime service. The service was launched in conjunction with Speedcast upon Reederei F. Laeisz’s vessel RV Polarstern. The polar research and science vessel received a maximum information rate of 75/15 Mbps and committed information rate of 12/6 Mbps and used an estimated 85 to 95 GB per day. Since the completion of its first launch programme in May, OneWeb has expanded to new regions above the 35th parallel, which includes southern Europe and half of the United States. OneWeb plans to deliver a global maritime service by the end of the year. In the same month, the company launched a ‘try before you buy’ service for maritime customers wishing to trial the service.
With regards to Amazon Kuiper, the firm has invested $120 million into a new processing facility in Florida. The 100,000 square foot facility located at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Centre, is expected to be operational in 2025 and expected to bring 50 new jobs to the industry. It is Amazon’s plan to build Kuiper satellites in its facility in Kirkland, Washington with production beginning in later 2023, which will then be received in the new facility for final preparations ahead of launch.
July 2023 also saw more victories for Starlink and its resellers. Grace Management, an Athens-based ship management company, is currently in the process of rolling out Starlink provided for by Navarino across five of its tankers. In addition, in the same month Elcome International LLC announced a Starlink leasing plan. The Starlink reseller has announced a starting plan of $460 per month, customers would receive the Starlink flat high-performance kit along with 50GB allowance. Another feature is the bundled crew data usage management solution in which administrators control data usage on board.
However, moving away from the victories of LEO services, J.J. Ugland, a global shipping company, awarded a contract to ScanReach, a maritime wireless connectivity and data provider, in July 2023. The contract means that the company will deliver its ConnectFuel solution to J.J. Ugland’s fleet. The solution uses ScanReach’s Onboard Wireless Connectivity, a wireless mesh of network nodes, to provide fuel consumption KPIS enabling more efficient operational decisions.
In addition, classification Lloyd’s Register unveiled the integration of C Teleport into the Cloud Fleet Manager Crewing module in July 2023. This integration allows shipping companies to manage and book flights for crew members within one platform, C Teleport is designed specifically for the marine and offshore industry. With access to flight schedules and ticket prices, the solutions can reduce costs and ensure personnel arrive at their destination on time. The integration of the solutions means that Lloyd’s Register offers a centralised platform for managing crew operations, including payroll, and therefore improves crew welfare.
This is only a small sample of wins from the industry, as each day more news is delivered to our inboxes. More is to come, and it will be interesting to see what challenges come to the forefront and how the sector continues to develop. For more information on how these latest developments will affect the maritime world, click on our maritime research portfolio here.
