Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, has extended its Fleet Xpress service agreement with Maersk Supply Service to include fleet wide IoT-based ship management connectivity on separate, dedicated bandwidths. The extension has also enabled Maersk Supply Service to evaluate new vessel performance tools for selection, available through Inmarsat’s Certified Application Provider(CAP) programme.
Operating off Europe, the Americas, West Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia, the 30-vessel Maersk offshore fleet includes some of the most modern anchor handlers and subsea support vessels in the industry. Under a long-term Fleet Xpress agreement, connectivity will now include dedicated Inmarsat Fleet Connect for key digital applications and a commitment to the Fleet Data IoT platform for data acquisition and uploading.
Fleet Data enables digitalisation across the full scope of vessel operations, using cloud-based analytics, which is agnostic of OEM-specific applications or sensor technologies. Owner-operators are free to choose which areas will benefit most from predictive analytics and decision-making.
The new agreement will accommodate rapid scaling up of new IoT-based vessel performance applications fleet wide. Fleet Data and Fleet Connect offer a single IoT-based architecture capable of working with every OEM-supplied or standalone analytics and management software in the market.
Maersk Supply Service used Fleet Xpress in combination with Fleet Data to evaluate a number of fuel emissions and ship performance solutions provided through the Inmarsat CAP programme. The trials have resulted in a commercial commitment to SKF One Global Cloud platform that provides condition monitoring and remote diagnostics from SKF Marine and a proof of concept agreement with Yxney Maritime covering the Maress data analytics software for reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
Fleet Connect offers digital solutions providers – including OEMs – the opportunity to take advantage of always-available, dedicated bandwidth for specific vessel management applications.