Communications choice

Now, however, competition seems to be starting up again. I’m not totally sure why this should be – maybe the comparatively lower cost of hardware and airtime is awakening interest among shipowners; maybe the economic downturn has made the suppliers more competitive; maybe ship operators and managers are seeing the advantages of crew calling and internet access in retaining valuable crew members; maybe increased automation and reduced manning levels mean more information is being fed to shore-based establishments, taking decision-making away from the ships as far as planned maintenance, machinery diagnosis etc are concerned. Maybe it is a combination of some or all of these factors, and maybe there are other considerations I have missed.

Certainly, GMDSS is topical again. Advances in software, and in connecting hardware together, have made the older-generation GMDSS equipment seem rather antiquated alongside current integrated bridge technology and the trend for linking all of the ship systems. One manufacturer, as we see in the November issue, has re-thought how to join the various elements of a GMDSS system, to provide an up-to-date, standard modular solution for all vessel types and all sea areas.

Historically, owners – other than cruise operators or those with data-hungry specialist needs – chose a satcom system that would provide GMDSS functionality and at the same time meet the ship’s basic voice and data communication needs. And that gave Inmarsat, with the only GMDSS-approved satellite system, a virtual monopoly. Now ships are sending more data back and forth, long-distance voice communication is becoming an everyday necessity rather than an occasional luxury, and the communication needs have outgrown the basic GMDSS system. Most vessels now need at least one additional non-GMDSS satellite communications system, so although Inmarsat retains its GMDSS monopoly, at least for the present, the market is wide open.

We see offerings based on not just the Inmarsat, but Iridium, VSAT, and – with details of a new maritime broadband system announced just after our feature was finalised – Thuraya platforms. All are different in concept and capability, all have their advantages and disadvantages, which, as we see from the November 2010 feature, the protagonists are anxious to promote.

The great thing is that there is now a real, and wide, choice available. Not just between a few manufacturers offering very similar products for the same system, as it was a few years ago, but a variety of different systems too.