Thuraya VSAT+ Empowers Smart Shipping and Digitalization
VSAT+, the ground-breaking maritime satellite service from Thuraya, will be unveiled in Europe at this year’s Nor-Shipping conference and exhibition event in Oslo, three months after its commercial launch at the annual Thuraya partner conference in Dubai.
With digitalization now a major driver of change in the maritime sector, Thuraya VSAT+ is the ideal satellite service to help fleet operators increase operational efficiency, gain market advantage and meet growing demand for monitoring and compliance.
Thuraya VSAT+ seamlessly integrates the high-bandwidth speeds of Ku-Band and reliability of L-Band with affordable global coverage and high levels of security, resilience and flexibility. As the flagship of Thuraya’s progressive maritime vision, it has been designed to help maritime customers achieve their goals and overcome the challenges of today’s market.
Nadeem Khan, Director of Maritime M2M & IoT at Thuraya, said: “As demand for data increases exponentially, satellite communication is the only realistic option for ship-to-shore and inter-ship communication. That is why we designed VSAT+ to offer optimum flexibility and affordability. We believe it can help deliver significant savings for fleet operators – perhaps as much as 20-40 percent of operating costs through intelligent fleet management.”
VSAT+ gives Thuraya a unique proposition in the Scandinavian and wider European markets, where it has maintained a strong maritime presence since 2001. The VSAT+ coverage in Europe, and globally, is enabled by the Panasonic global mobility network. Thuraya accesses the network through its partnership with Panasonic subsidiary ITC Global.
Europe provides a great opportunity for growth to Thuraya and its partners. As global Master Distributor for VSAT+, IEC Telecom will be central to service delivery in Europe and Scandinavia. Awarded Best Maritime Thuraya Service Partner in 2018, IEC Telecom will offer a range of value-added services and help Thuraya diversify its portfolio in the region.
Alf Stian Mauritz, VP - Business Development IEC Telecom Group and Managing Director of IEC Telecom Norway, said: “Sustainability of the maritime industry is one of the key challenges for Europe. Next year the IMO2020 rules on clean fuel will come into effect imposing dramatic reductions in carbon emissions by 2030. Satcom technologies enable vessel owners to reduce their carbon footprint by optimizing operational efficiency of their fleets. VSAT+ can play an important role in the ongoing transformation of the maritime sector, enabling on board smart applications for remote control and maintenance.”
Analysis of data from ships and fleet operations can provide insights into where and how efficiencies and savings could be made. Operators who fall behind in the race to gather and utilize their data in this way risk losing data through a single integrated, flexible and affordable service.
Data acquisition and the rapid growth of digitalization augment online risk from cyber criminals. However, Thuraya helps users mitigate this threat by offering comprehensive cyber security packages through its VSAT+ partner network.