Ferry Business - Autumn/Winter 2020

CONNECTI V IT Y Connecting the fleet Peter Broadhurst explains why the ability to increase or adapt capacity is a powerful tool in a connectivity market where customers have become accustomed to inflexibility C onnectivity is a constant challenge for ferry operators as they address the need to balance demand from operations with the passenger side of their business. Shipowners are accustomed to having to buy costly packages to have large bandwidth available at peak times, while seeing their investment wasted during low-use periods. As a company that owns satellites and is thus able to offer service flexibility that is out of reach for many of its competitors, Inmarsat is well placed to lead much- needed changes in this environment. Customers in the ferry sector can quickly realise return on investment benefits from products like Fleet Xpress and Fleet Hotspot, both of which allow the shipowner to stay in control of how bandwidth is utilised onboard. “Traditionally, ferry connectivity has been seen as a hospitality service, not owned by the vessel,” says Peter Broadhurst, senior vice president of yachting and passenger for Inmarsat. “When it comes to passenger connectivity, it is about setting the expectation and meeting it – but often, wi-fi on ferries is not managed.” Broadhurst says portals can be used to meet the needs of all users, with charges for extra bandwidth. “With us, you only buy the service you need and can add on extras. So the base price point is the right price point.” Inmarsat controls everything from the satellite onwards – so as a single service provider can offer much greater flexibility to operators than they are accustomed to and can also foresee their future needs. The company holds impressive ‘space tonnage’: four Global Xpress (GX) satellites in operation, plus GX5 in service before year-end, two GX6 units scheduled and GX7, GX8, GX9 and two GX10s on the way. Each has a lifespan of between 15 and 20 years. “We have got the big picture as to what we need for the future and it’s a key selling point,” says Broadhurst Inmarsat’s wealth of resources in the sky means it can encourage ferry operators to run different sides of their business through separate pipes, thus boosting available bandwidth and safeguarding essential services. “We can add second or third pipes to services and guarantee services,” Broadhurst says. Generous bandwidth availability allows operators to capture massive amounts of data covering what is happening onboard and send it ashore – from how many burgers passengers consume to how much paint has been purchased for refurbishment. “This enables operators to see their ROI,” says Broadhurst. “It’s about small efficiencies, which are especially important for a ferry operator. “We control the satellite network, ground infrastructure and architecture of the service we offer. It allows us to tailor services to a client’s needs. This includes the amount of data or whether they want timed solutions that they will only use a couple of hours a day. “We also offer geo-scoping, where the service only works in a certain area. With Fleet Xpress, as part of the service you get highly resilient L-band included. So, for example, if a catastrophic wave wipes out your antennas, you have a backup service for the ship’s operational safety. We have had ships on secondary communications for six months at no additional charge and we are happy to provide that level of service.” Inmarsat guarantees backup capacity with all of its solutions. “In an emergency scenario, passenger traffic would probably be stopped to protect operations and billing. Billing needs to be a separate pipe, one that will fall over to the backup service, so you’ve got resilience.” Ferry operations benefit from the Fleet Data service, which can pull data from the ship’s Voyage Data Recorder or other systems and put it in the cloud. Previously, says Broadhurst, when an operator wanted to track data and assets, “they had to get on the ship each time. We put it all in the cloud, so there is no need to go on the ship. We can do it once and then share it.” Some companies that work with ferry operators are accustomed to taking data direct from the ship – for example, from the engine. Broadhurst says that there have been no problems convincing these companies of the advantages of taking it from the cloud instead. “There is no reason they can’t have dedicated bandwidth through a service we call Fleet Connect, or a pipe going into the cloud and then interface with applications from the specialists. Once in the cloud, they can have different dashboards if they want. They can use all the data in different ways.” Broadhurst believes the rapid shift in requirements driven by the Covid-19 crisis has drawn attention to an underlying weakness in many operators’ investment strategies. To address this, Inmarsat is committed to providing next-generation connectivity for operators, with Broadhurst drawing attention to the Fleet Hotspot developed via Fleet Xpress as exemplary. “We are solving a lot of problems by facilitating a digital revolution,” he says. If any business can say that with confidence, it’s Inmarsat. Having been in operation for four decades, the company has outlived many of its competitors. “For a technology company to be 40 years old is unusual,” says Broadhurst. “We believe that Inmarsat has got a strong future.” CFR “We have got the big picture as to what we need for the future” Inmarsat has its own satellites so can offer service flexibility that is out of reach for many other providers 3 4 3 5