Viasat subsidiary, Inmarsat Maritime, is to upgrade Mitsui OSK Lines’ (MOL) satellite supply to its fleet, including almost 100 LNGCs.
The vessels will be upgraded from the Fleet Xpress (FX) service to Inmarsat’s NexusWave.
This transition to NexusWave will allow MOL to benefit from Inmarsat’s fully managed bonded connectivity service and accelerate the digitalisation strategy of the giant Japanese shipping company, the satcoms giant said.
Local Inmarsat partner JSAT MOBILE Communications will be responsible for implementing and supporting the upgrades on board the vessels.
In response to evolving operational and crew connectivity needs, MOL required multi-layered satcoms services to support the transformation of its vessels into floating offices and homes.
By combining multiple network underlays in one bonded connection, Inmarsat NexusWave delivers the speeds, reliability, unlimited data, and global coverage to support this objective, with cyber-security, 24/7 technical support, and fully transparent costs, to ensure complete peace of mind, the satellite service supplier claimed.
Junichi Yoshiyama, MOL’s Chief Digital & Information Officer, said: “Our digitalised and connected ships are becoming floating operations centres and homes for our crew, and Inmarsat’s NexusWave will help keep them connected to high-speed internet and support our on board digitalisation strategy.”
Ben Palmer, President, Inmarsat Maritime, added: “We are proud to continue our partnership with MOL and to deliver NexusWave as an accelerator of maritime digitalisation and, by extension, an enabler of the floating office and floating home.
“Forward-thinking operators like MOL are drawn to the solution for its performance, robust capabilities, and the confidence that comes from working with a reliable maritime connectivity partner,” he said.
Katsuaki Koike, JSAT MOBILE Communications CEO, commented: “MOL, JSAT, and Inmarsat have been long-term partners, and this collaboration further underscores our commitment to providing cutting-edge connectivity solutions.
“We are dedicated to supporting MOL’s digital transformation journey and look forward to ensuring seamless and reliable installations across MOL vessels,” he said.
In recent operational tests, NexusWave achieved download speeds of up to 330–340 Mbps, upload speeds of up to 70–80 Mbps, with average network availability exceeding 99.9%.
As part of Inmarsat’s commitment to continuous improvement, the forthcoming integration of the ultra-high capacity, high-speed ViaSat-3 Ka-band network will increase NexusWave’s aggregated connectivity speeds even further, the company said.
