GE Satcom announced the commercial launch of its satellite-based communications service that is designed to support a range of value-added services for merchant vessel operators.

According to GE, the project was originally developed and co-piloted along with a Hamburg-based German fleet operator who contributed by specifying the needs of commercial shipping and its crew which helped design the solution.

A six month pilot was first carried out on board a large container vessel operating between ports in Asia, Africa and Europe. The successful acceptance of the service has encouraged GE Satcom to commercially launch the service to 14 more ships.

GE Satcom’s “Satlynx Maritime” solution offers a sophisticated platform for delivering an innovative triple-play service The solution incorporates telephone, Internet access and a range of TV content including daily news, sports reports and magazine shows that can be multiplexed into any cabin, technical or recreation room.

Also the cost effective, flat-rate service operates on the iDirect Evolution platform. Using Ku-band as the primary link, the service can automatically switch to an L-Band link via Inmarsat (News - Alert) or Iridium as a back-up solution, explained GE Satcom sources.

In a release Ronny Svang, president and CEO of GE Satcom said, “The always-on connectivity we provide means the service will be available 24/7 over most commercial shipping lanes around the world, enabling the fleet owners and crew to constantly optimize the cost of communications for ship operation and extended plug & play Internet, voice and TV services.”

Captain G. Falk Bethke, chief superintendant of Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, a maritime customer of GE Satcom, said that GE Satcom was keen on serving customer needs optimally. The simple retrofit solution offers a scalable platform on which effective fleet management applications can be built, including location tracking, eco-routing, and performance monitoring to reduce operational costs for both new builds and existing ships.

“The maritime sector is extremely competitive and it’s vital to have the best crew for our fleet. The better we’re able to look after our crew, the easier it is to attract and retain the top people. What GE Satcom has done is bring affordability to first-class crew welfare services,” added Bethke.

GE Satcom specializes in providing advanced satellite communication solutions on a multi-regional scale. GE Satcom can access more than 30 satellites besides owning two state-of-the-art teleport centers in Germany and Switzerland.

The company has deployed around 10,000 VSAT sites in over 130 countries, providing turnkey satellite network solutions directly to enterprises, maritime operators, NGOs and government entities. It provides them reliable access to the Internet, telephony, large data transmission and TV content applications from dispersed locations.