Offshore staff

LONDON Inmarsat is extending its three-in-one Fleet LTE coverage for offshore service vessels to the Gulf of Mexico.

This follows successful trials at the start of this year in the North Sea with ship/crew management company V.Ships Offshore, based in Aberdeen, and Inmarsat service provider One Net.

The program delivered hybrid connectivity via 4G cellular and satellite coverage on VSAT Ka-band and L-band.

Inmarsats new Gulf of Mexico coverage is additional to an existing agreement with subsea fiber and offshore LTE network operator, Tampnet, following the launch of the Fleet LTE North Sea service last November.

According to Scott Bryce, vessel manager at V.Ships Offshore, the automatic and seamless switching between networks, proven during the North Sea trials, helped remove the risk of any disconnection in service that would normally affect the companys day-to-day activities.

The service plan flexibility has also given us the ability to move up and down plans when needed, to support our changing bandwidth demands, and there are no hidden admin fees to worry about.

The Fleet LTE service expansion means users in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico can now access high-speed 4G, Fleet Xpress maritime VSAT Ka-band and continuous L-band connectivity within a single, fully managed hybrid package, Inmarsat added.

Inmarsat Fleet LTE is available in various service bands with data speeds of up to 40 Mbps and a round-trip delay of around 35-40ms. When LTE is not available, services switch automatically to Ka-band Fleet Xpress information rates, with continuous back-up from L-band FleetBroadband.

10/07/2020

Excerpt from:

Inmarsat offshore comms service extended to the Gulf of Mexico - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine