Recent Sealink network expansion supports Marlink and partners to meet growing demand for high-bandwidth VSAT services on fishing vessels.

Marlink has boosted satellite capacity in the Indian Ocean and around the Falkland Islands with specific focus on delivering reliable, high bandwidth VSAT services to commercial fishing vessels. The new capacity is already enabling improved vessel and fleet operations and providing greater access to voice calling and Internet for crews on Spanish tuna vessels in the Indian Ocean serviced by NAUTICAL, while the extra bandwidth around the Falkland Islands has been put in place to meet a predicted spike in demand as more companies look for new fishing grounds.

“Together with Marlink we offer a diverse portfolio of cutting-edge satcom technologies including MSS solutions to over 600 vessels and VSAT for more than 70 vessels. At the same time, we are committed to ensuring that the infrastructure we provide to our fishing customers is ready for the future,” said Eric Friedrich, SATCOM Director, NAUTICAL. “The new capacity on the VSAT network from Marlink is vital to meet the growing demand for bandwidth from the tuna fleets operating in the Indian Ocean, while more capacity around the Falkland Islands will help Spanish fishing companies to operate even further afield.”

“Fishing has its own set of unique challenges. Vessels can go to sea for weeks, even months at a time and the environment can be extremely hazardous, making communication for operational performance and the crew’s welfare vital,” said Tore Morten Olsen, President Maritime, Marlink. “The recent network expansion in key fishing regions is improving life aboard, while reflecting that Marlink can provide as much value to our service provider partners as NAUTICAL, developing solutions for customers in different maritime verticals”.

A key component of Marlink VSAT services for fishing vessels on the Sealink network, their own VSAT service, is the integration of Marlink’s centralised IT and communications management system, XChange. Ensuring skippers and crew can focus on safety and catch performance at sea, XChange enables trouble-free service management in addition to easy administration of crew access and accounts, automatic switching between the primary VSAT service and secondary L-band service, crew welfare services such as XChange Media and Telemed, and remote control and maintenance capabilities enabled by the unique Universal Remote Access service. For more information about our VSAT solutions: comunicaciones@nautical.es.