Ålesund company Ava Ocean is one of many maritime enterprises whose operations stand to benefit from Inmarsat’s plans to expand its Arctic coverage.
With demand increasing for high-quality connectivity in remote regions, GX10A and 10B will become the world’s first highly elliptical orbit (HEO) payloads exclusively serving the Arctic Circle, making Inmarsat the only provider offering dedicated mobile-broadband communications in the high north. The multi-beam, high-throughput HEO payloads will ensure continuous coverage and offer the ability to direct capacity in real time, keeping fisheries and other maritime companies connected in some of the hardest-to-reach locations on Earth.
Formerly Tau Tech, Ava Ocean signed up to Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress to facilitate its sustainable scallop harvesting in the Barents Sea. The traditional dredging method of harvesting scallops was banned by Norwegian authorities in the early 1990s due to its damaging effects on marine ecosystems, but Ava Ocean’s pioneering approach represents a viable alternative. By facilitating the identification, selection, and sorting of shells without destroying surrounding flora and fauna, the company aims to revive scallop harvesting on a commercial scale.
A key element is the Fleet Xpress Enhanced offering that brings together the best of Inmarsat’s connectivity solutions to help fishing companies harness the full power of a connected maritime ecosystem and making it the connectivity service of choice for fisheries operating in isolated locations.
Inmarsat’s support of Ava Ocean extends beyond the provision of satellite communications, with Fleet Xpress allowing the company to digitalise and future-proof its operations in the long term.
Fleet Xpress provides value-added services such as Fleet Hotspot, Fleet Data, and others, delivered via a secure, dedicated network with no impact on mission-critical bandwidth. Users can upgrade their plans easily to facilitate a flexible, step-by-step approach to digitalisation, adopting applications at a pace that suits them.
Fleet Hotspot gives crew access to high-speed connectivity to enjoy communication and entertainment services on their own devices, improving onboard welfare and thereby supporting the retention and recruitment of seafarers.
Fleet Data is an end-to-end IoT platform for data collection, transfer, storage and analysis to improve efficiency, sustainability, safety and compliance.Powered by Inmarsat’s Ka-band Global Xpress network, Fleet Xpress keeps fishing vessels connected in the world’s most isolated waters – and allows owners to seize the many and varied opportunities of digitalisation to future-proof their operations.
