It is informed that Iridium Communications Inc.’s Iridium OpenPort(R) marine satellite system is winning an enthusiastic reception from commercial fishing fleets around the world. FV Aart Maaskant (UK95), which was one of the first Dutch commercial fishing vessels to be fitted with Iridium OpenPort. Gannexion BV, an Iridium service partner, installed the Iridium high-bandwidth terminal to replace the existing satcom system on the 42.36-meter beam trawler, which operates in the North Sea.
According to Jan de Boer, the vessel’s owner and captain, Iridium OpenPort is always online. It sends e-mails faster in comparison to the satcom system which is used normally, and at the same time it gives the possibility to download the latest news to stay up to date with what is happening in the world. He also said that Iridium OpenPort equipment cost and airtime charges are substantially lower than those of other satcom systems we considered. The crew is using the free e-mail service offered by Gannexion BV to send and receive messages at sea. The e-mail software also permits them to access Websites to download information on an adjustable schedule.
Patrick Albers, service engineer, Gannexion BV, told that the captain sets the Iridium OpenPort terminal to automatically receive the weather forecast twice a day. He added that this way they don’t need an extra subscription with a third party who will charge them for sending the weather forecast. Samherji HF, a major Icelandic seafood company with vessels operating around the world, has installed Iridium OpenPort on two of its trawlers under a service contract with Siminn and AST.
Iridium OpenPort provides a unique value proposition for commercial fishing operators, with three independent phone circuits and a separate high-speed data port that can be provisioned for data rates from 9.6 to 128 kbps with IP-based connectivity,” said Greg Ewert, executive vice president, global distribution channels, Iridium.
