On Saturday our team of maritime connectivity experts raised their glasses to mark The Day of the Seafarer. They know from speaking with our maritime connectivity customers, and tracking the voyages of their ships, how difficult – and lonely - life can sometimes be at sea.
It’s something we discussed in a piece we wrote for Digital Ship magazine titled “Netting the full rewards of ship digitalisation means putting humans back into the picture”. You can read the full piece on page 26 of the online magazine which can be found here.
Meanwhile this article on the Marine Traffic blog ”Where would we be without you?” says that The Day of the Seafarer is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the challenges of a life at sea and that we should:
“acknowledge the sacrifices seafarers make to enable the 21st century-lifestyles to which so many parts of the world are accustomed” and
“bring to the fore the many challenges and hardships that (commercial sailors) often face and in doing so bring about change”.
According to the article “earlier this month, amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention – widely known as the ‘seafarers’ bill of rights’ – were adopted, and will enter into force by December 2024”.
The amendments shockingly include items such as access to clean, free-of-charge drinking water and medical care ashore – as well as making internet access available to crew although (again shockingly) there is no requirement for this to be free of charge.
Of course, being able to communicate with family and friends during a voyage improves life for sailors. One sailor commented that “sometimes when we reach port you find that sim cards are expensive.”
(As well as maritime connectivity, cost-effective on-land global connectivity is something that Telecom26 can also help with.)
Telecom26, maritime connectivity, nearshore connectivity and private networks at sea
As a global maritime connectivity operator, Telecom26 provides connectivity across the world using our global maritime connectivity service.
We offer bespoke maritime and marine communications services that integrate inbound and outbound roaming, with full support of data services. Fortunately, the maritime connectivity services provided by Telecom26 that enable crews to communicate with their loved ones, watch Netflix, do their banking online etc use the same infrastructure necessary to support the digital transformation of operations on-board including IoT.
Our maritime connectivity services include:
- A full Cellular At Sea service for vessels of all sizes
- A Nearshore Connectivity Service - Our recent blog “Nearshore Connectivity - perfect for vessels up to 30km off the coast” discusses how most ships and vessels spend the majority (up to 60%) of their time in port or in coastal waters. They are therefore within range of land-based cellular networks which can provide coverage to vessels as far out as 30km. So, instead of relying on costly satellite for data or connectivity, vessels – and the people on-board - can use these cellular networks.
- A Maritime IoT Service including private networks on-board vessels, oil rigs and platforms – and supply chain tracking
At the heart of our maritime connectivity services are our Global eSIM and physical SIM cards. These provide data to all onboard devices via cellular data links. By onboard devices we mean Wi-Fi routers, container sensors, IoT networks, any system process that needs to connect to the internet, to a remote server or monitor – as well as the phones and devices of the crew.
Our Global eSIM and physical SIMs can access most terrestrial and maritime networks. Not all networks are equally available – some offer better coverage in some locations than others. And, every country has its own range of terrestrial network operators. This means that, as a vessel moves along the coast, different networks may be available.
For vessel owners,who care about the welfare of their crew, and understand that being able to communicate with the outside world during a voyage improves the quality of life of their team, there are a few different options to provide connectivity to their crews:
- Supply Telecom26 Global eSIM cards for sailors to insert in their personal devices. The fleet owner could pick up the cost of these or charge a fixed rate. Either way it would work out cheaper for the sailors than roaming on random networks as they travel.
- Use Telecom26 routers to create a private on-board LAN/Wi-Fi network which the crew can access.
Discussing your maritime connectivity requirements
If you’d like to arrange a call to discuss how our maritime connectivity and maritime cellular communications services can connect the people and devices on-board your vessels as they travel around the world then please get in touch.
Later in the year we will be attending these major international maritime trade fairs:
SMM
6-9 September
Hamburg, Germany
https://www.smm-hamburg.com/en/
Mets Trade
15- 17 November
Amsterdam
https://www.metstrade.com/
If you, or one of your team, will be at either show and would like to discuss our maritime connectivity and maritime cellular communications services in-person then please get in touch so we can arrange a time to meet.
