Press release
Inmarsat activates 2,000th FleetBroadband terminal
29-04-2009 - Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has announced that it has activated more than 2,000 FleetBroadband terminals. The achievement comes less than 18 months after the service was launched, making FleetBroadband Inmarsat's fastest growing maritime service.
The milestone was reached with the installation of the voice and broadband data service on the new-build Samur River. Currently in construction at the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard, it will be the sixth in the New Armada series of tankers owned by the Palmali Shipping group. The 140-metre 7,000 DWT oil tanker has been fitted with a FleetBroadband 250 terminal, with service provided by Inmarsat distribution partner MVS.
"Palmali Shipping is committed to providing a professional ship management service in a competent and cost-effective manner, in order to meet the requirements of our customers," said Yuri Isupov, Vice President at Palmali Shipping. "FleetBroadband delivers essential communications to support these corporate objectives, and provides enhanced connectivity to help us improve our operational efficiency. This is the sixth FleetBroadband terminal we have installed. We selected the service because of the size of the equipment, the data speeds achievable, and because it is highly cost-effective."
Piers Cunningham, Maritime Business Director at Inmarsat, said: "The installation of the 2,000th FleetBroadband on Palmali's Samur River is an excellent example of how the service is being used by the maritime industry. This forward-thinking company has selected FleetBroadband because it delivers real business benefits. While we are delighted with the rate of FleetBroadband adoption across the industry, with the service being deployed on vessels of all types and sizes, we are not surprised: there is no other single satcoms solution that can promise the same speeds, global coverage and reliability as FleetBroadband".
FleetBroadband offers standard IP connectivity at up to 432kbps, guaranteed or 'streaming' IP connectivity at up to 256kbps, and voice telephony at landline quality.
