Inmarsat has signed a five-year contract with Hapag-Lloyd to migrate all ships to a new 'connected ship' satellite system directly managed by the shipping line to services enabled for Fleet Xpress.

Hapag-Lloyd, the sixth largest container shipping operator in the world by TEU capacity, will transition all existing ships that it manages in-house from Inmarsat FleetBroadband services to Fleet Xpress to facilitate ‘connected ship’ applications.

Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communications services, launched Fleet Xpress in in 2016. 

The service improves vessel efficiency, crew welfare and safety, is available from Inmarsat on a global scale, delivering high levels of reliable high-speed broadband connectivity. 

The agreement also covers five 10,500 TEU vessels as latest new builds.

Hapag-Lloyd has been an Inmarsat customer for more than a decade, and the transition commitment to Fleet Xpress coincides with the expiry of a service contract based on FleetBroadband with VSAT back-up via Ku-band.

The new agreement reflects the ship owner’s requirement for a fully managed migration to high-speed broadband and support it can trust from a single service provider.

Jens Habler, Head of Hapag-Lloyd IT- Operations Management, said: “IT integration of our fleet has grown rapidly and will further develop. As a consequence Hapag-Lloyd has to ensure that the ship-to-shore connectivity not only supports the increasing demand, but is also future proof."

The agreement also stipulates redundant service provision that would be scalable for any future fleet growth. The deal includes terminals from both Inmarsat approved manufactures Intellian and Cobham SATCOM.

Gerbrand Schalkwijk, Chief Sales Officer, Inmarsat Maritime, added: “Hapag-Lloyd is recognised as one of shipping’s most advanced owners when it comes to IT and ship-shore connectivity, and for the close attention it pays in addition to keeping its crews connected. We look forward to working with the owner’s team to realise the potential of the fully redundant Fleet Xpress service within the Hapag-Lloyd office, vessel and service organisation.”

Thales, a leading provider of satellite communications, recently announced that it was entering the maritime communications market with newly available satellite communications solution to provide commercial maritime vessels with a global broadband connectivity solution for the entire maritime ecosystem.

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