Tank Railway cars. Photo: Vilseskogen (Flickr)

[Via Satellite 10-26-2015] Globalstar subsidiary Globalstar Europe Satellite Services, along with wireless partner Ovinto, are equipping Sabic’s European fleet of 500 rail tank cars with Ovinto Sat Machine-to-Machine (M2M) satellite-based tracking and monitoring technology.

Sabic uses its European fleet of rail tank cars to transport chemicals, and plans to use the ATEX Ovinto Sat M2M asset tracking solution to boost safety in the production and transport of chemicals. Additionally, the new technology is helping Sabic optimize its supply chain operations and enhance partner relationships.

Ovinto Sat uses Globalstar’s low power STX3 chipset, which has battery life that last up to eight years. The device enables real-time tracking so Sabic can know the location of a rail tank car and if it has been loaded, unloaded, or is ready to be redeployed.

“Sabic is a major provider of petrochemicals with customers who use our chemicals and plastics for many different applications. One of the transportation means we use is our fleet of rail tank cars. Keeping track of a large fleet of these cars, dispersed all over Europe, is crucial,” said Judith Kleinen, category manager, land transport and spot shipping supply chain, chemicals at Sabic. “Our rail tank cars contain all sorts of materials, it is absolutely critical that we have the ability to track and monitor the status of the rail tank cars and their contents at all times.”