The Houston Bridge container ship. Photo: K Line.

[Via Satellite 10-04-2016] Singtel has installed Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service on K Line Ship Management Singapore’s 9,600 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) capacity container ship, Houston Bridge. The installation is one of Asia’s first commercial implementations of the service.

K Line is using Fleet Xpress to apply big data analysis for operational efficiencies by monitoring engine performance and fleet management. The service will also provide ship-to-shore internet connectivity to support crew welfare.

Singtel, one of Inmarsat’s largest Fleet Xpress partners, migrated the vessel’s Ku-band satellite internet service to Inmarsat’s Ka- and L-band service. The installation involved changing the vessel’s antenna hardware and reconfiguring its on-board network without affecting day-to-day operations.

“Houston Bridge is physical proof that mainstream shipping has started the transition to high speed continuous connectivity,” said Gerbrand Schalkwijk, chief sales officer at Inmarsat Maritime.