Photo: Inmarsat

Inmarsat revealed Thursday that it was awarded a new contract with Cobham Satcom to connect 732 fishing vessels in the Maldives to Inmarsat’s Fleet One maritime broadband services. The five-year contract includes the supply and maintenance of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) to include Fleet One satellite communications over L-band from Inmarsat, airtime and a secure communications server via Integrated Monitoring (IM), and SAILOR antennas from Cobham Satcom installed by Maldives-based Ooredoo.

This contract follows trials of Fleet One services and SAILOR Fleet One terminals from Cobham aboard 15 boats, confirming that performance meets specifications for a new VMS under the Maldives’ Sustainable Fisheries Resources Development Project to improve Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance in fisheries sector. The VMS project, agreed between  Ooredoo and the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, is funded by the World Bank.

Eric Griffin, VP of offshore and fishing, Inmarsat Maritime said: “This is another significant government-level endorsement of Fleet One’s reliability as a vessel monitoring system platform that will also deliver extensive benefits for welfare and operational efficiency in a price-sensitive market. The platform can also provide safety add-ons such as weather monitoring and I expect word of mouth to play a significant role where data service uptake is concerned. Instant messaging will initially drive greater use as crew that are out of range of terrestrial networks stay in touch with friends and family or exchange information on fishing stocks.”