Teekay Shipping Signs Deal as International Launch Customer for Connexion by Boeing Maritime Service

A radome containing the Connexion by Boeing Maritime Service antenna is shown above the Teekay Shipping corporate flag. (Boeing photo)

LONDON, June 16, 2005/Satnews Daily/ — Teekay Shipping Corp. (NYSE: TK) and Connexion by Boeing, a business unit of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), announced on Wednesday the signing of an agreement that makes Teekay the international launch customer for the Connexion by Boeing Maritime Service.

The maritime service allows vessels in mid-ocean transit to experience global high-speed communications at affordable rates. Boeing said maritime operators will be able to benefit from the same high-speed connectivity service that is revolutionizing the way travelers and airlines communicate in-flight at 30-thousand feet.

The agreement calls for the high-speed communications service to be fitted on 50 of Teekay's vessels, with an option to install on an additional 40. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed. The service went through service trial last year.

The service will provide data rates up to 256 kbps from the vessel to the satellite and data rates up to 5 mbps from the satellite to the vessel. The high data rate enables multiple, simultaneous users to access the Internet, corporate intranet, and e-mail, get the news, weather or destination information via a simple portal interface.

“Teekay shares our vision of a high-speed connectivity solution that provides superior economics, while improving ship-to-shore communications for operators. This tool opens up the maritime market to new possibilities and improved communications flexibility," said Laurette Koellner, president of Connexion by Boeing.