Global Seatrade, a unit of the Hartman Marine Group, has awarded Globecomm Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: GCOM) a contract for unified maritime communications. Services will be provided by Mach6, a unit of Globecomm Maritime, using its global se@FLEX VSAT platform, which provides automatic roaming between Ku-band satellite beams on a global basis at a flat rate. The contract was awarded in October. Global Seatrade provides transport for cargo, such as offshore wind turbines, that requires specialized handling aboard the company’s heavy-lift vessels. Growing demand for its services led Global Seatrade to seek a unified communications platform to provide reliable broadband connectivity for its fleet.

Part of the Global Seatrade heavy-lift fleet, the coaster Atlantic is being outfitted with a se@FLEX communications platform from Globecomm Maritime.

Globecomm Maritime’s implementation for Global Seatrade includes QOS systems to prioritize mission-critical traffic, ensuring that vessel management, navigation and safety applications get priority over crew welfare communications. Broadband also supports VOIP, which provides significantly lower costs than legacy maritime voice solutions. With se@FLEX, ship owners gain all of the tools needed to ensure global coverage, seamless service and full transparency of costs and service levels. It is a VSAT-based service, with a Committed Information Rate (CIR) guarantee that delivers high performance at a fixed cost. With seaFLEX, automatic switching technology maintains the VSAT link as vessels move between satellite beams. The same technology detects loss of VSAT availability and auto-switches service to L-band backup on demand, while at the same time engaging sophisticated QOS systems that compress and prioritize traffic to keep costs under control.