Satnews Daily
September 9th, 2014

Marlink + Scorpio Ship Management—WaveCall Gets The Nod (SATCOM)


[SatNews] Scorpio Ship Management (SSM) has selected Marlink’s WaveCall VSAT services for 75 newbuild tankers and bulkers to be delivered throughout 2015 and 2016.

Following a separate contract in 2013 to provide VSAT services for 46 newbuildings and the upgrading of 27 existing vessels, this new contract adds into a total of 148 SSM managed vessels that will operate using WaveCall Plus services. Marlink was selected for the original 46 newbuildings and existing fleet upgrade in a competitive bidding process. Based on 512kbps uplink and 256kbps downlink capabilities of WaveLink, SSM has selected the same service parameters for its 75 new vessels. WaveCall is the first maritime innovation from the AuroraGlobal multi-band portfolio, providing Scorpio with the most stable connectivity and future proof service, also offering HTS satellite services when available.

Marlink’s Quality of Service and Support is matched by a high performing IT organization in SSM. Marlink’s service provides the bandwidth that SSM IT staff need to remotely manage SSM vessels from shore, ensuring their ability to increase safety and efficiency across the entire fleet. In addition WaveCall Plus will enhance the free Internet services provided to the crew on SSM managed vessels by adding more bandwidth for crew to use. Delivery of WaveCall VSAT for the first 46 SSM newbuild vessels is proceeding as planned, with 30 installations already completed and ready for service as of end of August.

“Quality of Service has been the most important factor in SSM selecting WaveCall,” said Marlink Area Sales Manager Alain Laplace-Toulouse. “We have been able to prove in the field that guaranteed data rate is far more important in actually getting data to a vessel than advertised maximum speeds. Our quality of service is backed up by our support offering. Not only can we act fast through our Global Field Service Alliance anywhere in the world, but in addition SSM has a dedicated manager at Marlink to monitor services daily, in order to take pro-active action if needed.”

Founded in 1971, SSM is an integrated ship management company located in Monaco with affiliates in Mumbai and Houston. More information is available at http://www.scorpio.mc/

For more information, please visit the Marlink infosite at http://www.marlink.com/