7 January 2013  

Marlink has completed a series of new VSAT installations aboard De Poli Tankers BV vessels. The recent communications upgrade project was carried out in close co-operation with Maritime Performances BV and started with the installation of Marlink WaveCall Ku-band VSAT services aboard the chemical tanker Miro D.

Based near Rotterdam, De Poli Tankers BV is the commercial operator of a fleet of six sophisticated IMO 2 chemical tankers, two LPG tankers and one Ice classed 1A chemical/ethylene tanker. Vessel management is the responsibility of Maritime Performances BV, De Poli's in-house affiliate. Marlink and Maritime Performances BV have worked together for over three years, starting initially with Inmarsat FleetBroadband services, and this year on the integration of WaveCall standardised Ku-band VSAT on De Poli Tankers BV vessels.

The Miro D VSAT installation, which took place in Riga, Latvia, was carried out under Marlink’s new 24 hour VSAT installation commitment. With a 1 metre Ku-band antenna, iDirect modem, VoIP adapter, Ethernet switch, antenna and ACU, and XChange, the Miro D WaveCall installation is identical to the systems subsequently installed on five other De Poli Tankers vessels in the upgrade project.

Marlink’s bundled solution was deployed to over 100 vessels globally in 2012. The solution is based on a combination of VSAT and MSS connectivity services and XChange, the integrated solutions platform, which provides automatic connectivity switching to keep full control of communication usage, either on board or from shore. This enables reliable global coverage and cost-efficiencies through least-cost routing, regardless of vessel type or location.

XChange is a key part of the bundle provided as it enables seamless integration of the communication suite as well as full management of all satellite communication services on board.

According to Ardi vd Wagt, IT specialist at Maritime Performances BV, it is important to manage daily operation and ensure a balance between crew welfare and business efficiency: “We have good control of the available connectivity. We can manage the Internet access based on time slots for the crew, which means they are able to focus on the job at hand but have freedom to communicate when off duty, which is the important part of ensuring they are happy on board. Vizada XChange helps us to manage the connectivity in this way, especially with the new update which allows us to manage access during specific hours or create allocated time slots for users,” explains Wagdt.