Marlink Expands VSAT Services to Transpetrol Tanker Fleet

Marlink has been awarded a contract renewal to expand its Sealink VSAT service to international ship owner Transpetrol. The renewal secures access to Marlink’s global network and specially-chosen business critical VSAT solutions for the entire tanker fleet and two planned new buildings due for delivery within 18 months.

Operating a sophisticated and diverse fleet from medium range tankers to Aframax and Very Large Gas Carriers on global routes, Transpetrol’s need for always available data and voice communication for operations and crew welfare is addressed by a standardized and cost-effective solution integrating Global Ku-band VSAT, with L-band back-up.

Transpetrol will extract more value from Marlink VSAT through an increased Committed Information Rate (CIR) and Maximum Information Rate (MIR), enabling it to use new digital applications and provide more access for crew. Its business and operations will be further protected from cyber-attack through Marlink’s highly resilient network and the deployment of SkyFile Anti-Virus, now part of Marlink’s extensive Cyber Guard portfolio, on board each ship.

“With more digital applications becoming essential to the efficiency of our business, reliable connectivity at sea is more important now than it ever was. It’s vital that we partner with a provider that can guarantee always available service levels regardless of where our ships are. Based on our experience as a customer since 2011, we’re very confident that Marlink is that partner,” said Eirik Sanderlien, Fleet Manager, Transpetrol.

Essential to running Transpetrol’s feature-rich solution is the XChange centralised communications management platform, which offers a streamlined and integrated system enabling crew communications management, seamless switching between satellites, VSAT or L-band carriers, as well as hosting Transpetrol’s chosen value added services. These include XChange Cloud, a new secure and scalable platform for the optimised transfer and synchronisation of files between ship and shore, and vice versa.

Alongside SkyFile Mail and access to Portal 360, XChange Universal Remote Access (URA), which allows shore staff to access on board networks for IT maintenance and troubleshooting, is included for Transpetrol. Additionally, the Data Manager solution provides powerful features including web compression and filtering, data consumption monitoring and an enhanced firewall, all contributing to a more secure and efficient use of connectivity on Transpetrol vessels.

“Transpetrol is a great example of how our services have evolved over time to follow customer needs. By providing a future-proof solution at the start of our relationship, we have been able to increase their vessel’s connectivity bandwidth and speed, as well as add new digital solutions without any major hardware change or price increase. We are enabling Transpetrol to run their ships more efficiently while increasing crew welfare in a controlled and very cost-effective way,” said Tore Morten Olsen, President Maritime, Marlink.