Highly experienced maritime communications team inks deal to offer new communications solution to Japanese shipping market

Maritime software and communications start-up SnakeWays GmbH and Japan Digital Communications have announced a partnership designed to make low cost, high quality data communications widely available at sea.

Under the new agreement signed in February, Tokyo based JDC will act as primary Japanese distributor of the maritime communications services developed by SnakeWays.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, SnakeWays was founded in 2019 by a team of highly experienced maritime IT specialists led by Peter Schulze, former head of development at Telaurus and Globecomm Maritime.

The company’s mission is to develop a new generation of ship-to-shore communication services using the latest available technologies. The result is a modular suite of products based in the cloud and hosted on board the vessel in the small, light, and low cost but powerful SnakeBox. (photos attached)

“From the outset the objective of SnakeWays has been to develop solutions that minimise, and even dispense with, the traditional costs of implementation and support services on board the vessel,” says Peter Schulze, CEO of SnakeWays. “We are proud to have been selected by JDC as their new service partner; JDC conducted an extremely thorough test and evaluation process prior to agreeing to represent us in Japan.”

The SnakeBox manages the interfaces between the shipboard IT and communication networks such as Inmarsat, Iridium, VSAT and GSM. It hosts the SnakeWays services including SnakeMail, SnakeSwitch and SnakeWall, together with a database storing emails, vessel configuration, reports, and device management.