Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, is enabling an acceleration in the digitalisation plans of long-term client Navigazione Montanari, after agreement for the chemical and crude oil tanker owner to extend its use of Fleet Xpress to its entire fleet.

The new agreement renews and extends Navmont’s use of Fleet Xpress services across 13 ships and envisages the transfer of five more tankers from competitor services to Inmarsat’s maritime broadband services by the end of 2021. The full scope of the agreement also covers Fleet Secure Endpoint cyber security protection, Fleet Care preventative maintenance and support and Inmarsat’s Fleet Data IoT platform.

Giovanni Campanelli, ICT Manager, Navigazione Montanari, said: “We have chosen to expand the use of Fleet Xpress based on our experience of the hybrid Ka-band and L-band service across 13 ships, previously having used Ku-band services from another supplier on our other ships. Everything changed in the maritime market after Inmarsat launched Ka-band services 4 to 5 years ago. It has brought the stability, reliability and satellite availability we need to synchronise between ship and shoreside. The service also keeps crews connected to the internet as well as with friends and family at home. Ka-band also offers the throughput speeds to update software fleetwide as part of day-to-day operations.”

“The ability of Inmarsat’s Fleet Secure Endpoint to offer cyber protection and the reporting needed to support full compliance with IMO 2021 Safety Management System risk assessments for ships has been influential in the move to extend arrangements with Inmarsat,” Campanelli added. “The solution protects all computers on board, isolates any issues so they can be resolved, provides cyber security training dimension for crews and offers the reporting capability required by inspectors.”

Navmont will maintain separate bandwidth channels for vessel management and crew connectivity with the agreement offering the flexibility to adjust business data use on request.

“Through 2020-2021, Flag States, Port State Control and Class had increasingly used connected mobile devices for remote vessel inspections, in a change of operational culture that would have been hard to believe only five years ago,” Campanelli observed. “Now, in addition, we are embarking with Fleet Data and look forward to using the power of analytics and reporting to benchmark vessel performance and find ways to enhancing equipment and handling system efficiencies on board.”

Navmont also becomes one of the first Inmarsat clients to adopt Fleet Care service maintenance support for Fleet Xpress. Fleet Care replaces annual maintenance agreements with a service offering support from Inmarsat engineers at ports worldwide without incurring hourly charges.

“Inmarsat clients are increasingly seeking to accelerate their plans for digitalisation and the collaborative relationship between Navigazione Montanari and Inmarsat has always allowed for proactive dialogue at any time in the contract period,” said Gert-Jan Panken, Vice President Maritime, Inmarsat. “After a full review of options on performance and its evolving digital needs, we are delighted that Navmont has decided to go full steam ahead with Fleet Xpress, Fleet Secure Endpoint, Fleet Care and Fleet Data. We look forward to supporting the next steps in its digital journey.”