Crowley Maritime Corp. has agreed a contract to install Fleet Xpress from satellite communications provider Inmarsat on a majority of its vessels.
The 128-year old Florida-headquartered business owns, operates and manages a diverse fleet of close to 200 vessels, including conventional and dual fuel (LNG) containerships, tankers and articulated tug-barges, and ship assist and offshore services tugboats, and various other types of barges.
The deal was signed following trials in Alaska on Aframax tanker, California, and the recently reflagged vessel Rio Grande Express, which helped showcase the combination of high-speed Fleet Xpress on Ka-band with continuous back up from FleetBroadband on L-band, enhancing stability of communications and available uptime, Inmarsat said.
According to Captain Rodney Jones, Director Operations Integrity with Crowley Global Ship Management, Inc: “Communication needs for an operator with a variety of vessel types like Crowley are rapidly increasing and we require a level of performance and reliability that is proven and trusted, with a dedicated support network that is continuously available. Fleet Xpress meets this demand and proved very successful in the trials that were carried out on the California in Alaska and the Rio Grande Express operating in a Liner service.”
All vessels covered in the agreement will install either a Fleet Xpress GX60 or GX100 terminal from Intellian and an Infinity smartbox solution that will allow the vessels to access a number of value-added services, including bandwidth control and remote user management.