Global mobile satellite communications services provider Inmarsat has signed a five-year contract with Hapag-Lloyd to migrate all ships directly managed by the shipping line to services enabled for Fleet Xpress.
Hapag-Lloyd, the sixth largest container shipping operator in the world by Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) capacity, will transition all existing ships that it manages in-house from Inmarsat FleetBroadband services to Fleet Xpress. The agreement also covers five 10,500 TEU vessels as latest new builds.
Launched in 2016, Fleet Xpress service enhances vessel efficiency, crew welfare and safety, and facilitates ‘connected ship’ applications by delivering the highest levels of reliable high-speed broadband connectivity available from a single supplier on a global scale, according to Inmarsat.
Hapag-Lloyd has been an Inmarsat customer for more than a decade, and the transition commitment to Fleet Xpress coincides with the expiry of a service contract based on FleetBroadband with VSAT back-up via Ku-band. The new agreement reflects the ship owner’s requirement for a fully managed migration to high-speed broadband and support it can trust from a single service provider. The agreement also stipulates redundant service provision that would be scalable for any future fleet growth. The deal includes terminals from both Inmarsat approved manufacturers Intellian and Cobham SATCOM.
“IT integration of our fleet has grown rapidly and will further develop. As a consequence Hapag-Lloyd has to ensure that the ship-to-shore connectivity not only supports the increasing demand, but is also future proof,” said Jens Habler, Head of Hapag-Lloyd IT- Operations Management.
“Hapag-Lloyd is recognized as one of shipping’s most advanced owners when it comes to IT and ship-shore connectivity, and for the close attention it pays in addition to keeping its crews connected,” says Gerbrand Schalkwijk, Chief Sales Officer, Inmarsat Maritime. “We look forward to working with the owner’s team to realize the potential of the fully redundant Fleet Xpress service within the Hapag-Lloyd office, vessel and service organization.”