It's business (Almost) as Usual in Spain, Australia & Singapore

Marine satellite VSAT internet on many ships is seen as essential. But, like any technology, it can occasionally let you down. I thought I would share the process of diagnosing and fixing a potentially show-stopping fault on one of our customer’s ships recently, and what can be done to make sure a $10 part doesn't ruin your day at sea.

SMM in Hamburg is a massive trade show in a city with a fascinating nautical history. SMM is the meeting place for the world's maritime industry. So there are a lots of cool things for a ship enthusiast to see there. But one of my main takeaways this week was the super-lightweight Sailor 600 Ku-band VSAT antenna.

Fans of Inmarsat Global Express (GX) will welcome recent enhancements to the Sailor 100 GX antenna system from Cobham. Until now, GX ships that wanted to eliminate the effects of blockage from ship structure would need a huge amount of hardware and two full monthly airtime accounts in their attempt to address the problem of blockage from masts, cranes and other objects protruding from the deck.

Now you can find out with Cobham Satcom's new 3D catalogue app. Being 3D, you can pinch, pan and rotate your way to maritime satcom heaven with all your favourite ship satellite and radio products.

One of the best things about working at Acutec Systems is our connection with the huge range of diverse and fascinating maritime projects our customers are involved with.

The wreck of a ship sunk by Japanese aircraft 74 years ago has finally been located, mapped and filmed by Australia's Marine National Facility ship RV Investigator operating in the Arafura Sea off the Northern Australian coast. The NT Government had requested the drive-by wreck search as the ship re-positioned between Australia's East and West coasts. According to CSIRO voyage ...

The last time I was here in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea commissioning a Sea Tel marine VSAT system, this beauty was erupting. It took us a bit longer than usual to figure out why we couldn't get the system on satellite.

Ships operating in high latitudes are likely to benefit from the new Iridium Next satellite network and Cobham Satcom's new Sailor 4300 unveiled at last week's Nor-shipping show.

If you've visited a maritime trade show in the last year or so, you may have noticed something unusual among the familiar crop of white, mushroom-topped satellite antennas on some of the tech stands. You might have spotted a strange, new, minimal form. In fact you may not have seen the low profile shape at all had it not been surrounded by excited sales people, be-dazzled cus ...