A succession of satellite communications companies unveiled maritime services over the summer promising lower cost or greater capacity to deliver the data exchange needed to help make ships greener.

Some are based on new generations of low earth orbit satellites (LEOs) that circle the earth at lower altitudes than the geostationary (GEO) networks that currently are the backbone of shipping communications.

Promises were bandied around, especially for higher data speeds — termed lower latency in the lingo as LEOs fly closer to the earth’s surface, so signals do not have to go so far. Prices should also come down.

Network capacities are growing as more satellites are launched, but not all that capacity is best suited to the needs of technically advanced ship operators seeking to transfer ever more digital data that will be needed to satisfy regulators, charterers and financiers that vessels’ carbon footprints are reducing.

Ships’ average data downloads doubled from less than 4 gigabytes per day in April 2020 to over 8 gigabytes by October last year, according to shipping satellite communications giant Inmarsat.

"We have vessels that on a regular basis are consuming more than a terabyte per month. We see this trend accelerating: we don’t see it stopping," Inmarsat president Ronald Spithout told TradeWinds.

"If green shipping does anything, it accelerates the need for a stable and evolving platform for monitoring demands from ports, charterers, regulators."

Inmarsat claims to have seen the need to transfer more and more data at sea coming for a decade, and its two announcements within the space of a few weeks this summer reflect this.

First came the launch of Orchestra, which will add terrestrial 5G mobile coverage and later about 150 LEO satellites to Inmarsat’s existing GEO coverage. The aim is to provide an integrated, high-speed network that can eliminate problems with transmission hotspots in channels or ports, the group said.

Inmarsat president Ronald Spithout's company launched two new initiatives over the summer of 2021 — Orchestra and Elera. Photo: Inmarsat

"Adding more network capability is just an evolution of what we set in motion," said Spithout, referring to Fleet Xpress, his company's top-of-the-range digital application platform and high-capacity service now provided to 12,000 ships. "Orchestra is just the next phase."

Next came Elera, which Spithout said is designed to highlight that older L-Band communications, such as Fleet Broadband and the GMDSS safety services all ships have, remain hugely important. "Functionality over those services will increase as well" for app interfaces, he said.

"It is not that we are currently desperately in need of something else. We want to look 10 to 15 years in advance at the demands that are developing," Spithout added.

But there is little doubt Inmarsat’s marketing move was prompted by the new LEO kids on the block.

Most high-profile is Elon Musk’s SpaceX network, Starlink, which with 1,000 LEOs in orbit will likely win a large consumer base, and could be of interest to seafarers and where ships operate close to the coast.

But experts said Starlink does not have the inter-satellite links needed to break into the maritime industry.

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Starlink has started adding those links to new satellites, but it will take some years before they can communicate with each other to provide a network that can relay signals to and from the middle of an ocean.

A more immediate threat is OneWeb, which is building a network of 650 LEOs, half of which have now been launched, and aims to go live to shipping in early 2023.

OneWeb head of maritime Carole Plessy told a London International Shipping Week webinar that it was "a new breed of communications provider" with mobility and shipping at the heart of its system.

"Our mission is to connect everyone everywhere at land, on sea and in the air," allowing "the maritime community to implement all their digital strategies," she said.

"We think we have a real part of the puzzle to solve shipping’s environmental, social and governance [ESG] momentum."

As a former senior Inmarsat executive, Plessy must know the difficulties of connecting ships and how many years' work it has taken for Inmarsat to link in app service provision. She is also borrowing heavily from her previous employer's motto on mobility.

But OneWeb earlier promised installation costs at least 25% cheaper than very small aperture terminal suppliers and 20 times faster maximum information rates than Fleet Broadband. Competition will heat up from 2023.

Deciphering maritime satcoms lingo

GEO: Geostationary satellites fly nearly 36,000 km above the equator and appear stationary as they orbit in the same direction and speed as the earth rotates. Wide coverage means three can cover most of the earth, but their distance means signals have higher latency. They tend to operate on L-bands and Ka-bands.

LEO: Low earth orbit satellites fly at a height of 160 km to 2,000 km, taking about 1.5 hours to go round the world. A network of hundreds is needed as each satellite only covers a small portion of the earth’s surface, but due to their proximity they have lower latency. They will generally operate in the Ka bandwidth.

VSAT: Very small aperture terminal is a two-way satellite link with dish antenna smaller than 3.8 metres. Data rates are suitable for high-frequency transmissions generally up to 16 megabits per second. They can operate in C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band frequencies.

Latency: The lower it is, the faster communication is. GEO latency is 600 milliseconds while LEO is 40 milliseconds, giving a quicker response for high data transmission.

L-band: The L-band frequency of 1-2 gigahertz (GHz) for satellite transmissions is rated highly for its ability to penetrate rain, fog and storm conditions better than higher frequencies.

Ka-band: Ka-band uses frequencies in the 26.5-40 GHz range. The higher frequency than Ku-band (12-18 GHz) allows greater bandwidth and a higher data transfer rate. LEOs will mainly use the Ka-band..