Broadband service for contented crew
Woodsons of Aberdeen Ltd is offering satellite broadband (VSAT) and TV at sea services to a range of clients in Europe for markets such as ferry services and subsea operations.
The product, ‘e-Sea’, has proven cost effective for customers in these markets, providing communications, entertainment and improved crew welfare at sea.
The e-Sea system has been installed on ships, jack-ups and accommodation rigs servicing offshore wind farm construction, support and survey in the UK and Europe, with considerable bandwidth usage seen through the systems.
The e-Sea system is targeted mainly at the crew and passengers for welfare purposes so they have an always on VSAT system with good speeds through a secured wireless router and optional dedicated phone line. The e-Sea antenna/system is small and easy to install/demobilize. Below decks consists of a small antenna control unit and satellite modem which connects directly to network/wireless router or the service can be routed through a current network. The system has also been installed to work alongside other VSAT providers which allow the IT department to segregate bandwidth through open and private wireless networks on board.
In the survey environment, the need for uploading real-time data from the survey vessel back onshore, can be an essential capability thanks to the uplink speeds of 256K/bits that can be achieved.
