Digitalisation takes hold in maritimegive them access to a vessel data dashboard on a vessel-by-vessel basis. To meet these demands, our business has evolved. Today we are supporting

22 www.satellite-evolution.com | March/April 2020

....Q&A Marlink Maritime

Digitalisation takes hold in maritimeMarlink is a world-leading provider of managed connectivity and IT solutions for maritime andenterprise customers ranging from global on-demand MSS services to regional, multi-regionaland global Ku-band, C-band and HTS-ready maritime VSAT systems. Tore Morten, President ofMarlink Maritime, outlines their recent successes and explains what’s next for the company.

Amy Saunders, Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Question: 2019 was a pretty busyyear for Marlink, in which a slew ofnew partnerships and achievementswere celebrated while the companyhoned its suite of services. Whatwere some of your favouritehighlights from last year?Tore Morten: Marlink enjoyed asuccessful 2019 which put us in astrong position for 2020 and beyond.The year star ted with our beingconfirmed as the world’s leadingmaritime provider of satell itecommunications and end-to-endmanaged VSAT connectivity, accordingto a report from Valour Consultancy andlater confirmed by the Comsys report.

We also renewed and expanded ourpartnership with Intelsat to providebroadband services to maritime vesselsaround the world in a multi-yearagreement to deliver additionalthroughput via multiple layers of space-based coverage.

Developments like these demonstr-ate the momentum that Marlink isbringing to the digitalisation of theshipping industry. Ensuring thatshipowners and operators have accessto reliable and flexible always-onconnectivity is essential to this processwhich promises to bring huge benefitsin terms of safety and efficiency.

Question: In your experience, whatare some of the most urgentdemands in the world of maritimecommunications, and what steps hasMarlink made to meet them?Tore Morten: We see an urgentdemand for connectivity and newservices evolving as digitalisation takeshold in the maritime industry. At timesthis has been a slow process, but thetrend is strengthening and acceleratingfor a number of reasons.

It’s no secret that data istransforming maritime operations and

businesses. It enables ships and fleetsto run more efficiently, use less fuel andreduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thishas driven a huge increase in thedemand for bandwidth and massivelychanged usage patterns. Ourcustomers want to transfer more andmore diverse data to shore controlcentres, they want to operate withinuser-friendly managed portals, and theywant to ensure that their data is alwayssecure.

For both efficiency and compliance,shipowners need simplified datacollection; systems that can remotelyconnect bridge and engine room datawith communications infrastructure togive them access to a vessel datadashboard on a vessel-by-vessel basis.

To meet these demands, ourbusiness has evolved. Today we aresupporting our customers to not onlyconnect their vessels and crew globally,but to secure their networks, offer

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23www.satellite-evolution.com | March/April 2020

Q&A Marlink Maritime....

Tore Morten, President of MarlinkMaritime

solutions and technologies to help themmanage their data and IT Networks, andapply innovations to enable reductionsin both CAPEX and OPEX.

Companies are becoming moreprofitable using data in a smart way, butwe can also see the potential for moreefficiencies and importantly, new ways

to reduce the impact of shipping on theenvironment.

Question: Marlink provides its ownVSAT system connected to thirdparty platforms. What are theadvantages to using proprietaryhardware like this?Tore Morten: Firstly, it’s important tounderstand that Marlink is technologyand frequency agnostic. The advantagethat we deliver to our clients is that weare completely independent from anysatell ite operator or hardwaremanufacturer. It’s always the customer’schoice which hardware and service theyprefer to specify and of course we willadvise them if there are particularcombinations that best fit their needs.

As an integrator we bridge the gapbetween the technology and the userby creating optimised networks andsolutions for every individual customerin every market vertical we serve.

We use the standards employed bythe industry’s leading hardwaremanufacturers, based on open systems,with the ability to combine applications,services and solutions into a platform

that is technology agnostic and that canrespond to changing needs.

In the maritime environment, thoseneeds run to fully managed VSATservices, L-band backup andincreasingly hybrid services that enableswitching to LTE connections or evenWiFi in port. We have a new agreementin place for global roaming with a majoroperator that we will share more detailsabout very soon.

Question: What are some examplesof the kinds of value-added servicesMarlink provides to support smartervessel operations and cybersecurity?Tore Morten: Shipowners are lookingfor technology that can support genuinefuel savings, reduced emissions andbetter vessel performance, both forregulatory compliance and an improvedbottom line - and that includes securityas a standard feature.

BridgeLink from Marlink addressescompatibility, interface and ownershipchallenges by providing an openplatform for unifying collection of datafrom onboard equipment and sensorswith network infrastructure and satelliteIP connectivity, so that data from anysystem can be accessed, collected,shared and displayed in a singleinterface at sea or ashore.

Providing access to data fromOperational Technology (OT) such asradar, automation, power andpropulsion systems, BridgeLink enablesMarlink customers to use scalableremote ship management and smartmaintenance systems to fur therenhance and improve vessel efficiencyusing secure data collection forspecialised analysis and applications.

Fully customisable to fit any specifictechnical needs, BridgeLink creates thelink between onboard systems andsensors and how critical data theygenerate is used to optimise operationsand remain compliant with internationalregulations.

Clearly, the growth of digitalisationbrings a challenge in terms of securityof onboard technology andcommunications, with the cyber riskwidely known, if not always wellunderstood.

Last year Marlink expanded itsrange of cyber security solutions, withthe launch of Cyber Detection, a uniqueand intelligent threat detection solutionfor the maritime industry and part of ourfully integrated Cyber Guard portfolio.

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24 www.satellite-evolution.com | March/April 2020

....Q&A Marlink Maritime

monitors all outbound and inboundnetwork traffic around the clock andenables customers to view threatsaffecting their vessels through anintuitive, web-based dashboard. Inaddition, customers may also set-upnotifications on critical threats whichcan be monitored by email and/or SMS.

Marlink has also introduced ITLink,a suite designed to provide remote ITmanagement and intervention and 24/7 monitor ing of the onboard ITenvironment, increasing the level ofcompliance with upcoming regulationssuch as IMO2021 and TSMA Version 3cyber security requirements. ITLink alsoprovides deep transparency via an IT-specific advanced online dashboard,which includes continuously updatedPC and server status information.

Crucially, it can also relieve Marlinkcustomers of the time-consuming taskof updating onboard networks andapplications. Automated updates canreduce the time to secure, i.e.,thousands of onboard PCs on a fleet ofmore than 100 vessels to a few days,while manual updates are known to beproblematic and can take severalmonths for a similar number of PCs.More than 1,100 ships are alreadysaving time and money on IT updatesusing Marlink’s IT automated updateservices.

Question: One of Marlink’s maritimebranches, Telemar, recently releasedthe BridgeLink smart maintenanceservice, which provides pro-activesupport and reduce downtime,netting higher efficiency for BridgeElectronics systems. Could you runus through some of its features?Tore Morten: The BridgeLink SmartMaintenance Application from Telemaris the next layer of added value to theBridgeLink platform, created to drivegreater efficiency and savings viaMarlink bandwidth.

The Smar t Maintenance Appprovides a unique support servicebased on giving suppor t servicetechnicians remote access to theOperational Technology (OT) systemsonboard ship, enabling them todiagnose issues with shipboardequipment wherever they are in theworld.

With active support from the SmartMaintenance App, shipowners canreduce potential down-time andincrease efficiency of their bridgeelectronics hardware and associatedsoftware. By expanding the scope of

equipment remotely accessible via theBridgeLink Smart Maintenance App,Telemar can perform more repairsremotely and increase first-time fixes fora more efficient service when its fieldengineers visit customer vessels.

As well as creating a benefit forshipowners by streamlining troubleshooting wherever they operate,Telemar experts can use the datacollected to optimise asset lifecyclesand deliver further efficiencies.

The BridgeLink Smart MaintenanceApp can optionally be used forperformance analysis and to collectdata for site surveys, helping to furtherreduce the engineering time required forfirmware/software installations andupgrades.

By leveraging remote suppor ttechnology, Marlink and Telemar arecontributing to reduced time, travel andultimately carbon footprint for shippingcompanies. The Telemar Smar tMaintenance team consists of certifiedand trained Field Service Engineersable to start in depth investigations ofproblems with GMDSS equipment,radar and ECDIS, satell itecommunications systems, Voyage DataRecorders, quickly and from shore.

Question: Marlink has also recentlyproduced the Marlink FX Portal, acommunications managementplatform for Marlink Fleet Xpressusers to access network and serviceinformation in real-time. How doesdata like that drive a competitiveedge for your users?Tore Morten: The Marlink FX Portalwas introduced with the aim ofincreasing transparency for IT andoperations personnel, enabling them tomonitor, support and maintain FXnetworks with greater efficiency. Theonline portal is a unique developmentthat can share the network data vital toservice quality, availabil ity andefficiency onboard. It can be remotelyaccessed from any location, giving ourFX customers deeper control andawareness of service status.

Enabled by Marlink’s onboardcommunications management systemfor the FX service, called XChange FX,the online portal that follows with thesystem, allows customers to accesspreviously unavailable network andservice information in real-time. Itdelivers easy to understand bandwidthperformance and traffic statistics, aswell as live information on whether theKa-band FX or L-band FleetBroadband

is being used. The por tal can beaccessed by crew from onboard shipand by vessel superintendents onshore,with a simple display indicating whichservice the ship is using. As well asbeing useful in supporting remoteaccess and troubleshooting, users cansee the amount of time spent on thebackup and decide how best to allocatebudget resources.

In addition to the FX voice callingoption, Marlink also offers FX users aunique low-cost voice calling service,giving shipowners a wider option ofvoice services. Combined with theXChange platform, shipowners have aseamless system optimised forenterprise and crew use.

Question: How does Marlink plan toinnovate in the maritime sphere thisyear and in the years to come?Tore Morten: More and more shipowners are taking digitalisationseriously which has a positive impactfor them and the wider industry.Digitalisation brings a genuine businesscase for investment in broadbandcommunications to achieve moreefficient operations and reducedenvironmental impact, so there is a‘push’ for us to continue refining andimproving our services

Digitalisation can contribute to shipsand fleets to running more efficiently,using less fuel and reducinggreenhouse gas emissions. This hasdriven a huge increase in the demandfor bandwidth and massively changedusage patterns.

Our customers want to transfer moreand more diverse data to shore controlcentres, they want to operate withinonline cloud-based portals, and theywant to ensure that their data is alwayssecure.

Our focus in 2020 and beyond is tocontinue to support this digitalisationdrive with applications and software thatenable owners to get the best out oftheir vessel data and theircommunications systems. Regulationremains a big part of that, whetherreporting emissions data or otherenvironmental performance, or beingconfident in meeting the IMO’s newstandards for cyber security.

And finally, to make all this happenwe will continue to develop the mostcomplete maritime network in theindustry, to ensure that our clientsbenefit from quality and cost-effectiveness that our expertise andscale brings to the market.

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