Satellite Communication System from Orange Business Services Improves Day-to-Day Life for Crews of Crest Subsea Vessels

 

26 January 2010

 

Crest Subsea has chosen Orange Business Services for the communication infrastructure of its diving support vessels. With this contract, Orange Business Services is responsible for integrating and operating a VSAT satellite communication system specially developed for marine communications.

 

Crest Subsea Pte Ltd, a new subsea support company, is part of the Pacific Radiance Group of companies, a Singapore based company providing offshore support vessels and integrated marine solutions for oil and gas, mining, engineering contracts and related services support industries.

 

The new VSAT system will connect vessels to the Pacific Radiance network via antenna linked to satellites orbiting the earth. The aim is to implement new communication services and business applications for its entire fleet. The deployment of this new solution will integrate the vessels into the corporate network enabling access to all business applications as if the vessel is a terrestrial office.

■ improving day-to-day life for crews and increasing the appeal of Crest Subsea

 

Widespread use of satellite-based systems marks real progress for ship crews. With the solution provided by Orange Business Services, crews on Crest Subsea vessels can stay in contact with their families by phone, e-mail and online chat for as long as they want while they are off duty. Communication is a key element for crewmembers working and living far away from their families and friends for long periods. The solution will help increase the appeal of Crest Subsea, which is looking to double its workforce over the next four years.

 

■ creating an effective and future-proofed communication system for the vessels

 

The satellite communication system deployed and managed by Orange Business Services will enable Crest Subsea to:

 

- manage the increased flow of data sent and received by the vessels;

 

- offer its customers the use of its IT equipment and tools and generate new sources of income;

 

- consider the deployment of new services such as real-time geolocation for its vessels and the installation of satellite television for crews at sea;

 

- real-time transmission of electronic data on the status of each vessel;

 

- real-time monitoring of the use of consumables for each vessel;

 

Crest Subsea has chosen a homogeneous IP telephony solution, based on Business Talk Global from Orange Business Services, where the conventional PABX is replaced by a central IP-PBX delivering all the benefits associated with unified messaging systems, including number portability, click to call, operational guarantees with its back-up system, flexible billing (consolidated, by site, etc.) and a report generation system. In addition, with this IP telephony solution, Crest Subsea has a private numbering system giving access to the Crest Subsea directory by means of abbreviated dialing.

The Orange Business Services Business Talk Global solution is based on a monthly subscription contract. The cost of the communications between vessels and Crest Subsea sites are included in the subscription. The costs of communications to the outside are covered by IP pricing that is eight times cheaper than traditional L band communication solutions.

 

■ integrating the fleet into the Crest Subsea corporate IP VPN

 

The VSAT system will provide total global coverage. The space segment is shared by all Crest Subsea vessels and is used for accessing the Orange IP VPN. The interconnection between the space segment and the terrestrial network is through teleports managed by Orange. This new satellite-based communication service, deployed and managed by Orange Business Services, enables Crest Subsea to access all the critical applications for the operation of its vessels (maintenance software packages, real-time reports, etc.) and to access databases hosted by Crest Subsea, e-mail, Internet and VoIP.

 

Bruce Saunders, general manager, Crest Subsea, said: “Crest Subsea particularly valued the Orange contribution in simplifying the complexity of the network infrastructure via a joint development of a technology and innovation roadmap to enhance workforce effectiveness. By using experienced consultants backed up by the full resources of Orange Satellite team, Orange offered reliable delivery in a leading edge and complex area. Orange not only provided the necessary skilled resources, but also provided resource resilience through management of its internal resource pool. The processes and methods employed by Orange consultants internally are now being successfully used in the Crest Subsea environment.”