
Inmarsat and Cobham SATCOM
enable Maldives fisheries sustainability with Fleet One
Inmarsat and Cobham SATCOM have
been awarded a new contract to connect 732 fishing
vessels active in the Maldives Economic Exclusion Zone
to Inmarsat’s Fleet One maritime broadband services.
Cobham’s SAILOR Fleet One utilises
the existing Inmarsat-4 satellite constellation to
deliver the most reliable global voice calling and
internet connectivity via a compact, lightweight
antenna, and a simple installation process. The
technology’s affordability makes it particularly
accessible for smaller boats looking to access maritime
satellite communications for the first time.
The go-ahead follows trials of
Fleet One services and SAILOR Fleet One terminals from
Cobham aboard 15 boats, confirming that performance
exceeds specifications for a new vessel monitoring
system (VMS) under the Maldives’ Sustainable Fisheries
Resources Development Project to improve Monitoring,
Control and Surveillance in fisheries sector. The VMS
project, agreed between Maldives-based Ooredoo and the
Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, is funded by the
World Bank.
The five-year contract envisages
the supply and maintenance of the VMS, to include Fleet
One satellite communications over L-band from Inmarsat,
airtime and secure communications server via Integrated
Monitoring (IM) and SAILOR antennas from Cobham SATCOM
installed by Ooredoo.
Fisheries is one of the main
economic activities in the Maldives, second only to
tourism, providing jobs to over 30% of the population.
Launched in 2017, the Sustainable Fisheries Resource
Development Project was followed in 2019 by The Maldives
Fisheries Act, which bans several forms of unsustainable
fishing gear such as purse seine, trawl nets and gills
nets and envisages granting licenses only to vessels
offering real time tracking and those that are
registered only in the Maldives. Fleet One will support
electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT)
to combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU)
fishing. The Fisheries Act also formalises fishermen
entitlements to pensions, training and connectivity to
emergency services.
“The VMS project confirms the
leadership role that the Maldives continues to play in
sustainable fishing and in sustaining the blue economy
long-term,” said Maldives Fisheries Minister Zaha
Waheed. ”It puts the maritime broadband infrastructure
in place to monitor and manage operations, but also to
support the welfare of those working at sea. In doing
so, we have chosen technology that is reliable,
scalable, progressive, cost efficient and easy to use,
and a group of partners with the track records to instil
confidence. Successful implementation of the project
would also mean that Maldives fulfil and go beyond the
requirements established through the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission (IOTC),” she said.
Najib Khan, Ooredoo Maldives,
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, said: “We
placed high importance in onboarding partners that share
our values of bringing new socio-economic progress to
societies through innovative technologies. The Fleet One
Vessel Monitoring System ensures seamless monitoring of
fishing vessels for owners and the regulator, and
enables new opportunities for the crew, while assuring
their safety onboard. We look forward to seeing the
progression of the fisheries industry in the Maldives,
supported by this project.”
Eric Griffin, VP of Offshore and
Fishing, Inmarsat Maritime said: “This is another
significant government-level endorsement of Fleet One’s
reliability as a vessel monitoring system platform that
will also deliver extensive benefits for welfare and
operational efficiency in a price-sensitive market. The
platform can also provide safety add-ons such as weather
monitoring and I expect word of mouth to play a
significant role where data service uptake is concerned.
Instant messaging will initially drive greater use as
crew that are out of range of terrestrial networks stay
in touch with friends and family or exchange information
on fishing stocks.”
Meenal Rao, Regional Sales Manager
APAC Maritime at Cobham SATCOM, said: “The Ministry
shares our aspiration to protect and enhance the
sustainability of the marine environment, and we’re
pleased to be able to support the Maldives’ fishing
fleet in achieving this through providing connectivity
that will enable each vessel to protect, monitor, and
enhance the rapidly changing marine environment.”
Jeff Douglas, Chief Executive
Officer, Integrated Monitoring, commented: “The scope of
this project will resonate wherever fisheries
administrations seek progress on sustainability and crew
welfare at scale and in an integrated way. Fleet One is
over twenty times faster than traditional Vessel
Monitoring Systems. For the first time, it will support
crew chat, mobile banking and live video monitoring to
the small and mid-sized fisheries segment.”
Integrated Monitoring is also
providing Monitor - a cloud hosted platform for GPS
Tracking, Catch Reporting and Electronic Video
Monitoring - to the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries for use within their Fisheries Monitoring
Center in Malé.
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