Four Paraná River push boats operated by Impala Paraguay have been outfitted with Inmarsat Fleet Xpress systems, to provide maritime broadband inland along one of South America’s longest waterways.
The prime mover vessels are used by Impala Paraguay to steer its fleet of 30 double-hulled barges along the waterway system to move gas oil, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha products from Argentina onward to Paraguay and Bolivia, exporting soya bean oil in the other direction. Long sections of the transit take place outside the reach of GSM cellular networks.
To date, the push boats have used FleetBroadband to provide continuous connectivity for navigation systems and night operation equipment, as well as the load sensors and GPS position monitoring installed on the barges. On average, each push boat consumes around 500GB of data per month.
With the flat fee bandwidth arrangement for its Fleet Xpress deal Impala will now also add IP camera surveillance to the boats for crew and cargo safety, with the three-year VSAT contract also including installation of 20 IP cameras connected via onboard antennas, enabling continuous monitoring from the Impala Paraguay offices.
“We are invested in providing the best service possible to our clients and ensuring that we have state-of-the-art technology supporting every aspect of our operations,” said a spokesperson from Impala Paraguay.
“We believe using IP surveillance in our pushers sends a clear message to our clients that we will take all measures necessary to ensure that our operations are done in an efficient, reliable, and responsible manner.”
