Subsea and offshore services company Mermaid Maritime has agreed a deal with Satcom Global to install its AuraNow VSAT system on board an accommodation vessel, under a deal which will see the company only pay for the connectivity required in 24-hour increments.
The contract will allow for unlimited bandwidth changes, with no hidden fees or penalties, to provide bandwidth flexibility for the 102m pipe lay and accommodation work barge Resiliant, which houses over 250 crew.
The vessel has activated a monthly Ku-Band base package with a CIR guaranteeing data speeds. Changes to the Ku-Band package can be made immediately using a web portal, for as little as 24 hours, facilitating increased requirements for data at short notice whilst on charter.
The service also allows bandwidth downgrades to be scheduled, or for the company to fully suspend its service without penalty, should the vessel be off charter, between projects, or in port.
“The flexibility of Satcom Global’s AuraNow VSAT solution offers Mermaid Maritime a significant competitive advantage, offering a variety of benefits to our organisation, which in the offshore industry, faces variable customer requirements with very significant activity changes at short notice,” said Francis Nicolas Langenfeld, Sub Contract Manager in the Project Department at Mermaid Maritime.
The system was implemented during recent vessel attendances in Singapore, with two Intellian v100NX maritime antennas and below deck racks installed. The Resiliant will operate in the Songkhla region in the Gulf of Thailand, and was also fitted with the Intellian C700 to deliver the Iridium Certus service as a global L-Band back-up where required.
