[Satellite TODAY 11-04-11] Stratos Global was selected by Sandigan Ship Services in The Philippines to deploy Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband satellite communications service on Sandigan’s fleet of commercial bulk and car carrier vessels, Stratos announced Nov. 3.

   The integrated communications solution that Stratos is deploying for Sandigan includes the full range of Stratos Advantage value-added services. An Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro satellite phone will be placed on each vessel and at Sandigan’s headquarters office for backup communications. Sandigan also is deploying Stratos’ GSM Oceanwide solution, which aims to enable crewmembers to use their personal GSM phones to communicate with family and friends by voice and SMS.

   Stratos said it already deployed the FleetBroadband service on 12 Sandigan vessels, with the remainder of the fleet scheduled for service integration by the end of the year. “The service has increased the performance of many of the IP-based applications on which we depend,” Sandigan President and Fleet Captain Tomoyoshi Yanagita said in a statement. “[Stratos’] Singapore support team analyzed our data traffic and provided a range of options. They patiently helped us reduce communications costs and improve the performance of critical applications such as BASSnet, our planned maintenance software.”

   Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.