The Nippon Maru ship. Photo via JSAT.

Sky Perfect JSAT (JSAT) has signed a new maritime deal with Mitsui O.S.K. Passenger Line (MOPAS) to upgrade the consumer experience with better broadband. Under the deal announced April 19, JSAT supply its maritime broadband service JSATMarine on board the Nippon Maru cruise ship, as part of a significant communications upgrade on this vessel.

Furuno is providing the JSATMarine service together with its VSAT equipment and technical support. As a marine electronics company, Furuno has been a long-time experienced provider of satellite communication equipment, but this was the first time it provided equipment for JSATMarine service.

JSATMarine’s test service started on the Nippon Maru in March and planned to increase its speed plan up to 30 Mbps (shore-to-ship) and 3 Mbps (ship-to-shore) in future. The upgrade to JSATMarine service is intended to boost the speed to meet customers’ increasing demand for internet usage, especially at sea around Japan where cellular network cannot be reached.