Photo: Inmarsat Maritime

Inmarsat Maritime has signed a new deal in the maritime arena with Toei Reefer Line which will see Inmarsat Maritime install NexusWave onboard the company’s factory vessels to support crew and business connectivity requirements. Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, announced the deal, March. 5.

Toei Reefer Line employs specially trained personnel to load and operate its factory vessels, which are equipped to process, prepare, and store high-value cargo at temperatures as low as -55 degrees Celsius. NexusWave connectivity will enable Toei Reefer Line to provide its crews with free, unlimited internet access. The connectivity solution will allow the company to monitor onboard temperature sensors in real-time, access vessel networks from shore, and deploy cloud-based applications for ship management.

“Crew welfare is our top priority. We employ up to 50 crew per vessel and providing them with unlimited data while they spend many months out at sea away from their loved ones is a priority. At the same time, we have experienced a surge in business-related data consumption due to the growing demand for connected applications and real-time monitoring as our vessels increasingly function like floating factories,” Shinobu Iijima, IT director of Toei Reefer Line, said in a statement.

Inmarsat Maritime introduced NexusWave last year as a managed service that integrates its existing Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band network with Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) services, coastal LTE services, and an additional layer of satellite L-band.

In a recent update with investors, Viasat leadership said the company said NexusWave has orders in the low hundreds of vessels expects to grow the number of orders substantially in the next year.