The GVF Maritime Insights Agenda Next Stop Singapore
by Martin Jarrold
London, UK, July 9, 2012--In my contribution to the previous edition of Satellite Executive Briefing I wrote of the maritime communications environment being fairly characterized as “highly dynamic”. Indeed, this very dynamism was well demonstrated at the “Maritime Insights Europe 2012: Expanding Communications with Fixed & MobileNetworking Solutions to Further Horizons” conference, which took place in London on 27th and 28th June, and about which I also wrote in that earlier column.
The success of this event, the latest in a conference series created by the GVF-EMP Conference Partnership – and more recently produced in collaboration with InterManager, the international ship management association – fully reflected the growth in maritime satellite broadband business as shown in the increasing numbers of ESV (Earth Stations on Vessels) supply contracts, many of which extend to fleet-wide installations. Various facets of the London conference program provided ample illustration of the deployment of VSAT systems – working in different parts of the frequency spectrum and using smaller antennas – and services – employing least-cost routing solutions – designed to support a myriad of maritime applications: for fleet, vessel, and cargo management; for crew welfare and retention solutions; for charting and navigational requirements; and, for safety at sea, and other critical industry areas and requirements.
The next conference in the Maritime Insights Series will take place in Singapore in February 2013, and will provide another regionally-specific overview and analysis of topics comprising the service provision and technology deployment of satellite-based narrowband and broadband communication solutions at sea. Again, this will be in collaboration with InterManager, and will also potentially feature speakers from the other international maritime industry associations such as InterCargo and InterTanko.
Prior to this event the GVF-EMP Partnership will deliver on two other conferences, one in the already well-developed vertically-oriented series Oil & Gas Communications, taking place in Kuala Lumpur (“KL”) during November 2012; the other, a brand-new departure into the horizontally-oriented subject of Ka-band (“Ka”), taking place in London during December 2012.
The programs for these latter two events are now in development, and will be available through the GVF-EMP Partnership website at http://www.uk-emp.co.uk/
One of the key features of all the GVF-EMP conferences is that the audience for the events is always far greater than the numbers of attending delegates. This is because immediately following each conference the speaker presentations are uploaded to the event website, and PDF versions of almost all of the conference content (some presentations are not always immediately available due to commercial/corporate restrictions) is available for anyone to download on a free-of-charge basis.
This is now the case for “Maritime Insights Europe 2012: Expanding Communications with Fixed & MobileNetworking Solutions to Further Horizons”, and the following content is accessible to all at www.uk-emp.co.uk/7th.MIEu.Ldn.2012/index_files/Page319.htm
On the first day, “Analysing Maritime Communications Demand & Supply: Understanding the Sector’s Dynamics” was analyzed from Claude Rousseau, Senior Analyst, Northern Sky Research (NSR); and, Richard Roithner, Senior Consultant, Euroconsult; and was followed by the presentations of Kartik Sinha, Maritime Market Manager, Inmarsat Maritime; Francis Prout, Senior Systems Engineer, iDirect; and, Andrew Faiola, Global Accounts Director, Intelsat, on “Evolving the “Unlimited Broadband” Bandwidth Equation: New Evolutionary Trends in C, Ku, Ka & L Frequency Footprints for the Maritime Space”
Featuring next were the views of Jan Hetland, Director, Datacomms Services, Technology Division, Telenor Satellite Broadcasting; and, Frank Zeppenfeldt, Future SatCom Projects, ESA-ESTEC on “Satellite Networking & Expanding Maritime Communications for an Arctic Horizon”; followed-up with an overview of “Segmenting Maritime Sector Communications Services: Who Wants What and Where?” with Demetris Makaritis, Fleet Manager, Navigator Gas.
Frederick Morris, Vice President, Sales Engineering, Comtech EF Data then provided his perspectives on the “Evolution of Maritime Satcoms Service: SCPC for Maritime - the Past is Prologue”, bringing the first half-day to a rewarding close.
The subject of “VSATs at Sea & Designing Dedicated Targeted Solutions for Multiple Parameters in Operational Ship Management: the Vessel and Company Type, the Data Volume and Crew Requirement”was assessed by Kaushik Roy, DPA & Company Security Officer, MOL LNG;Steven Gosling, Training & Quality Manager, "Y" Generation, Nautical Institute; and, Ghani Behloul, Chief Marketing Officer, Vizada.
Filip Vanheer, Global Business Development Manager, Maritime Satellite Solutions, Orange Business Services then addressed the question “Is Cloud Computing Part of the Future of Maritime Industry Satellite Networking?” which was followed by an examination of “Spectrum Shift: Satellite Operators, Network Providers & Deployment of New Global Broadband” by Simon Gatty Saunt, Vice President, Sales Enterprise, Europe & CIS, SES.
The first day was concluded with a “Regulatory Open Forum - Communications Inshore & on the High Seas: Who Makes the Rules? Who Enforces the Rules?” led by Carlos Nalda, Telecommunications Attorney, Squire Sanders & Dempsey; and, Christopher Snowdon, Manager, Specialist Services, Access Partnership.<
Day Two opened with a presentation from the Head of Maritime Safety, Inmarsat Maritime, Peter Blackhurst and his appraisal of“Safety and Distress Maritime Communications Systems & Satellite Broadband: GMDSS in the Fixed & Mobile Environment”
The subject of “Broadband at Sea & Crew Welfare” was detailed by Mark Woodhead, Managing Director, Headland Media; and that of “Emerging Trends in the Maritime Communications Marketplace” was presented by Roger Adamson, Chief Executive, Stark Moore Macmillan & Chairman of the International Maritime Sales & Marketing Association. “Maritime ICT & Cost-Saving Integrated eProcurement Strategies” were examined by Paul Ostergaard, Founder & CEO, ShipServ; and Guy Adams, Vice President, Software Engineering, iDirect-SatManage offered his analysis of“The Satellite Maritime Network Management Imperative”
The penultimate conference session presented the combined views of Roger Ringstad, Managing Director, Seagull;Assoc. Prof. Claire Pekcan, Senior Lecturer, Course Leader, MSc Shipping Operations, School of Maritime Training, Warsash Maritime Academy (+ MSc student Richard Wild); and,Greg Selzer, Account Manager, Online Learning, SatProf on “Maritime Sector Training Strategies & Resources: Satellite Technologies Installation/Operation & Computer-Based Training” The final wrap-up session, of what was widely lauded as a very good conference indeed, featured closing remarks from me in my capacity as Co-Chairman of the GVF Maritime SatCom Forum (MSF) and Capt Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General of InterManager.
For further information about all GVF-EMP conferences, please contact martin.jarrold@gvf.org or paul.stahl@uk-emp.co.uk
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Martin Jarrold is the Chief of Intermational Programs of the GVF. He can be reached at martin.jarrold@gvf.org
