Radio Holland to Equip 72+ Spliethoff Ships with VSAT Connections

Amsterdam-based shipping company Spliethoff has awarded a contract to Radio Holland Netherlands to supply more than 72 of the company’s vessels with worldwide VSAT connections.

In addition to the VSAT connections, Iridium OpenPort and FleetBroadBand, backup connections will be provided, as well as Cobham SAILOR V900 VSAT systems, according to Radio Holland.

“This agreement ensures an internet connection on almost our entire fleet and increases the performance through higher bandwidth on the vessels that were already under contract,” Peter Van de Venne, Director IT Department Spliethoff, said.

“The increased bandwidth not only adds value for our crew but also enables us to speed up our processes through more frequent synchronization and updating of the available data on board. We are now also ready to send large flows of data from the ship through sensors on board to the shore and vice versa,” Van de Venne added.

What is more, Spliethoff recently signed a service agreement with Radio Holland to maintain the equipment on board 116 ships in the company’s fleet.

Spliethoff also intends to explore the need to increase the bandwidth for future remote monitoring.

The Iridium OpenPort and FleetBroadBand systems ensure an all-time connection as a back-up system which is a necessary requirement for Spliethoff since the company’s ships operate in many remote areas around the world.

Eighteen new VSAT systems will be placed on Spliethoff Group’s vessels, including those in the Bore Ltd and Conro fleet. Work on installing the antennas has already started and is expected to be completed by the end of May, Radio Holland said.