Starlink is attracting rapidly growing interest from major shipping companies

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications service is attracting a growing list leading names in the maritime world.

This week saw announcements from Columbia Ship Management (CSM) and Costamare as the latest companies to test the service, which will be provided by a constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites operated by SpaceX.

LEO satellites utilizing Starlink offer higher bandwidth and lower latency broadband connections compared to traditional geostationary (GEO) satellites, while utilizing a compact and easy-to-install marine antenna.

CSM said this week it would conduct a test on a number of ships. Mark O’Neil, CEO of Columbia Group, commented, “Starlink has the potential to revolutionize the shipping industry by bringing reliable and affordable internet connectivity to ships even in the most remote parts of the world. This can help improve crew welfare, reduce costs and improve safety, making it a game changer for the industry.”

O’Neil and Columbia are by no means alone in the potential they believe Starlink and LEO satellites have to transform communications in the maritime industry.

Greek shipowner Costamare also announced this week that it would launch a trial of Starlink on four ships. Themis Sardis, Costamare’s head of IT, said it had a lot of potential for the shipowner. “With its very high speeds and low latency, it could enable entirely new ways of working in terms of the technological tools that we can implement across our fleet – for the benefit of our business operations, the well-being of our crews, as well as our fleet’s compliance needs,” he said.

Starlink has only offered full global maritime coverage since SpaceX launched 51 LEO satellites on February 17. Since then there have been six more Starlink launches.

Although Starlink is still in its early days, CSM and Costamare join a growing list of well-known shipping companies testing the service, including Enesel SA, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Solstad, Anglo-Eastern, Mitsui OSK Lines and NYK, which have made public announcements .

One of the biggest commitments came from Anglo-Eastern, which was trialling the service on 12 vessels in its managed fleet when Starlink launched its “RV” service. Following the test, Anglo-Eastern announced last month that it expects 200 installations by the end of the year.

The manager beamed in his praise. “Having installed it on several ships, we knew straight away it was a game changer,” said Torbjorn Dimblad, Anglo-Eastern’s chief information officer. “Overnight, these ships became as connected as any office or home, giving crew unprecedented access to friends and family while enabling a whole new level of ship-shore collaboration.”

NOW<p class="inline-image-caption">Starlink antenna installation on board a ship</p>

Another early adopter, NYK, who tested Starlink on container ships managed by NYK Shipmanagement in December last year said, “The tests were conducted on container ships and resulted in significantly higher transmission speeds than previously seen along the North American continental coast.”

Starlink has also attracted a growing number of resellers including IEC Telecom, Elcome International, Marlink and Navarino.

Source: News Network