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Elcome International, headquartered in Dubai, has undertaken a major satellite communications retrofit program for a leading fleet of LNG tankers, providing broadband data and voice services.
The Elcome team decommissioned the existing VSAT systems and installed new Sailor 900 type antennas and below-deck systems on a total of 40 ships in only four months. Most of the installations were performed at sea, and the others were carried out at ports in eight different countries. Jimmy Grewal, executive director, says, “Careful planning and pre-staging equipment and manpower ahead of the ships’ port calls enabled us to meet the customer’s requirement for fast turnaround without disrupting the ships’ sailing schedules.”
The scope of work included system design, site survey, system integration, hardware and software installation, commissioning, training and project management for the ships’ VSAT, broadband and Inmarsat-C systems. In refitting the LNG ships, Elcome created three independent networks on each vessel for corporate traffic, crew welfare voice and internet connections, and machine-to-machine data transfer of performance data from shipboard sensors. The fleet wide retrofit solution was developed in conjunction with satellite service provider Global Eagle and VSAT antenna manufacturer CobhamSatcom.
In addition, Elcome is providing worldwide shipboard services for the LNG fleet and to meet that requirement has established a new operations centre at its Dubai headquarters. The centre will provide customer support and also co-ordinate shore-based maintenance under a separate yearly contract.
